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Looks like I'm stuck with my squeezebox for now. Wish someone would solve the recent problems with Lame and AAC files.

I was wondering about the exact question today. I was intitially planning on getting something like the squeezebox and a Bravo D2 but there seemed like so much crossover technolgy there someone must make a device that does both. I found the aforementioned go-video model, a gateway, and a couple producs from some danish company

Has anyone found others. With DVD-audio, HD, mac-compatibility?

I wonder if this will allow the Slim Devices' Slim Server to have the necessary hooks to stream DRMed iTunes songs? Their FAQ states that Apple has not provided hooks to stream protected files. Slim Server was developed for their Sqeezebox, but the server software is open source and will stream just about anything you throw at it. Good stuff.

I wonder if this will allow the Slim Devices' Slim Server to have the necessary hooks to stream DRMed iTunes songs? Their FAQ states that Apple has not provided hooks to stream protected files. Slim Server was developed for their Sqeezebox, but the server software is open source and will stream just about anything you throw at it. Good stuff.

I wonder if this will allow the Slim Devices' Slim Server to have the necessary hooks to stream DRMed iTunes songs? Their FAQ states that Apple has not provided hooks to stream protected files. Slim Server was developed for their Sqeezebox, but the server software is open source and will stream just about anything you throw at it. Good stuff.

I don't know why you bother either, because you're wrong. The iTunes->CD->MP3 route (or the even less stupid "encode with iTunes-LAME" route) is not as good as un-DRM'ing the files. I find it bizarre that people continue to assert that it is.

Here's why:

I have a biggish music library that I manage with iTunes. One of the ways I play my music back is through a SliMP3. Of course, the Slim can't play the DRM'd files, but the server software will happily play back normal AACs by transcoding them on the fly. (If I had a more recent Slim there'd be no transcoding needed to another compressed format since it'll play straight-up AIFF natively, but that's beside the point).

Anyway, I'd like to have my AACs in my music library in their native format, not transcoded, since as everyone knows you lose fidelity when you transcode. I'd like to keep them in my music library, not elsewhere in my filesystem, because that's the tool I use to manage my music files. I'd like to have the music in a form I can play through my Slim. And I don't want to have dups of the songs floating around my library, for reasons which should be obvious.

Right now I cannot have all these things at once. It would be fine with me if there were a way to stream the music to my Slim without stripping the DRM from the files -- this makes at least as much sense copyrightologically as it does to let me play it on my iPod. But that failing, stripping the DRM from the AAC and leaving it otherwise alone, as playfair is supposed to do, fulfills all my requirements.

So yeah, I know I can work around the limitations imposed by the DRM (and I do), but to claim that doing so is just as good as doing it The Right Way is -- at best -- to miss the point.

Is if it didn't matter so much what distro you choose.

Software should be easy to build and run from the moment you download. It shouldn't be a big deal which distro you're running, what cpu arch you have, or what libs you have installed. Software should be smart and just work. If you don't have the right shared libs, the app in question should get/provide them itself. That sort of thing. Just make it EASY to install useable programs.

The whole point of the GPL is that you're free to share each other code. Instead of requiring your users to install package X which has 20 of its own dependendcies, just provide package X in case its not there already. Problem solved.

At any rate, this is the approach that we're taking with slimserver and our users, both geek adn non-geek, seem to be quite happy with it.

A SqueezeBox can do that, no need for a WinXP box. The latest server software even has a module to let you browse ShoutCast with your remote.

BTW, did anyone else find this quote odd? "Hutchison wouldn't say who he's been talking to, but he claimed to have received plenty of interest from ISPs looking to build products to sell on top of their broadband access offerings - particular those who want to target punters without a PC."

ISPs wanting to sell broadband to folks w/o a PC? Does this market really exist?

OTOH she will need someone to set it up to play things she likes, and the remote may not be very usable. (Could be replaced.)

That was my immediate reaction too. A bit of digging and I found out that the next firmware rev of the SqueezeBox will incorporate Wireless Wake-on-lan, so your mp3 server can be running on very low power when not in use, and your slimserver (or other wireless client) can kick it into life. Nifty.

