I have a Touch on order, but currently use both a Duet and a Transporter (Modwright modded).
The big advantage of the Duet is you can have the receiver portion in a closet somewhere, hooked to your preamp/amp and the only visible interface is the small hand control. Early versions of the Duet software were a bit buggy, but the latest releases have been stable.
The touch has a much better screen, a much better DAC (which if you're running only digital won't matter to you), but offers less flexibility from a remote-control standpoint. You can use the iPeng app for the iPhone/Touch which works well as a remote control. But with the Duet, you won't need a separate remote.
From a sound quality standpoint, I think the Touch is better in every way. Users report near-Transporter level performance. I've been using the Duet Receiver into a Perpetual Technologies P3a DAC (also Modwright modded), and it seems like a fairly decent transport, but the combination does not in any way challenge the quality of the Transporter sound.
There's been some discussion about whether the Touch is likely to become an orphan product, since it seems that it is not getting much development/support from Logitech. The Transporter is no longer in production either. One wonders whether Logitech bought Slim Devices only to run it into the ground. Anyway, long-term support might be an issue.
Hope this helps! |
A couple more things about the Touch. (and why I'm getting one).
1) It can be used as a stand-alone music server. It has an onboard crippled version of the Squeeze software, and with the use of some USB external hard drives, can play music and display artwork without having to have a computer turned on in the house.
2) The USB connection also lets you play MP3's or other music off a USB memory stick, if that's your thing.
3) The internal DAC is purported to be quite good. Good enough for most people (non-audiophiles) to use without an external DAC. I plan to use mine in a vacation home system, so these are all big advantages for me.
YMMV |
The Duet is not any better then when it was introduced. You have to be in close proximity of the receiver to get a steady stream of audio. "Buffering" issues are common i.e. songs pause while the stream catches up. If a microwave is 30 ft within the receiver the signal is interrupted when the microwave is on. Not necessarily a Logitech issue but an issue nevertheless. Battery life on the Duet controller is poor. Charges dont last more than 24 hours and get worse the life of the product. Replacement batteries cost $30 dollars! The controller has a short life expectancy (mine died within 2 years of light use.) Creating playlists with the duet on the controller is impossible. Users should be somewhat tech savvy to use with any success. The plugin's dont really work well and I recommend you not install any to increase the chances of success/enjoyment. Setup is not plug and play. Not all routers work well with the system. Navigation i.e. the iPod like "wheel" is horrible especially if you have 1000's of records to wade thru. Fonts are small and hard to read if you are older. The list goes on....
In short the Squeezebox Duet was/is a disaster BUT I muddle with it mainly because I listen to vinyl 95% of the time.
The Touch, with my Duet experiences - I would never buy - and have to agree with the previous poster that Logitech drove Slim Devices into the ground. |
Due to the distance between my MW Transporter and listening chair, I bought a Duet only to use as a remote. I like having my music collection at my finger tips. For me it was just plug and play without any issues. Got a great deal from Crutchfield and have been very please with the purchase. |
For a slightly different take, I have several Slimdevices. I currently have a Touch, a SB3 and a Radio. I owned a Duet (and still have the Controller and use it with the other players). I also auditioned a Transporter some years back. (The reason the Transporter is going out of production is the display modules used are no longer made.)
I've not had any particular connectivity issues with any of the devices. Early on the Duet firmware was a bit flakey but subsequent versions solved those issues for me.
The Touch has had some growing pains as they've fine tuned the firmware but the Touch is a more complex device with its internal server than their earlier models.
I did not buy the Touch for either the display or the touch screen capability. I bought it because the sound quality is so good that I was able to sell my external DAC (a Lavry DA-10). I moved my SB3 to my second system, sold the Duet Receiver, and use the Touch in my main system. I've been very pleased the the results.
The one item I can't comment on is the use of the Touch as a stand-alone server. Out of curiosity I experimented with that right after I received the Touch and had problems scanning the drive. However, my original intention was to continue using my external Linux server so haven't since bothered to try the USB drive directly to the Touch even though we're a couple of firmware updates down the road.
I'd recommend the Touch. There are some apps for wireless handhelds that make for a sophisticated remote if you want something fancier than the included Touch remote and don't want to buy a Duet Controller by itself. |
Another advantage not yet mentioned is that the Touch will decode 24/96 files. This is the reason I waited for the Touch to be released. I've only had it for a week but playing music from a USB thumb drive works fine. I don't have a USB hard drive so I can't try that. Sound quality is pretty darn good - even Pandora and Slacker at 128k!
Dick |
Of course you could also get a Sonos system and save yourself a lot of grief. |
Of course you could also get a Sonos system and save yourself a lot of grief. Just curious - from what grief would I be saving myself? |
I love my Touch.I never thought PC audio could sound so good!
