Logitech Squeezebox Radio – Internet Radio with WiFi wireless MP3 music streaming
Posted by Notcot on May 1, 2010 in Portable Sound & Vision |
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Logitech Squeezebox Radio – Internet Radio with WiFi wireless MP3 music streaming
I have only used this radio once since buying it for Christmas and, once I got it working, it’s very good. Sounds nice, looks nice, wireless streaming worked well. However, it was very much let down by poor installation instructions for the non-technical person, a fault with the European server which meant I couldn’t get it working for hours, and a pathetically poor customer support line manned by people who couldn’t understand what I said, and whose accents were so heavy I couldn’t make out what they said. For anyone who buys this and has problems getting it working, you don’t need to download the Squeezebox software to make the radio work (unlike the advice I got from customer support – you see, useless!), and if you can’t get it working, try again later. I found the Squeezebox forum (links from the Squeezebox site) was by far the most helpful source of information.
Radio does sound good though so I don’t regret buying it!
Rating: 4 / 5
First, the hardware is great. Sound coming out of the speakers is excellent, the build is very solid and the overall package is quite small.
However, the software really lets down the hardware. The biggest issue I found is that there are two “modes”. In the first mode, the player connects to the Logitech web site in order to play the streams, get the favourites, installed apps,… In the second mode, you can set up a server on a computer in order to play music on this computer. But in this case, it will always use this server for everything, even listening to Internet radio stations. So if your PC is down (first thing in the morning for example), no Internet radio. It’s also very difficult to go from one mode to the other (loop through a lot of menus until one random one asks you if you want to switch), and in this case, you lose all your favourites, shortcuts, preferences,…
So the PC-mode is a no-no for me as it’s only on 95% of the time.
Setting up favourites on the web mode is excruciatingly complex: connect to a radio from the player, go to “details”, display the URL, and while it scrolls on the screen (most URLs are 100+ characters), write it down on a piece of paper. Then, go to your computer, type the URL on the Logitech web site, and pray you didn’t add any typo. It will then tell you it most likely won’t work – forget about this, it will if you typed in the URL correct.
Another problem with the favourites is that it’s at the very bottom of the “home” menu. You’d expect to be able to go quickly to the favourites, but not, you have to scroll through the whole list of applications.
Sometimes, also, some of the 6 shortcut buttons get lost after a while and you have to reprogram them. Or they get moved randomly. It looks like it depends on the radio stations. Entering the URL manually by following the procedure above seems to have fixed this lately.
Usually, radios work well (my wireless is of very poor quality and in the garage, and it still works fine from the other side of the house). However, it depends on the radio and our local radios in Ireland are of very poor quality and pop/drop/get static (yes! It looks like the Internet-conversion is done by a legacy radio receiver…).
Another problem of course is that most of the subscription services advertised do not work in Europe, but only in the States.
When it works, after spending about a week to set it up (those of you who own a Logitech Harmony will understand me…), it’s fine. However, it’s very glitchy and needs to be rebooted a few times a day. This is definitely not a radio for your average user – it’s really for geeks. It was a present and the person I gave this too is refusing to use it, given all the problems highlighted above (and still prefers using the old hissy radio with a tune-in wheel).
That said, I really like it and I actually use it quite a lot, as I’m happy to deal with the problems above. It’s just that it’s not a radio for everyone.
I would hope that Logitech improves at least on the stability and usability. The dual-mode issue is a serious design flaw and probably won’t ever be fixed (which pretty much renders the possibility to play your MP3s impractical), and the fact that some advertised services are not available in Europe is most likely not going to change any time soon. It’s not their fault, but really they should correct their advertisements.
Rating: 3 / 5
My previous kitchen radio died so I took opportunity to think about streaming music collection around house – something I’ve been meaning to do for a while.
The LCD screen makes all the difference compared to other products with squashed and limited displays. It displays album and track info neatly along with album/radio art. Its easy to setup preset radio stations, music collection etc. In fact I haven’t needed to read the instruction manual. There is no need at all for FM/DAB/SD card or CDs. Its simple and easy and just what we wanted. The sound quality is excellent.
