Computer for Squeesbox Touch

Bedel

Sounds like you plan will work fine if the netbook has wifi and you download squeezebox media server onto it. I think you can also attach a USB hard drive directly to the SBT to read files. The processing power of the SBT is limited so if your music library gets big it might slow down, but it might be worth experimenting with. Of course you still need a computer to rip music and organize the USB hard drive.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your responds. Following your answers I did some research and found that a reliable NAS(like Synology) plus two HD units of 2 Terra) will be above my budget. Following Michael (Sufentanil) comment, I think that I can buy a simple net book computer, and located it in a different room (the external HD will be connected to the computer). Although the computer is relatively simple in its performances quality, since it’s used only for streaming the music to the Logitech, I believe that it will be fine.
Please let me know if you think that it will not work smoothly.
Thanks for your help.

I've got a SB Touch system, hardwired, and wanted to get the playback software off my main PC. I use the LMS for the SB, of course, and JRiver for my computer set-up. I just got an Asus EEE Box and I love it. It's smaller than my router and mounts on a little stand.....totally silent. I've got a 1 TB external drive connected and minimum programs/services running on it. I swear it sounds better both on the SB Touch and computer audio systems. The particular one I got is a refreshed/refurbed for around $300 and it's the EB1503-B003G w/ Intel Atom D2550 1.86GHz 4GB MM 320GB HD (USB 3.0 too). Very cool little box.

I absolutely agree with Sufentanil. Once you have network, especially wireless, your music is sent as data without timing and the timing is recreated on the other side of the bridge. Nothing on computer side makes any difference (as long as it is providing all bits - "bit perfect").

Bmdduck statement about good backup scheme is very true. I have two backups for two reasons. First, I don't want to have my HD stolen or destroyed in fire but, second, I need third drive intact when copying drives 1-2 goes bad (controller or software goes crazy). Many people use RAIDS but it does not protect them from the controller/hardware failure. I strongly believe that unpowered disk tends not to fail!

Bedel,

You don't mention whether you already have a network in your home or not. If you do, you could use a network attached storage (NAS) device to store media. I have a ReadyNas DUO on my network which runs Logitech media server. The NAS is in my office attached directly to my router and I have a Touch in the family room which connects wirelessly to the router. It works great.

Once you go to the trouble of ripping all of your music, you will want to have a good backup scheme. I rip to my main computer and periodically copy the content over to the ReadyNAS. I think you can set it up to automatically sync up contents but I haven't gotten that far yet.

I would also recommend reading Computeraudiophile's ripping strategy.

Good luck, bmdduck

bmdduck

Squeezeboxes are designed to be networked, so how quiet the computer is doesn't really matter (it can be in a completely different room, you just use WiFi or Ethernet to connect them).

Classically, a Mac Mini is a typical choice where someone truly needs a quiet computer, although new it's above your price range.

At your price range, you're looking for a used 3-year-old computer, which is more than adequate for the job of serving the music data to the Squeezebox. You can choose any major operating system (Windows, OS X, or Linux), as the Logitech Media Server works with all of them.

Michael