Also, to be able to create playlists and have my music at my fingertips with very little (if any) loss is sound quality. I am using Apple lossless.
The entire hook up cost $265 for the Touch and $99 for 1 TB External drive. I also bought an extra Hard drive for back up.
It sounds pretty close to my Cary 306 SACD.
But,I am using a very good digital cable and it is plugged into the Cary's Digital inputs and played through the rest of my stereo components. |
Thanks for all the input, I went with the Touch and have it connected to a Museatex Bitstream DAC. There is a slight learning curve. I still can't seem to get Album art from my iTunes onto the Logitech Touch's display. I'm ripping everything in WAV format which should be bit for bit. Sound quality is great. I might purchase an Apple Touch and use it as a remote as I've read on some forums the iPeng app allows you to control the Logitech device via Apple handheld.
Again, thanks for the input. |
Ozzy, have you tried 24/96 flac downloads? It's amazing ... checkout hdtracks.com. Touch supports 24/96 but not sure about your Cary 306 SACD.
I can't consistently ear a difference between a transport and pc but sometimes I find it sounds better via pc. The sound is smoother ... I think if the wireless network is reliable and buffer is big enough, it should be more consistent via pc than reading a CD off a drive.
One of the reasons I chose MW Transporter is to eliminate another cable/layer for more potential jitter problems.
It's a GREAT idea to backup your music. I've been using PC audio for ~4 years and my external USB drive died last month. Luckily everything is backed up or I have LOTS of ripping to do again. Got a new 1 TB from Amazon for $88. |
The earlier Duet remote software was flaky and would frequently lose synch with the server. I haven't had any problems with newer versions for some time.
I never get buffer delays, but my receiver is connected with cat5.
Sometimes wireless devices just don't get along. $100 for a different router isn't a big deal.
I have had to replace the Duet battery after a couple of years use. Since when do batteries need replacing? (sarcasm)
If you have difficulty navigating thousands of albums, perhaps start with 'artist' or 'genre' instead. The wheel is not the perfect interface, but short of having a device with an alpha keyboard, I think it works fine.
I will be getting a Touch soon.
I recommend anyone getting a Squeezebox anything, start with dbPoweramp and FLAC. |
I've got all 3, SB3, Duet now Touch. I have had the Touch since the week it came out, but just got it out of the box yesterday at my beach house here in Oak Island, NC. Took me all of about 10 minutes to get it up and running....5 of those getting that damn plastic off the screen. (LOL....) I have been running it into the DAC of my Onkyo SR-876 home theater receiver and running IC's out of it too using it's DAC. I think to my ears the internal Touch DAC is much much better. I think I'll buy another couple to replace my SB3 and Duet, since my dog was able to set this up. Only issue I've had so far is getting album art from MP4's on screen if anyone can help this aging big dog.....So far so good....Rootman's a rockin'.... |
Can you use the duet remote with the logitech touch unit? |
Can you use the duet remote with the logitech touch unit? Yes. That's the way I do it in my system. (I even sold my Duet Receiver and just kept the Controller.) It is rare that I play music directly from the Touch's screen. |
Of course you could also get a Sonos system and save yourself a lot of grief.
Just curious - from what grief would I be saving myself? Anyone that has owned a Duet knows the grief. SONOS is a superior product by leaps and bounds compared to Logitech solutions. |
Anyone that has owned a Duet knows the grief. SONOS is a superior product by leaps and bounds compared to Logitech solutions. Strange. I owned a Duet (and still own the Controller) and had no big issues. I now have a Touch in my main system, a SB3 in my second system, a SB Radio and the Controller that works with them all whether synced or playing separately. It handles my 47,000 plus song library without hassle. While I've had no big issues, I know of no product ever made that has a 100% satisfaction rate. A quick visit to the Sonos forums showed people have a number of wireless connectivity issues, problems adding music, crossfade and muting issues, firewall issues, missing libraries and so on. In other words, it sounds a lot like the same problems one sees on the Slimdevices forum. My apologies for not having the problems you expect me to have. Guess I'll have to work a little harder on screwing things up. ;-) |
The Duet's been in my system problem-free for nearly two years. I am moving on to the PS Audio Bridge, but that is primarily for fidelity reasons. To be sure, I have heard and read about all the problems many Duet owners have had to deal with. I realize that I must be one of the more fortunate ones. I also know from experience that the Sonos is indeed a better server; it is however much more expensive than the Duet.
The point is, the Duet was not a failure by any means. |
What are the "fidelity reasons" for the move to PS Audio Bridge. Can you run the Bridge side by side with the Duet? |