That was my immediate reaction too. A bit of digging and I found out that the next firmware rev of the SqueezeBox will incorporate Wireless Wake-on-lan, so your mp3 server can be running on very low power when not in use, and your slimserver (or other wireless client) can kick it into life. Nifty.

Claiming the only reason to crack the DRM is to share it means you're either stupid, or the RIAA's shill.

Yes, although I'd add the possibility that the parent poster just hasn't thought very hard about the issue (I guess you might lump that under "stupid" but I prefer not to).

N.b. another pair of devices supporting AAC (through transcoding to MP3 or AIFF) but not Fairplay are the fine, fine SliMP3 and SqueezeBox.

I hope SlimDevices can use this to convert from protected AAC files to regular AAC files suitable for SqueezeBox use. That would seal the deal on this device (expensive, yet cool, and it can play regular AAC files already)

How sad is it that the original submitter didn't even take the 10 fucking seconds required to realize that this "hack" turns the Squeezebox into a remote control, not a video player?

You asswipe. The original submitter is the author.

Actually that whole directory is indexed, and there are some cool pictures

SlimDevices SlimDevices

Actually that whole directory is indexed, and there are some cool pictures

SlimDevices SlimDevices

There's a list on the SlimDevices website, and there's also an alternative (GPL'd) audio server

At $300, one could easily build a stripped-down PC system with the same functionality (and more flexibility).

It also doesn't really look too cool either; more like like some standard CE set-top box so there's isn't really an "aesthetic incentive" to buy one of these either.

...you lazy bastard.

Audio formats:
* PCM (AIFF, WAV)
o Supports raw pass-through of uncompressed audio
o Sample rates: 32, 44.1 (CD), and 48Khz (DAT)
o Configurable sample rate, byte order, channels
* MP3, MP2:
o Built-in decoding for all MP3/MP2 formats
o Supports all MP3 data rates, including VBR
o Supports all MP3 sample rates
* AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis
o Supported through server-side decoding
o May be streamed in PCM (raw) or MP3 (transcoded) format

Audio formats:

* PCM (AIFF, WAV)
o Supports raw pass-through of uncompressed audio
o Sample rates: 32, 44.1 (CD), and 48Khz (DAT)
o Configurable sample rate, byte order, channels
* MP3, MP2:
o Built-in decoding for all MP3/MP2 formats
o Supports all MP3 data rates, including VBR
o Supports all MP3 sample rates
* AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis:
o Supported through server-side decoding
o May be streamed in PCM (raw) or MP3 (transcoded) format

THIS IS NOT A PORTABLE MP3 PLAYER

this is a networked (wired or wifi) device to plug into your home hifi to stream music from your pc

product overview

open source. cross platform. rocks.

SlimServer

I don't listen through headphones anymore, and I haven't bothered to test this way. But through my generic, consumer grade, multi-vendor component system I've found that a 192bit .mp3 encode is a good compromise between sound quality and file size.

In most cases I can't tell the difference between 192 and 256. Or 192 and a CD.

For bands that I really like (Rush, Dream Theater, etc) I'll encode at 192. Also this seems to work out well for reissue/remaster type CD's. Most of the sound seems to be captured in the encoding.

Older CD's and bands that I don't like as much I'll encode at 128. I don't care if Bob Dylan or The Stones sound a little tinny. There's not too much interesting going on in the music anyway. But it's nice to hear the songs.

Oh yeah, here's a great way to play mp3's through your stereo. I have nothing to do with these guys except that I'm a satisfied customer.

wbs.

It can talk to a number of clients, including a piece of hardware you can buy called Squeezebox.

The Squeezebox runs some onboard software that acts as a client to the Slim Server. It has jacks so it can plug into your audio system, just like a tape deck or cd player. I

This is definitely the correct architecture for this problem.

It can talk to a number of clients, including a piece of hardware you can buy called Squeezebox.

