Smartphones Make Home Theater Easy Now, But It’ll Get Better

December 28th, 2011

Whether the idea scares you or not–some don’t like relying on one device to do too much–your smartphone may soon be your automated controller.  An automated controller is what makes audio/video systems easy.  You want to watch TV?  You press a button on an automated controller that says “TV.”  The controller, or “remote,” then tells the TV to turn on, tells it what input to go to, tells the cable box to come on, tells the stereo to turn on, and tells the stereo what input to turn to and what sound mode (e.g. Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Stereo) to be in.  The remote also knows that when you then press “7,” it’s to tell the cable box to go to the high-definition version of channel 7 (i.e. you’re not telling the DVD player to go to chapter 7).  Similarly, if you want to watch a DVD, you push the button that says “DVD.”  If you want to listen to Sirius, you push the button that says “Sirius,” and similarly for your other audio and video sources.  And, you don’t have to aim automated controllers–the better ones, anyway–at the TV or at the other equipment.  It’s truly user friendly a/v–the way electronics that are designed for people should be.

For a few years now, our smartphones have been effectively letting us choose songs, and make playlists, for listening to on our stereos.  These apps allow one to pick songs and to make playlists from the music on our computer and from the music offered by the likes of Rhapsody, MOG, or Spotify (i.e. internet-based companies that offer just about any song or album).  These smartphone apps also allow us to listen to internet-based radio such as AM/FM stations (i.e. the stations on your table radio, but all of them and all crystal clear), and internet-only music stations (Apple has some, Logitech has some), and Pandora, a service that serves up songs it thinks you’ll like based on songs you type into it.  It’s mind boggling to be sitting in a recliner, smartphone in hand, choosing among all the worlds’ commercially recorded music to playback through the stereo.  Now is a golden age for the music lover.

Getting back to our smartphones, what haven’t been widely available are apps for our smartphones that will let us control our a/v receivers (e.g. to choose CD or radio or DVD or to change the volume).  Some manufacturers have started offering such apps–Denon and Onkyo come to mind.  (Denon, I know, also has an app for control of a DVD player.)  What also hasn’t been available are apps for TV control, like changing inputs and controlling volume and changing channels and controlling the internet-based content (e.g. movies from Netflix, YouTube, etc.).  Samsung has started to do this, though this is very new.  (Heed the warning that the cutting edge is the bleeding edge, and you’ll be happier.)  And, also in its infancy, is controlling one’s cable box with an app.  Comcast has started down this path, purporting to have an app that acts as the remote control.

Still, it seems reasonable to think that not only will these apps grow in number, they’ll rapidly get to the point where they work well.  Of course, once they work well, it will not be enough for a user-friendly experience.  You will still have to run an app for the cable box and another for the TV and another for the DVD player and another for the stereo.  That’s a lot of page flipping to do on a smart phone and things will get confusing quick.  This is the problem with the standard type of universal remote.  Sure, it may be able to control all your devices, but you have to know all the right buttons to push.  It’s a far cry from the one-touch ease of the automated controller, where you push the ”TV” button, if you want to watch TV, and then everything that needs to happen to your a/v system happens automatically.

So, what many predict will happen for smartphones is that they will become like today’s automated controller.  That is, there will be an app for your smartphone that controls all of your home theater system.  You will not have to switch to Comcast’s app for the cable box and switch to Denon’s app for the receiver and DVD player and switch to Samsung’s app for the TV.   Instead, one app will handle the DVD player, the cable box, the a/v receiver, and the TV.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a safe, reliable, user-friendly experience in as little as 2 years.  That will be cool!

For now, the automated controller is still the ticket, while many have a toe-in-the-water when it comes to controlling their home theaters with their smart phones.  In particular, what many users find very much to their liking, is to augment the automated remote with an app on their phone for selecting network-based music.  It’s just a two-step process.  First, they press a button on the automated remote that says “Network Music.”  Second, they pick up their iPhone or their Android or whatever smartphone they’ve got.  Now, smartphone in hand, app loaded, they’re in the driver’s seat to access the worlds’ commercial recordings.  No one I know who has done this is all that concerned about how soon the smartphone will be able to do it all.  The current combination of automated remote and smartphone is that good.  And, many are comforted by the fact that the automated remote will work just fine even when their network is down.  App based control?  Not so much.

