Alternative to squeezebox?

[jfrye]

I don't have a squeezebox and it looks very promising but I always like to confuse myself. Is there a squeezebox alternative? I want the wireless capability but don't need the on-board DAC for example. I'm not talking about an Olive or Vortex appliance. Something that pulls wireless, lossless 1 and 0's to a home theater receiver. Thanks. Great site again.

 

[wappinghigh]

Sonos is the first that comes to mind. But this just does 16/44

 

Then there are the higher end guys all jumping into the market, Niam, Linn (doesnt do wireless) PSAudio and its DAC bridge..and others. Now even Weiss

 

Seems everyone is or about to jump on the upnp streaming bandwagon...

Dont forget Apple and its airport express. Apple is the big Elephant in the room here, if they end up streaming from itunes straight into upnp enabled devices....

 

You can do this now with programs like eyeconnect....

 

Check your receiver. I might have upnp enabled already. But most of these still need hardwire ethernet.

 

Almost all these add on streamers like Squeezebox have a DAC of some sort. Most have a digital out you can use to bypass thus and run into whatever you want...

 

But one for one you'd have to say Sonos is the most direct comparison...

 

But I'll qualify this by adding I have 9 zoneplayers

 

[jfrye]

eom

 

[realhifi]

Squeeezetouch is terrific and not sure why you'd look elsewhere unless you are ready to spend some real cash.

 

[blownsi]

I have the Squeezebox touch and my buddy has the Sonos. Both do the same basic things and both work very well. The Sonos is more expensive but in our opinion has a smoother interface.

 

[ronfint]

is Squeezebox Touch -> Peachtree Nova -- (Mogami 2804)-> Peachtree ds5.5.

 

It's in my family room, and I probably listen to this more often than to my main rig. The "Touch" is wonderful.

 

Ron

 

[BigMacAttack]

I can't think of any IP solutions that claim lossless audio beyond 16/44 that run well on a wireless network. I would think that would be pretty bandwidth intensive even on 802.11n. What about non-IP options that run on dedicated bandwidth? There might be some options there that use USB dongles or something.

 

Sonos and Squeezebox are both great products, but beyond that there is also the audio|acacia whole house audio software from a new company called Plethra (www.plethra.com). It plays to Apple AirPlay devices and network attached computers and claims digital audio out so you can use your own DAC.