If you're sick of rifling through drawers to find the CD you want to listen to, then Slim Devices' Squeezebox may be just what you're looking for. It's a wireless audio streaming device that plugs into your hi-fi - letting you listen to the music on your PC.
The device is relatively easy to set up. You install the software on your PC and it catalogues all of your MP3s and other music files. You then plug the device into your stereo's amp, either by a pair of spare phono connectors or an S/PDIF socket, and connect it to your wireless network. Connecting to the wireless network is no problem - you use the device's remote control to enter the name of your network and any security passwords. We were impressed to find that the Squeezebox supports both WEP and WPA encryption standards - most music streaming devices only support the older WEP standard. Our only gripe is that you have to download the software for the Squeezebox, since it doesn't come with the device.
When it's all set up, the Squeezebox is as easy to use as an iPod. The remote control allows you to pick music by artist, album, year or genre, or choose a random mix of tracks. If you get bored of your entire music collection, the Squeezebox also connects to internet radio stations. When not in use, its LCD screen doubles up as a neat digital alarm clock and it can even display news headlines from the internet. You'll need a broadband internet connection to make the most of these extra features, though.
The sound quality is superb. There's no loss of quality when listening to the files on your PC and as long as you have a good wireless network, there's no noticeable delay between selecting a file and that file starting to play.
Music obsessives will like the Squeezebox's ability to play special high-quality lossless audio files, but customers of music download sites will be disappointed that it can't play copy-protected files. This omission aside, though, the Squeezebox supports all of the most common digital music formats, including MP3 and WMA.
System Specifications
NETWORK 802.11g wireless, 10/100 Ethernet OUTPUTS headphone mini-jack, 2x phono, optical and coaxial S/PDIF FORMATS SUPPORTED MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg, WAV, FLAC, Apple lossless, PCM, AIFF SIZE 192 x 80 x 93mm
Verdict
The Squeezebox wirelessly connects your PC and your stereo, so you can listen to your MP3s on the sofa. The Squeezebox is brilliant, it sounds lovely, looks nice and is straightfoward to set up.
Author: Tom Royal
Computer Buyer Online