 

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Great Rock Albums of 2011 Make Great Gifts

December 20th, 2011

2011 saw some really great rock music. At 43 years old, with a two-year old and a wife, I didn’t discover it through my circle of hanging out and party friends, either. Instead, I’ve developed a sure-fire method to learning of good new tunes. I go to www.besteveralbums.com and create a playlist of the albums listed there. For 2011–and I’ve done this for other years, as well–I created a playlist, in MOG, of the 100 top albums and, as they come up on the player–in my case a Logitech Touch–I delete the songs I don’t like. (Spotify and Rhapsody are two other services which are choice options for listening to just about any music you like. Mog appears to have the best selection and they do have the best sound quality.)  I wind up with a killer playlist of new music, and for this year anyway, find whole albums that are good from start to finish.  (Listening to a whole album through, a great one, is a fulfilling experience, different from listening through a great mix.  I wonder how often younger people do this.)

My recommendations for your best shot at pleasing the rock fans on your gift list, in no particular order (band, album):

Radio Head, King of Limbs
My Morning Jacket, Circuital
Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean
Wild Flag, Wild Flag

All are available on vinyl, as well.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukka, Happy New Year!

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All I Want For Christmas (an audiophile’s dream preamp)

November 28th, 2011

All I want for Christmas is a stereo preamp with state-of-the-art room correction, the ability to stream network audio from my LAN (aiff, flac, wav, mp3, and all else under the sun), the ability to play internet radio and paid services (MOG, Rhapsody, Spotify, and Sirius, at least), the ability to accept all resolutions up through 24/192–at least–on all inputs (including ethernet!), at least 3 toslink inputs, at least 4 coaxial digital inputs, 5 line-level analog inputs, 3 USB inputs, 5 HDMI inputs (for decoding SACD, Blu-ray audio), 2 HDMI outputs (for 2 displays), an MC phono stage, built-in wifi, 2 channel pass-through for connecting with a surround sound processor, a digital processor loop capable of at least 24/192 resolution, sound quality at least as good as my McIntosh C2300 preamp when that piece is playing its MC phono and its line-level inputs, a backlit remote control, easy-to-use web based and TV screen control with full metadata, discreet IR codes for every function, an upgradeable design, full functionality from the front panel, comfortably spaced jacks, a tech support department that answers within 3 minutes and speaks English as a native language and knows the product thoroughly, a price under $9,000.  I’ll settle for the same piece in a surround sound version, but I don’t want to pay more than another $1500 for it.  Anyone know where I can get one of these?

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HD Camcorder Footage, Free HDTV, the TiVo Experiment Continues

October 28th, 2011

I spent 4 1/2 hours with TiVo support, to view high def camcorder footage on an HDTV. No go. The best we could do is sound and no picture. It’s being kicked to tier 2.  They say people do it all the time, but for some reason my .mov files aren’t working.

TiVo becomes a more enticing product if it lets you watch your HD home movies in HD, as it claims to. Lots of people have HD camcorders now–iPhones qualify–and they need an easy way to see what they’ve recorded, on their HDTVs.

TiVo has worked out great as a much cheaper way to get HDTV and HD movies than if one were to pay a cable TV or satellite company.  I’m pulling in all the local HD programming–at about 20 miles from NYC–and getting Netflix, all through my TiVo.  It’s just about all the programming I want at a much cheaper price.  Ease of use is better than any cable company I’ve seen, even better than DirecTV which is pretty sensibly designed.

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The Best HDTV Picture, $0 per Month

October 18th, 2011

For now, let’s put aside the question of which flat panel or projector gives the best picture.  See  http://www.dhaudioandhometheater.com/blog/2011/03/30/flat-panel-plasma-lcd-led-240mhz-help/ for that discussion as regards flat panels.  For this article, I’m talking about broadcast sources of high definition TV.  While I’ve never been shown that one cable or satellite provider is better than another cable or satellite provider–I’m not saying it isn’t true–I have been shown that off-air antenna broadcast looks superior to all the rest.  This is no secret, but I saw it with my own eyes.

