------------------------------------------------------------------------ A poll associated with this post was created, to vote and see the results, please visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96660 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Question: Would you buy a new Squeezebox player if it became available? - Yes , if less than $100 - Yes, if less than $200 - Yes, if less than $500 - Yes, if less than $1000 - Yes - price is no object; I just want the best sound - No - I would NOT buy another Squeezebox player ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mnyb wrote: > > POINT 1: > But the cheap generic radios does not sync with my squeezeboxes or use > the versatile plugin architecture of the squeeze system . ... > To be fair Eu radio still have the app system so some advantage over the > compettition . > > POINT 2: > The point is that there must be cheaper parts in squeezebox *system* > it's the integration that is the main thing . > ... > And my personal pow, there is no need for a super expensive product with > analog out's anymoore . > The DAC market has exploded and many users hifi ,high end. Or home > theater system is best interfaced with a digital interface be it spdiff > ,ToS ,USB or hdmi . > > POINT 3: > However it can be necessary to "package " the thing in audiophile guise > to reach audiophiles some of them would not accept it otherwise ;)... > Thank you for the thoughtful response. You make some good points. I've broken out what I find to be the three most salient points you've raised, so as to ensure the conversation keeps moving forward. Point 0 on here is that in the absence of Logitech continuing to manufacture products like Touch or Transporter, somebody, somewhere will need to pickup the hardware manufacturing mantel, given the absence of equivalent products in the market. Home brew kits are not tenable for everyone, and the degree of hardware optimization required for high quality audio playback suggests (though doe not necessarily require) that specially designed hardware would be best. Re: Point 1: Implicit in your statement is that the end user cares where the app is running. I do not think this is the case. Most users do not care if the app connecting them to a cloud service or their locally stored music collection is running on their i-Device or somehow integrated into the speaker. Thus, all the apps that an i-Device can run pit all the i-Devices and Airplay/Bluetooth/3.5mm speaker systems against the UE radio, despite all the apps the UE radio can run locally. Accordingly, I do not think the UE radios ability to run apps is a advantage over the competition in the view of the average small-speaker-system / AirPlay-radio-like-device-consumer. If anything, the ability to run apps within the small-speaker-system itself (e.g. like the UE radio) adds additional cost to each setup that will discourage consumers who want speakers sprinkled throughout their environment - why pay for the hardware to run an app in each instance of a speaker when you can pay for the hardware only once by levering an i-Device and AirPlay (wherein AirPlay hardware is substantially cheaper than the hardware to run an App or music server software)? Re: Point 2: A: Hell yes HDMI out of a "#2 Device" (i.e. all digital SB, maybe also with IR blaster output) would be f-ing brilliant. That would be a huge step forward over the competition. I suppose it would take a Meridian-Man such as yourself to see it so obviously, sorry I didn't think of it myself. I for one would love to play back ripped 5.1 DVD-A and SCAD via an SB device using only the DACs in a receiver. However, in so far as a #3 Device" (i.e. price is no object super SB) is concerned relative to those of us who don't live in a Meridian world (I am B&W 800 series to your Meridian), the explosion of the DAC market, though generally welcome, has resulted in horrific redundancies within individual home stereo setups, unnecessarily inflating costs. Justifying the expense of a super fancy DAC means it ought to provide every sort of input and output - so that its awesome performance can be leveraged in every conceivable way. Accordingly, a $3000 SB product a compliment of high end DAC(s) ought to allow its DAC(s) to be used alone, completely decoupled from the SB streaming functions, for decoding playback from CD players, BluRay players, USB connected media, etc. and thereafter sending signal into a power amp (a configuration that is somewhat foreign in the world of Meridian). The point is that home stereos are increasingly a-la-cart, such that in an expense-is-no-object SB product the interested market can be substantially increased by adding functionality which negligibly increases the cost of the expense-is-no-object SB product (i.e. adding analog outs). When dealing with an expense-is-no-object product, a minor increase in cost is always favorable when it will significantly increase the potential market size. To this end, where DACs in price-is-no-object products are concerned, there should always be 5.1 analog outs, and maybe balanced XLR too. Re: Point 3: I would prefer not get side tracked with what is and is not "audiophile" - instead let's focus on raw technical merits. I don't think packaging matters at all - as long as the price can be justified by the hardware that is inside and the software that integrates it all. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ninthsrw's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=57550 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96660 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
