"Marc Sherman" wrote in message > Aaron Zinck wrote: > > > > 2. Sean (slim CEO) has addressed the optical digital L/R switching > > problem. It's a problem with the actual IC they're using for the > > digital out, it's not the result of problems with slimserver. It's > > solution must come from the maker of the chip--so it's not exactly > > like slim devices is ignoring the issue, it's just out of their > > powers to fix it. Also, the problem is nonexistent on the analog > > outs and even, I believe, absent from the coax digital output so it's > > not as though there aren't other usable options. > > I've got to say that I don't think that holds water. The fact that the > actual cause of the bug is hardware that Slim sources from an external > supplier, doesn't absolve Slim of responsibility for it. They sold the > box, they're responsible for its support, including the parts they're > essentially reselling. Think of cars -- Ford themselves manufacture > relatively few of the parts in their cars; they mainly do assembly. But > when there's a flaw in a particular part, such as a seatbelt retractor, > Ford doesn't send you to the seatbelt manufacturer for support. This is > the kind of thing that generally requires a product recall. Hopefully > the IC in question is socketed, not soldered... > > Having said that, Bill, the bug only occurs when switching between MP3 > and FLAC output, so clearly your friend isn't really the audiophile he > claims to be. :) > > - Marc
I didn't mean to imply that it absolved Slim of responsibility. I just wanted it to be clear that it's not as though Slim doesn't care about the inadequacy--they care and would fix it if it were in their power. The burden of replacement in this case is not quite the same as in a part like a seatbelt. No one's going to die because of this flaw. And it would probably crush a company as small as slim if they had to replace all that hardware (and they may not be able to just drop in a fix--it might require much software and hardware reworking and possibly a different mainboard). Having dealt with much electronics and computer hardware I think the squeezebox falls in the normal range of tolerance for problems that I have come to expect from what is still an immature field. All this is still not to say that Slim is absolved of responsibility, I just felt that conclusions about the company were being made perhaps without looking at the entire, accurate, picture. If the optical out issue is a major disappointment and a dealbreaker for you I wouldn't be surprised if Slim would help you out in some way (maybe with a return) if you contacted them about it. _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