I’m a DirecTV subscriber.  I like their picture for when I’m not being hyper-critical of image quality.  Still, I don’t know that it’s any better or worse than the other subscription services (e.g. Dish Network, Cablevision, Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon Fios, etc.)  From firsthand experience, I can say that DirecTV appears no better or worse, in my house, than Comcast.  (DirecTV’s support is significantly less frustrating than Comcast’s–no small consideration.)

Sometimes, like when I watch sporting events, I am hyper-critical of picture quality.  This is when I notice, while watching my DirecTV high-defintion DVR/Satellite receiver, that fine detail is a bit soft.  Far worse, when the image is moving, detail goes out the window.  Take a look at your own HDTV the next time you’re watching a football game–though any moving image will do.  I bet if you watch a football game, the grass looks like grass for only brief moments when the image is still.  Most of the time, instead of seeing blades of grass, you see only swatches of green color.  This is high definition TV?  Are you kidding me?

So, I’m watching the Bears mutilate the Vikings, and I’m thinking, “are you kidding me?   This picture gets blurry with any motion at all!  Let me try getting the game from the off-air broadcast.”  So, I hooked up my trusty old FM antenna to my Tivo–I need the Tivo for its off-air high-definition TV tuner–and I spent 15 minutes positioning the antenna to tune in the game.  Most of the motion artifacts I suffered through were now gone.  The rumors about off-air picture quality being superior to the subscription-based services appear to be true.   As the conventional wisdom goes, over-the-air broadcasters use less compression than the subscription broadcasters.  To help you understand how I come to this conclusion, I’m watching on a 105″ diagonal, 16:9 screen, with a JVC DLA HD550 1080P front projector.

The hunt for a better antenna is on.   Ideally, the antenna would remember its best position for each channel I want to watch.  My automated remote control would command the antenna.  So, if I select NBC on my remote, the antenna would position itself to receive NBC.  PBS, which is channel 13 here in the greater New York City metro area, I know requires a different antenna orientation.  When I select PBS on my automated remote control, the antenna should reorient itself to receive the off-air PBS broadcast.  I get about 10 HD channels when I connect my FM antenna to my son’s Panasonic LCD TV, which is located one flight up from the Tivo tuner.  Those channels are the major 2-13 ones and then 3 more above that.  There is also non-HD stuff that the FM antenna picks up.  I’m getting 25 channels total.  I hope to be able to receive all the 2-13 channels off-air, via the Tivo tuner, for viewing on my main screen.

For the right household, the off-air TV option can save a lot of money over the cost of subscription based TV, and the HD channels you get will look better.  And, should you be concerned about losing the ability to record TV for watching on your own schedule, that’s what Tivo excels at.  And, if you’re concerned about missing TV shows that are not broadcast over the air on channels 2-13, I find that the better TV shows always seem to make it to DVD anyway.  And, one can also view shows via the streaming TV services that are available through many of today’s Blu-ray DVD players.  Keep in mind, however, that regular DVD and streaming is not likey to look as good as subscription based HDTV.

 

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TV and Sound Design in Architectural Drawings

September 24th, 2011

Homeowners expect every TV in their house to be HDTV, and a growing number want audio and video content to come from the internet (e.g. Netflix, security cameras) and from their computers (e.g. photos).  Given that HDTV and computer-based content are harder to implement than older technologies, designing TV and audio systems requires greater expertise than it use to.  And, homeowners want this technology in more rooms than they use to, adding still more system complexity.  Using a qualified A/V designer is as important as ever.  Often, though, the designer is consulted too late—like once the electrical has started.  At that point, framing, electrical, and concrete may have to be reworked to accommodate the A/V.  I’ve seen many cases where the installation of just a TV and a cable box would have been cheaper, and more to the homeowners’ liking, had it been professionally designed into the drawings.  Consequently, incorporating the A/V designs into the architectural drawings is an industry best practice.