WiFi signal … we use it in the kitchen where we hadn’t used wifi before. We discovered we have weak wifi strength (less than 30%) in some parts of the kitchen. This is easy to check under the diagnosis menu on the radio. I found all of the connection/buffering problems so far were due to wifi strength (not the hardware or software) as the radio always works quickly and robustly when its next to our router which is upstairs and at the other end of the house (100% wifi strength). There is lots of information on the web about ways to boost the signal around your house and after trying the quick and free methods first, we have ordered a ‘plug-in’ additional WiFi point which relays the signal over the mains supply to the kitchen (Netgear WGXB102). We have a victorian terraced house with thick solid walls, and this type of house is troublesome for WiFi. If you are concerned about this possible extra cost then see if you can use another device (e.g. laptop) to check the WiFi signal in the locations you want to put the radio, before you buy. I don’t mind at all and it still gets 5 stars without hesitation. *UPDATE* WiFi extender arrived and works fine. We can use the radio anywhere in the kitchen now and in the garden too.
The advertising says “free your music”. For once, I really think this is true and accurate. We are now listening to lots of our music we previously rarely listened to.
The product is expensive but it is worth it.
Tip: Rather than switching on and then pressing play, you can just press play when the unit is off. The presets also work when the unit is off which is great. Just an example of user friendly it is and how much effort they put into reducing the number of button presses to do things.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this rather pricey unit after a bad experience with a cheap and cheerful internet radio, which proved to be highly unreliable and frustrating. The “out of the box” experience with this product was excellent- I had registered for a mysqueezebox account before the unit arrived, so after a quick setup, I was listening to the radio. It was also fairly easily able to set this up to stream music from the music library on my network- easy to browse by title, artist, album, year, etc. It even picks up the cover art. The colour screen looks excellent. The availability of facebook is a bit of a gimmick, but other “apps” are excellent- I especially like last.fm.
Other reviewers have pointed out that inputting text is a bit laborious; well, I’d say that its better than most. In the main, the controls are intuitive, responsive and easy to use. Also, as other reviewers mention, the sound quality is excellent- for kitchen listening, the fact that there is only one speaker is not a problem; the sound is clear & rich with a lovely bass, but not “boomy”. It certainly doesnt have to strain to fill a largish room.
So, why not give it 5 stars? Well, for the price, I would have expected a remote control and I think its very cheeky to expect users to pay for a proprietary battery pack- why not use standard AA cells? The “accessory pack” (remote+battery pack) is not even available as a I write. Another irritation is that the unit does not remember preset buttons- every time you turn it off (not disconnect from power), it forgets the button presets. After some googling, I discover that this is a known fault. Maybe it will be fixed in a future firmware update.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’m a big fan of Logitech’s Squeezebox products, so when the Radio was announced I was keen add one to my collection.
Straight out of the box the Squeezebox Radio looks well made , compact and well thought-out and after entering my network details it was quickly up and running.
Sound quality is excellent, similar to that produced by the Squeezebox Boom (although the Radio is mono), with nicely balanced treble and bass.
One of the great benefits of the Squeezebox products is their ability to play a wide variety of file formats, including FLAC and WMA Lossless, ideal for those looking to maintain a high quality digital music collection. This is where the only problem I have encountered occurred, when playing WMA Lossless files the radio has to constantly re-buffer, making listening almost impossible, FLAC files are however fine. This issue is easily resolved by logging on to the Logitech site and following the instructions to download and install LAME which limits the bit-rate at which tracks are played.
Internet radio is excellent, with very little delay experienced and really easy to use. Some of the plug-ins such as Alien BBC and BBCi Player, don’t yet work with the Radio’s firmware however I would imagine that this won’t take long to be updated.
Overall the Squeezebox Radio is excellent and I would have no hesitation in recommending it. Any issues are only minor and as the firmware is regularly updated, should be resolved quickly.
Rating: 5 / 5