Audio Tech Goodness From Slim Devices

I’ve been looking at devices that will interface directly with my home audio system and allow access to my mp3 collection stored on a huge hard drive on a file-server computer in another room.

Since the AudioTron has apparently been discontinued, I’ve been looking a lot at the Squeezebox made by Slim Devices.

What sets the Squeezebox apart from other devices like it (including consumer offerings from Netgear, Creative, and Linksys) is that it doesn’t require the user to install the retarded Microsoft .net framework on the server computer. Rather, the proprietary software that powers the server computer is open source. And it can be used to serve the Squeezebox (or several squeezeboxes) as well as other remote computers anywhere on the network. Just enter the streaming url of the server computer into any local box, and you have full access to the server software, which (as mentioned) supports multiple sessions. And because it’s open source, all sorts of interesting plugins and other developments are being refined constantly by an active development community.

I’ve been playing with the software a bit tonight (as I put some finishing touches on a little web project I’ve been working on for a few weeks now), and I have to say that it’s really impressive. It hardly bogs down the server computer at all, yet remains highly responsive. If I decide to buy any of the devices I’ve been considering, having a chance to try out this software beforehand, and the fact that it’s open source, DEFINITELY give Slim Devices the advantage.

Oh, and the fact that the server software allows (with a bit of tinkering with my router) for streaming music anywhere over the internet (say to work) is another big plus.