It depends.

If I'm in my office I'll either use a Squeezebox Touch, plugged into my Mission Cyrus amp and the secondhand Mordaunt-Short speakers I bought in 1989. I use the Material Skin on Squeezebox Server, so much better than the original UI.

However, I am increasingly also using Apple Music on my MacBook, playing back through my Apple Studio Display (which has remarkably good speakers). That is mostly because I've been buying some albums on Apple Music recently and haven't got round to getting the Squeezebox playback working for them.

I've got all 600 or so CDs that I own in Apple Music (available on all my Apple devices) as well as in FLAC on my Squeezebox Server virtual machine.

If I'm in the bedroom, I use an Apple HomePod Mini as my alarm clock, to play music from Apple Music. The HomePod Mini is in the "sounds ok for its size" category, but doesn't sound amazing.

If I'm in the kitchen cooking I'll often use the Squeezebox Boom in there. Which is in the "sounds amazing for its size category". I only use the volume knob on the Boom, all other control is on my iPhone using the Material Skin on Squeezebox server.

However, there is a HomePod in the kitchen as well and I'll sometimes use that, especially if I'm already cooking and I ask Siri to play some music. The HomePod is in the "doesn't sound half bad category". There is also an Alexa Show in there, I'd never play using on that...

If we've got guests and we want some music on I'll use the Squeezeboxes sync'd together:

- Boom in the kitchen
- Touch + amp + speakers in the office (opens onto the dining room)
- Radio in the snug
- Radio outside on the outdoor table (still using the same battery pack from new !?)

The Squeezebox sync between players is still amazing, I haven't heard it go out of sync since they finally nailed it all those years ago. It even stays in sync when I use the plugin to play to Apple TVs in the same sync group.

There is still something wonderful about walking from room to room and hearing the same music playing everywhere perfectly in sync.

If I'm driving in the car or camper van that have CarPlay, I'm using Apple Music to play through the car speakers. If I'm in my Volvo V50, with no CarPlay, I'm using Apple Music playing through my iPhone 15 Pro Max speakers, they are louder than you imagine. Though I'll almost exclusively be listen to podcasts rather than music.

If I'm parked up in the camper van, if I can be bothered I'll dig the Anker SoundCore Bluetooth speaker out and play my phone through that. But I might just put my iPhone on the table and use that.

If I'm none of those places, I'll probably not listen to music, it will be podcasts instead. Played from Overcast on my iPhone through my first generation AirPods. I might listen to more music when mobile, but the AirPods aren't the greatest things for music. The AirPod Pros are good for music and I've owned a pair of those. But despite everything I've tried they just don't fit in my right ear, which is so annoying.

Once upon a time I'd have used the Squeezeboxes to listen to radio, I used to listen to BBC Radio 4 for about 10 hours a day. But podcasts replaced that a long time ago, I never listen to the radio now and 99% of my podcast listening is from my phone on my AirPods.

I haven't changed the config on Squeezebox Server in years, it just sits in a Ubuntu VM running on an Ubuntu VirtualBox setup. I throw FLACS from new CDs at it occasionally (yes I buy CDs) and a script automatically generates MP3s for me to drag into Apple Music.

On my Windows 11 PC I have my CD ripper https://www.dbpoweramp.com (probably the best CD ripper ever created).

In all the years I've had one Squeezebox failure, a couple of month ago the VFD screen on the Boom in the kitchen finally failed (it has been on 24/7 for about 15 years). Luckily I stocked up on spare Booms/Touches/Radios so it should be a while before I actually need to attempt any repairs...

Sadly I'm not using any of my empegs at the moment. If I ever manage to get my MX-5 back on the road I will install one in there (though I'm also going to have my iPhone on aux).