The Squeezebox runs some onboard software that acts as a client to the Slim Server. It has jacks so it can plug into your audio system, just like a tape deck or cd player. I

This is definitely the correct architecture for this problem.

I believe the server you are referring to is actually the "SlimServer5" streaming media server that is provided (for free!) by the same folks that make the Squeezbox CLIENT, which is the newer version of the SliMp3 client device. Yes, it is a very good server. Check here for clarification.

I up an old P-75 with FreeBSD, using Slim Server from Slim Devices, using mpg123 and mp3lbaster to play the songs. I had a LCD screen to display the Song Title, Artist, and Album. It worked ok, but it needs to be a bigger machine.

There are a LOT of ways to do it these days. As with any CPU, you have to very carefully consider your volume expectations, r&d budget, and performance/feature requirements. The most MIPS for the dollar is probably the Ubicom ip2022 processor (120 or 160 MIPS for $10-$15 ea). This chip is used in the Squeezebox as well as some wireless access points and birdges. The ip2k is interesting because of its very fast interrupt latency which enables it do the ethernet MAC in software.

However there are other products such as the Rabbit platform which have royalty free software and cheaper development kits, so they're more suitable for small volume or lower speed applications such as control systems. It is a multi-chip design with external ethernet and memory though, so not cheap per-unit.

Your lightweight mp3 server: Slimserver. It's free, it's pretty, it's open source. More info. Fairly easy setup, very configurable and best of all if you really don't like something about it you can change it.

Your lightweight mp3 server: Slimserver. It's free, it's pretty, it's open source. More info. Fairly easy setup, very configurable and best of all if you really don't like something about it you can change it.

However, I would like to serve up my protected AAC to my squeezebox, and this just might allow for on the fly transcoding to a PCM stream from SlimServer.

I just got home from helping set up our booth for the Macworld expo (which starts tomorrow - free passes here!). After checking slashdot, I found a message on my machine from Dean, telling me to go check slashdot.

We're just now learning about this hack of course, but basically it looks like iTunes DRM has been broken wide open now.

Of course, we've already known of a different way to play iTMS drmed files on squeezebox, at least on Mac/Win, but I can't tell you how because that would be trafficking in a circumvention device. Anyway...

What's excellent about DVD-Jon's discovery is that this allows people who have legitimately purchased iTMS music to play it on squeezebox or any AAC compatible device/software. I expect it will also be easy to simply batch process all your iTMS files into unprotected AAC without having to re-encode.

Like I said this is news to us too. All I can say right now is that it's VERY unlikely we'll support DRMed AAC out-of-the-box, for obvious legal reasons (and some philosophical ones). However it's practically certain that within the week someone will have a command-line iTMS decoder that works on all platforms.

Thanks Jon - just in time for the biggest Mac event of the year!

or are you just upset that it doesn't work with your mp3 player and you are afraid that closed DMR standards would put you out of business?

No, business is going great - Slim Devices has always opposed DRM, and our customers generally appreciate that.

I'm bitching only as a music enthusiast.

I reccomend Slim Devices' appliance for playing .mp3's on your stereo.

Basically, you install their server software on your machine (Linux, window$, whaterver), point it to a repository of .mp3's on your box, and hook up to the slimpy over your lan.

The server software, written in Perl for Linux runs a mini web server on port 9000, and is configurable through it's web interface. You can create playlists, etc.

Also, the code is OSS. They have a project on Sourceforge.

So by buying a Slimpy, you get a cool toy and you get to support an OSS project.

I have had the TCP/IP box since July, and I can't say a bad thing about it. I've got the server running on a Redhat 7 box (a Pentium 200) and all is well. Performance is fine. Never a problem.

wbs.

The coolest by far appears to be the iFP-500 series, which has been release internationally (a while ago) but not released in the US yet. So impatient me went out and asked Santa for a Squeezebox.

...but it requires special server software.

I would think that it would be possible to add more data sharing between iTunes and the SlimServer app. Most of the iTunes data is stored in an XML file in \My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml. The SlimServer is open source, so if you really wanted that feature you might be able to hack it in yourself.

