squeezebox- a great new toy!

[JT]

I've been a fan of a lot of the new sources of music venues but got a new toy last week that beats all. It's called Squeezebox Duet and it's I-Pod and Sirius/XM multiplied by infinty. I've liked Pandora on the computer for awhile but was frustrated that I couldn't listen to it thru my main stereo system. Pandora is a free service,[they have an upgrade version for $36. a year] that you create your own "station" by just entering an artist's name and it somehow plays hours of music that you'll probably like. If you put in Bonnie Raitt and also Bob Marly it'll play endless streams based on venue/genres related to them. They let you make about a hundred stations, each one will play endless music persuaded by your entry of artists. If you don't like a song they have a "thumbs down" button which if you hit it, they stop the song, apologize and promise to never play that song on your station again. So with this squeezebox thing I hooked up a wireless router and now have over a thousand internet stations, several Pandora like services, any of my own cd's that I've loaded on the computer, and a bunch more stuff that I haven't gotten to yet, and it's all controlled from an i-pod like remote control and plays thru my amp. I have speakers out on my patio and can control it from out there. Very cool!

[lprof]

At first I thought you meant like the song...

All that music in all those places - sounds like a plan!

Enjoy!!!

[Cid]

That Squeezebox Duet looks really cool. There are many solutions to the problem of networking music. I run several pc's and an xbox360 in my house, so it's not so much of a problem. I love the idea of the screen on the remote for the Squeezebox...that's sweet.

I used to be a heavy Pandora user and the I found Slacker.com and I found that their "recommendation engine" seemed to learn my tastes even better. They also make a cool hardware player that I've had my eye on for a while now. It's certainly worth checking it out if you're looking for a slick new music device. The company history is pretty intersting as well. I'll never own an iPod. After troubleshooting my kid's for the 1000th time, I gave up. I think iTunes is horrible at managing large libraries and tries to do too much other crap....I just want to listen to music....not launch the space shuttle! It reminds me of the AOL "herd the blind sheep" approach to software.

JT, thanks for the heads-up on the Squeezebox!

[JT]

I love the idea of the screen on the remote for the Squeezebox...that's sweet.

I used to be a heavy Pandora user and the I found Slacker.com and I found that their "recommendation engine" seemed to learn my tastes even better.

Cid, I was never sold on the i-pod either. I like getting turned on to new music.I also have gotten into Slacker, but just recently. Last night on Slacker I "made" a Tom Waits Station and just let it play for hours. It played Neil Young, Van Morrison, John Hiatt, and dozens of things I'd never heard of and I liked every one of them! They have one commercial an hour that lasts for about 15 seconds. You can do an upgrade for $48. annually and get no commercials and unlimited song rejection, which both Pandora and Slacker limit you with on the free service.I don't understand how these services stay in business. Slacker even gives you a bunch of album info and in depth bios info on the artist that's playing, either on the Duet remote or your PC. For me, this has been money well spent.