I'll preface this with the disclaimer that while this sort of was a competing product to the Rio Receiver, they have long since been discontinued, so I have no qualms about posting this to a Rio based board. We all share the same love of music, and this product facilitates that.

I got a Rio Receiver with my Dell PC a couple years back for free during a promotion. I've probably used it 10-15 times in that period, since it never would consistently work, and i got really sick of having to research how to get it running with new user created software since Rio released all of one update for it. It couldn't handle my huge file collection, it was dog slow, and couldn't be used from more than 3 feet away... to put it mildly i was very happy it didn't cost me anything.

I got really fed up a week ago when i just wanted to listen to some music before i went to bed one night, and it was working fine the day before, but when i turned it on, it wouldn't connect. That was the last straw.

I remember when the Slimp3 players were being made out of the guys garage... it was kindred to the first empegs in my mind... so i'd always wanted one, but they were too pricey for what they were. But the Reciever pushed me over the line and i placed a bid for one on ebay last week.

I plugged it in last night, and within 2 minutes i was listening to music. It just WORKED. And the interface is FAST. And i can use it from my couch! I'm in love with it. It does everything i've ever wanted the Receiver to do and then some. The web interface is completely idiot proof. I was sitting on my couch with my audrey queing up playlists in minutes. Wonderful. I set the alarm clock, and it woke me up this morning. Sweeeeet.

It doesn't bog down on my 60+ gigs of music at all, and i haven't had one skip which i often had with the receiver. The search function is faster than the empeg even. And on top of all that, the plug-in architecture allows for some really cool stuff... like the fact that i can use it as an interface to Shoutcast! All the web streaming audio that you could want at your finger tips. There's stock scrollers, weather lookups, anything you want to write in Perl, and there it is.

AND... probably the best thing... Kelly instantly used the web interface to start playing music. It's so simple i didn't have to explain it. The interface is consistent and easy to figure out.

I can't sing it's praises enough... i apologize for the long post, but i've wanted one of these things for years, and all of my skepticism about it went out the door last night. It's absolutely worth the money IMHO.

Anyone else on the board have one that wants to share some cool stuff?

So, I assume you're using it to stream from your computer(s)? What about streaming from the empeg? I've always been curious about the possibility of that with the slimp3. There have been a couple of threads on the slimp3 here in the past. I haven't read through them in a while but there might be some other opinions floating around them about the slimp3.

It really looks like a slick device, though. I've toyed with buying one but never have.

- trs

*Edit* - actually, after re-perusing that second thread, It looks like it's pretty easy to stream from the empeg as long as you put the m3u file on the pc for the slimp3 to find. Is that true?

I was looking at one of those a little while back and couldn't decide if I wanted to try it or not. Looks like it has definitely worked out for you, so I think I might get one.

I have too many toys...

Then again, can one really have too many toys?

Guess that's part of being a geek.

Hijack creates .m3u files "on the fly" in the web interface.. I wonder if those work with this unit?

Cheers

I'll try tonight... it definitely should. It saves playlists in m3u format if i'm not mistaken.

Does it play OGGs?

yes.

sorta.

it's built in that it will decode them on the fly and shoot them to the Slimp3 player. It'll do Ogg, Aiff, wav, and AAC on the fly like that.

FAQ entry

In reply to:

---

If you have both LAME and the ogg tools installed, the SLIMP3 server will automatically convert Ogg files to MP3 on the fly for playback.
Note that this conversion will use a substantial amount of CPU power and may put a substantial load on your server computer.

---

Well, at least they tried. But It still looks like quite a nice toy. I would definitely want one if my best audio equipment weren't my sound card and computer speakers.

Curious thought: the slimp3 software is open source. I'll bet that it wouldn't be too hard to port to the empeg platform, giving you new functionality for your spare empeg car player.

Hi Mark,

Do you remember the two SliMP3 devices at my home...I did after your visit the test to stream the music from the Empeg over the WLAN (Car and Empeg in the yard) to the SliMP3 Device. I was working perfect. But it was not working with the modded XBox....

BTW: Did you read my feature request?

bye

Yeah. It's a hardware limitation. The Slimp3 uses a Micronas MP3 decoder chip to do all the hard work. This opposed to how the Rio Receiver does it as the Rio uses software decoding. So in theory the Rio is more flexible.
The rest of the Slimp3 is basically an Ethernet controller, PIC to control it all and a CPLD to glue it all together. The Barix Exstreamer is pretty similar except it's got an 80186 inside instead and no display.

Hi Melkon!

Yes, I do remember your two excellent remote mp3 playing devices! Good to hear that they also work with Hijack -- simple to do?

I also did see your feature request . Actually, it does sound perfectly doable, but I'm swamped right now, until the end of August at least.