Soon we'll all be jacking into each other's squeezeboxes.

Seeing as it has a 5VDC 1A input you could easily put a little battery pack on it. I don't know if it's really designed to go on picnics though.

They are also donating 10% of net profits from squeezebox to the EFF.
Read that page - they even make a little jab at the DRM music stores. Pretty bold...

and they stream mp3, too! I also spent high school and college listening to WRSU, Rutgers, New Brunswick and WKDU Drexel University. God save college radio!

And for all you NPR fans, check out Current.org. I used it to find a bunch of different streaming NPR stations for my SliMP3 player. Worked like a charm until I brought my streaming server to the office :( I really need to bring my PC home.

That's a lot cheaper, easier, and more upgradeable than a $2800 music-only system.

Buy a couple of SliMP3s and a couple of Linksys Ethernet Bridges, and avoid lost time spent reburning your CD collection. Oh, and save $2400 bucks.

I'm sure it'll do just as well as portable DVD players. Who are they kidding comparing something like that to an iPod?

I've always thought of video and audio as two completely different classes of product. Sure, the people who buy one buy the other, but CE companies always seem to ignore the fact that we actually use music completely differently from audio. The technology may be similar, but to assume that adding video to an ipod will make a better product just because it does more is quite ridiculous.

What about a Slimp3? ( ).

It is beautiful, a bit expensive, the sound is very good, people are still amazed if I control the music via the WiFi connected iBook, and the server portion of it is open source.

So if you absolutely have to have your Caller ID flash on the Slimp3's display, you can do it. Or control other devices via the remote. Whatever.

Plus the guys who make it are very pleasant to deal with.

SliMP3. Very cool, and open source as well...

The article is laden with sickly quotes about how "we're so sorry we never knew it was bad" but I want to respond to this in particular:

they mistakenly believed they were entitled to download music over the Internet because they had paid $29.99 for software that gives them access to online file-sharing services

I'm sure there will be plenty of threads here along the lines of: "$29.99 for all you can download... come on.... an "honor roll" student thought that a legit deal?" Please just consider this:

For $10/mo I just signed up for an RIAA-free emusic account , and in the first 30 minutes downloaded this $230 CD boxed set in MP3 format - free of DRM and ready to play wherever I want. I also snagged all the George Carlin CDs just because they were top downloads, but I'm also having fun perusing their classical music selections.

While I am hopelessly out of touch with the popular music scene, having not purchased a CD in over three years, I will admit that the stuff on emusic is not the kind of thing I would otherwise have picked up in a CD store. But I am VERY satisfied with what they have.. whatever latent urge I once had to go out and buy a CD has been completely erased.

So give the girl a break. She may come off as an idiot, but let's not pretend that $29.99 is a lot to pay for a few gigs of zeroes and ones.

<plug>PS If you have an emusic account please check out my product for a great way to listen to your songs!</plug>

to sit close to our computer and listen through tinny PC speakers

Wow dude, when you graduate college, you'll see there are some really nice toys out there to help with your listening habits. Save up about $250 and go shopping here. You hook it up to your LAN and your stereo, and it lets you browse and play your MP3 collection right from the included remote control. It also streams shoutcast-style streams.

What you describe above really are back in the old days, my friend.

Linksys Broadband Router $99.99
Linksys NIC cards ($34.99 X 4) 139.96
Linksys PCMCIA card $49.99
Linksys Workgroup Hub $75.00
Slimmp3 player $250.00
Cables (approx) $75.00
-----------------------
Equipment total $689.94

So if the state were to tax my modest home LAN at 10%, I'm looking at approx $70 a year. That's insanity.

But where does the definition of LAN stop? Are my actual computers considered to be part of the LAN? In the case of my awesome slimmp3 player, is my stereo now part of my LAN?

What's gonna happen in a couple of years when my fridge, toaster oven and dishwasher are all on the network? Will I pay LAN tax on them too? Where does it end?

wbs.