Talk me out of buying a slimp3 player

Alright, i've had this Dell receiver for a couple of years now, and i've probably used it a total of 10 times because it's either not finding the server, or any other myriad of problems it always has. The stock software is bunk since it can't handle 1/4 of the songs i have on my server, and i'd have to create m3us in ever directory just to be able to browse by album (yes i know there are tools for this, but i don't want to do it for cleanliness sake). The user created server software is getting better, but i just don't have time to keep futzing around with new versions to get things to work... i just want to come home and press a button and hear music, period.

So i've been wanting a slimp3 player (http://www.slimp3.com) since the guy first built the batch in his garage, but the cost was prohibitive. At this point, i'm willing to pay it to have a home mp3 player that works (and yes, i have a spare empeg so i could use that... but that puppy's going in storage =] ). Can anyone tell me any advantages the Rio Reciever has over the Slimp3 player?

Ever since i saw a buddy of mine's slimp3 that he'd hooked up to a huge LED sign in his garage so it showed the songs and album titles (slick) i can't stop thinking about it. I've pretty much talked myself into one, just doing a sanity check. Thanks!

Hey Loren

Just wanted to add that I am looking at a Turtle Beach Audiotron for exactly the same reasons you listed above...I really like my Rios but with no new software upgrades on the horizon, they just don't cut it with me anymore....maybe a slimp3 would be the ticket too

I just posted this after another frustrating 2 hours of trying to get the thing running. It's so weird. One day it works fine, the next the tRio software won't run, or the server won't see it... i'm just fed up. Glad I'm not the only one. That's sorta why i posted, i'm just trying to make sure i'm not missing some big picture here.

Oh, i just remembered one pretty big advantage the Rio has... it has a built in amp. doh.

SliMP3 rhymes with WiMPyThing ???

just joking

I really love my Rio Receivers now that I have pitched the provided server ("A.R.M.") -- replaced with JReceiver -- and also replaced the client end with tRio.

It's very nice to have the Rio's amp when you need it. It makes for a very compact solution with a minimal number of wires, when all you have available to you at the play site is a set of unpowered speakers. Both the setups in my master bedroom and living room use this mode to stream audio from servers in my office.

For my TV/A/V location, I chose another networked audio/computer device (HP de100c) because it looks just like a rack-mount component. The Rio would not have fit [visually] there as well.

I haven't used the SliMP3, but it strikes me as being an even more D.I.Y. kind of solution. It's available as a kit, right? I don't consider the Rio to necessarily be non-DIY (having switched out both server and client SW because they suck), but at least the HW is entirely finished and refined.

Against the slimp3:
- only plays mp3, not lossless FLAC (a big point for me)
- user interface even more limited than Rio Receiver

I'm going to try out JReceiver as a last ditch effort.

Just some counterpoints:

mmhere123456: Yeah, the amp is a big deal for some locations. But i need this for my living room, which has everything hooked up through an amp anyway, so it's not a problem in my case. As for it being more DIY than the Rio... i've played with and handled both, and the Rio actually feels WAY more cheap and less refined that the Slimp3. The software for the Slimp3 is actively being updated, and there are a number of damn cool plugins available for it, since it's all Perl scriptable. It's not a kit, check out the site for details. It's more refined than you think.

julf: Yup. That's the other biggy... it's all decoded by an mp3 chip on the hardware side. They do have it recoding to mp3 from OGG and AAC (i think) on the fly if you are running it from a linux server at the moment. Slick, but lossy and task intensive. Big negative though. But, i don't see myself ever re-encoding my whole collection to anything other than mp3 in the near future.

As for the user interface... have you ever used one? I'd have to disagree with you on this point. It is SLICK, and FAST. It does just about everything the empeg does on top of it. Search by anything, Shuffle by anything, and Artist->Album menu selection. I've used it and IMHO it's way more usable than the Rio. The only percievable negative is that you have to use the remote. But that is offset by the fact that it has a slick web interface... perfect for the Audrey sitting next to my couch.

Keep 'em coming... i really don't wanna spend the $250 on it but i'm just really fed up. =]

I'm running both JRec and tRio, latest versions. Thats probably the most negative, in that you have to be running bleeding edge software to get it useable. But once you reach that point, it is most definitely usable. The fact that it netboots is probably both the best and worst thing about the Rio. Best, because it never goes out of date (depending of course, on gracious developers like Reed and Paul) and worst, because it isn't quite drop-in and "a total of 5 minutes to be listening to Christmas music on my stereo via the SLIMP3 from opening the box," to quote from sliMP3 website.

We have digital out adapters (same source as Empeg I believe), a soon-to-be slick web interface, and a hell of a backend in JRec that allowed me to write up a Python XML-RPC web streamer/icecast server in a couple hours (I've kinda put it on hold since the new tRio does basically everything I was attempting to do plus more)

Plus price! I'm picked up my Rio's for $100 a while back, and they still pop up on eBay, although not with the frequency that they used to. Slimp3 is $239 and stops at MP3. Rio's can play MP3, FLAC, Oggs w/o transcoding on tRio, plus whatever else you can throw a decoder/transcoder at in JRec.

Search doesn't exist on tRio right now, but I don't think it would be difficult to add -- Rioplay or Reza's player has search by title from remote.

Probably my main gripe (most would agree) is the display. The small LCD leaves a bit wishing, but the slimp3 doesn't have a big screen to start with either. Another screen (like the sliding LED panel) could be hacked on independent of the Rio to do status displays, although probably not the same way, since its a full graphical LCD panel. But grab the current playing song from tRio, and dump that out a serial port to the LED panel.

The Java programming might scare off the hacker/one-off developers out there (like me!), since both these projects are Java-based. You can get at JRec with the XML-RPC interface, so its a little easier, and tRio is the right approach (all the work on a machine with enough horsepower to do whatever, and basically export the display to the Rio)

loren: "i just want to come home and press a button and hear music, period."

Completely understandable. I'm doing that right now. Ahh, tRio in Jukebox Random Mode.

Wow. See, that's what i was looking for. =] I hadn't seen that interface pic... that looks like it's going to be amazing. Thanks.

Alright, i'm going to install JReciever and give it one last go. Wish me luck.

WOW that IS awesome! But will it work with the HSX-109 as the server? (**I know wishful thinking**). Excellent work!

yes, I have used a slimp3 too, I have one. I was referring to the user interface *without* the remote control - I hate remote-control-only interfaces, becaus I can never find the bloody remote quickly enough

Julf: so you have both? What is your setup. I'm interested to hear from someone who has used both extensively, and if you have them both setup on your network.

I don't actually have both on the network right now. Got the slimp3 to work, but haven't used it that much after I got the Rio Receivers. Might end up using the slimp3 in the bathroom or something (just as a repeater without any user interface).