Cheers

Hi Mark,

Yes it was easy to do that! I was saving the playlist (m3u) form empeg and was loading it via SliMP3...over the air, man..

Because of the feature request...No problem, the wayfinder software will be released at end of August for the SE P800. prepleasure is the most beautiful plesure...

Thanks in advance and enjoy your time.

bye

So Loren's post in the FS area got me to look at the Slimp3 again. I can't help but wonder about a few things:

1) This device, of course, requires that you have your PC on to access the music stored on it. Why not just plug your empeg into the dock (if you have one)?

2) Other than the radio streaming, what's the real advantage to using the Slimp3 over your empeg in a dock?

- Jon

jon,

This was only test for me to stream the music form the Empeg...My Empeg was at this time fitted in my car outside from my appartement. When Mark was here, we was wondering if this works...Normally I have up an running my MP3 Server and provide the music for my SLIMP3 form there.

bye

There are only a few small advantages and reasons i didn't do what you mentioned, but i can definitely see your point. You could do most of what you can do with the slimp3 by just having a docked empeg.

But here are my reasons:
I have a couple of empegs, one is my backup, the other is the one i use all the time. I'd rather not use the backup so it can remain exactly that, a backup instead of another empeg that gets a lot of use. On top of that, the backup doesn't have nearly enough hard drive space to hold my entire music collection, and i don't wanna spend the money to upgrade it because of the whole idea of it being a backup.

I could just use my main unit and dock it when i get home, but Kelly likes to listen to music when i'm not home and that would leave her musicless if i have my empeg with me.

All of my music is on a server machine, which is always on anyway, that's what it's for. I like the idea of having all of my music in one central place, and not having to mirror it on the empeg. I am always adding and making changes, so i'd have to sync the empeg all the time to keep it current. Not a big deal i guess, but another step.

This isn't an advantage for me since i only need one, but there's the ability to have multiple slimp3s thoughout your house, and have them playing different streams, or even sync them.

There are other small advantages that the slimp3 has, like the web interface (which the empeg has the capability of reproducing, but i'd have to code it... not sure about the search though) which has a number of cool little features. The plug in's available for it are pretty awesome as well... you mentioned the radio streaming which is a big one for me. There's stock tickers, weather, news, all kinds of stuff.

I guess another part of it is that it's in constant development and things are being added all the time.

Hm. I guess that explains most of it, but you definitely made me wonder why i didn't just use a docked empeg. I think the first three reasons i gave are the biggies.

I'm trying to figure out why you'd want to have a Slimp3 INSTEAD of an empeg and dock... Streaming from the empeg seems redundant to me as well...

I guess with the empeg method, you have to carry it from your car to your dock, which some people might not want to do... For me, I carry it into the house no matter what, since I live in a place with a shared garage...

- Jon

Cool Loren, fair enough. I've been considering doing something LIKE the Slimp3, but I always go back to compare a device with the empeg, and the empeg usually comes out on top.

Have you guys seen this: www.rokulabs.com

Also, Loren and others - are y'all planning to have some cool toys to check out at the Bay Area meeting? I want to see a Karma and whatever new toys y'all are playing with!

- Jon

I guess i'll load my car up with whatever i have laying around. =] But i have a feeling your new toy will steal the show. hahah.

I did buy one of the first Slimp3 devices and at this time there was no home dock form Mark available...And I have the luck, that I take my Empeg only for Hijack upgrade out of my car....And as you know we Empeggers likes the gadgets...

Ok, now that the new squeezebox is out (which you've probably all seen, since it got /.'d), I'm really liking the idea of getting one. I think I might set aside some of my tax return money for one of these new toys.

I was gonna post that but once i saw it on /. i figured it was out there. They announced it on their mail list last night. Cool stuff. Digital out and wireless... otherwise i don't think it's changed at all.

I guess I'm a little lost with this thing... It seems like a neat device, but what's the benefit for an empeg car owner, other than not having to dock the empeg at home in order to listen to music?

Not too much as has been discussed before (read up a few posts for my reasons).

Perfect - placing my order now. Of course I am kicking myself over not getting one of the Martian (www.martian.com) disk drives while they were being retailed. Anyone seen anything similarly low-fuss that could be used as a plug-in-turn-on wireless slimp3 server ?

Regards

Mark

Ah, ok. This thread somehow stayed under my radar until the recent post about the new model. You did a good job of summarizing the main benefits over a docked empeg... I guess in my case those advantages aren't worth $200-$300 though. Looks like a must-have for anyone who DOESN'T have an empeg, though.

How did you find the Squeezebox? I've got one at the moment and I'm not too keen on the casing! It's a dirt magnet because of the rubbery case and the coating seems to scuff and rub off easily.