Very pleased with SqueezePlay

[wvanbakel]

Hello All,

From experience I have learnt that each situation has advantages and disadvantages and for a long time I have explored and tested several music server options, starting with Vortexbox, Music Player Daemon and also different operating systems, like Windows and FreeBSD.
Vortexbox Player, squeezeslave, different alsa settings hw:1,0 and plughw:1,0
It has been a confusing and enriching experience to explore and discover all the options.

Recently I took some time to build squeezeplay from the available sources at http://svn.slimdevices.com/repos/jiv...k/squeezeplay/

* This software supports 24/192k audio.

If you like to install this player, then follow these steps:

* If your Vortexbox doesn't have a monitor attached, you need to include x11vnc in step 2.

1: yum reinstall vortexbox

2: yum install squeezeplay-slim 
(or 2: yum install squeezeplay-slim x11vnc)

3: Reboot

4: Configure SqueezePlay (in front of the server or with vnc client).

This will result in the smallest Xorg installation.

I like to hear your feedback.

[mftech]

I vote for Gapless playback...

[Ron Olsen]

Thanks for carrying out this experiment and providing info on how to do it.

However, if you want to view the SqueezePlay GUI on a Windows or Mac machine, it is far simpler to install SqueezePlay on Windows or Mac, rather than install SqueezePlay on VortexBox and use X forwarding to view the GUI. SqueezePlay running on Windows or a Mac can connect to LMS running on VortexBox just as easily as SqueezePlay running on VortexBox. Used in this fashion, SqueezePlay can control all the other SB players on your network, and also play to the sound device on your PC or Mac.

You can download SqueezePlay for Windows, Mac, and Linux from the Slim Devices nightly repository: http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nightly/?ver=7.7

The advantages to running SqueezePlay on VortexBox:

1. You have a GUI (Gnome or KDE) installed on your VortexBox and you want to view the SqueezePlay GUI on a monitor and keyboard attached to your VortexBox.

or

2. You want to use SqueezePlay as a player, with output to the sound card or USB DAC on your VortexBox.

This last case is probably the best reason to install SqueezePlay on VortexBox. The fact that this approach can provide hi-res output and gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS makes SqueezePlay better than VortexBox Player (no gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS) and Squeezeslave (no hi-res playback) as a native player on VortexBox.

[divreg]

When i experimented with SqueezePlay, it was to get apps to show on LMS at :9000. It's great to play audio on a client, but found it useless for audio on the host, which is the intent here. Also, the code wvanbakel mentions is source code from all the way back to fc8. I am glad it was built on his behalf, but would be more glad if a wiki was produced with reference to all build libraries if; provide a reason for it over LMS. A lot of information is missing from the OP in build instructions for normal users that could be constructive in a wiki.

As for X11 forwarding, it's useful--a lot. But I would not recommend it as a requirement as per "My hope is that the Vortexbox team is interested to make this player available for it's customers". That's far beyond the use of normal Windows + Mac people that want an "appliance" to "just werk", in my opinion.

Perhaps wvanbakel could provide more information about why they prefer this method over LMS.

[wvanbakel]

2. You want to use SqueezePlay as a player, with output to the sound card or USB DAC on your VortexBox.

This last case is probably the best reason to install SqueezePlay on VortexBox. The fact that this approach can provide hi-res output and gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS makes SqueezePlay better than VortexBox Player (no gapless FLAC playback when controlled by LMS) and Squeezeslave (no hi-res playback) as a native player on VortexBox.

Ron, on my Logitech Media Server, SqueezePlay has replaced the Vortexbox Player AND SqueezeSlave. the client is sitting on the server waiting for commands from the web interface, the remote app on my iPhone or like you suggest another SqueezePlay on my desktop/laptop. The only need for one time access to the GUI is to input account information for www.mysqueezebox.com.

Also, the code wvanbakel mentions is source code from all the way back to fc8.

The source code is for SqueezePlay 7.7.2, which is recent, but in order to compile the source with success, I needed to follow the instructions.
When I compile this code on a Debian system, I have to follow different instructions, it has to do with the way distro's organize their development tools and libraries. The development environment probably didn't change between fc8 and fc16, only different versions. The instructions are still valid.

[wvanbakel]

A lot of information is missing from the OP in build instructions for normal users that could be constructive in a wiki.
That's far beyond the use of normal Windows + Mac people that want an "appliance" to "just werk", in my opinion.

Perhaps wvanbakel could provide more information about why they prefer this method over LMS.

divreg, SqueezePlay does NOT replace the Logitech Media Server, it acts as a client, just like Vortexbox Player, with the same functionality and some different audio features.
Your argument confuses me, I think that interested Vortexbox customers would like to see an installable rpm in the repository, as opposed to detailed build instructions.

[wvanbakel]

Also, there is a chance that SqueezePlay is supported by Spotify, but I can't seem to find a free trial option to test this.

[Ron Olsen]

The source code is for SqueezePlay 7.7.2, which is recent, but in order to compile the source with success, I needed to follow the instructions.
When I compile this code on a Debian system, I have to follow different instructions, it has to do with the way distro's organize their development tools and libraries. The development environment probably didn't change between fc8 and fc16, only different versions. The instructions are still valid.

Is it necessary to build SqueezePlay from source? Did you try running the compiled Linux version of SqueezePlay that's in the Slim Devices repository? http://downloads.slimdevices.com/nig...7.7.2-9627.tgz

I'm curious if this version runs on VortexBox.

[wvanbakel]

The for download available binaries for linux are broken, there is no sound and the GUI is non-functional.

Here is a screenshot of the binary that I downloaded just now:



It's quite simple to test: extract the tarbal in /opt/squeezeplay and start the shell script over ssh -X vortexbox.local.
You get the GUI in your local desktop, If you are a windows user, then you can try putty:

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/XDMCP-HOWTO/ssh.html

[wvanbakel]

Spotify is not supported by SqueezePlay.