Some homeowners don’t like the idea of planning with an A/V specialist.  Without one, they think, they’ll buy the right gear anyway and spend less (i.e. they’re penny wise and pound foolish).  Or, they say they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a system designer.  They often say that they’re not audiophiles or videophiles. They say they rarely listen to music or watch TV.  But, there is no correlation between the need for advanced planning and one’s passion for, or knowledge of, or consumption rate of, music and TV.

This seems particularly true of the homeowner who wants gear and wire hidden, or who wants just background music but in multiple rooms, or who wants to be able to plop down on the couch and watch TV at night without needing an “engineering degree.”  Indeed, people who say their needs are simple often want one or more of the system features listed below. These features require particular wiring and additional equipment that are missed by the non-professional.

  1. Cable boxes, DVD players, and other equipment, hidden.
  2. TVs viewable from multiple angles.
  3. Ability to use a stereo/surround system to hear TV sound sometimes, but use the TV’s built-in speakers other times.  This one is requested frequently.
  4. Ability to control volume from any room in the house.
  5. Ability to choose sources (e.g. iPod, radio, internet, CD) and change songs from any room in the house.
  6. Ability to combine music, security cameras, intercom, and HVAC, on one controller.

Bring an A/V designer into your project early—ideally, before the architectural drawings are finalized.  Incorporate the client-approved A/V designs into the drawings.  Other contractors’ bids can now be more accurate.  Knowing what is required of them to accommodate the A/V, all the trades are helped in their efforts to do their jobs right, on schedule, and within budget. The client is more likely to get what he wants, from all of us, with no surprises.

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Is Your Home Theater Hard To Use?

September 20th, 2011

Remember when you had a TV, and all you did to watch it was to turn it on and change the channels?  Many now suffer from too many remotes and too many buttons and too many steps to get to that DVD or recorded program.   Some have to call the one person who knows what to do while that person is at work or on the road.  Want TV to be as easy as it ever was?

Well, there are two things you can do.  One, you can make your TV “system” as simple as it was then.  Meaning—and some of this probably applies to you—getting rid of the DVD player, VCR, game, pay TV channels (e.g. HBO, Showtime), video server (e.g. iPod, PC, Kaleidescape, Netflix player), and surround sound system.  Now, you should be left with a cable or antenna feed running directly into your TV.  If there is still something else attached get rid of it.  Congratulations.  You can now pick up that TV remote and you can operate your TV just like you did 30 years ago.

Or, you can keep all of your TV “add-ons” and, with the right TV, the right add-ons, and an automated controller, you can have things as simple as they ever were.  Now, I won’t lie to you.  It takes some careful component matching, planning, and programming of the controller, to live this life of electronic bliss.  Or, like anything else, it simply takes money for you to pay someone else to do it.  “It,” is system automation.

In its ideal form, system automation puts you one button press away from any of the following: TV watching, DVD watching, gaming, video server watching, or music listening.  For those who want it all, system automation also puts you one-button press away from lights off, lights on, lights dimmed, shades up, shades down, shades half-way, security system armed, and more.

Automated TV and music systems require gear that can be automated, they require proper installation, and they require a control system.  A control system ranges from a single remote control—hand held or flush mounted, touch screen or hard-button–to multiple remote controls with an assortment of associated control system equipment.  The best control systems work fast, are tops in reliability, require dealer programming, allow your gear to be hidden out of sight, and range from $3500 for a single room to hundreds of thousands of dollars for multiple rooms.   At this most tricked-out end of things, we’re talking about touch screen panels throughout the house that access the internet, that access the security camera you have trained on the swimming pool, that access your music and movie collection, and that double as your TV or computer screens.  At the lower end, control systems that make that one-room home theater easy to operate can be had for less than $1000 installed.

Often, even if you already have audio and video equipment that wasn’t chosen with the goal of one-touch automation, the right control system can make operating that home-theater a whole lot easier—if not “one-touch” easy.  We’re talking the difference between enjoying that surround sound system you spent all that money on, or just not bothering.  Imagine being able to plop down on your couch and touch a button and just have it work?  Contact an experienced system designer who can sell you, and install and program, the automated control system that’s right for you.

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TV and Sound System Installation

September 19th, 2011

The easiest way to get the right TV and music system installation is to speak with a qualified system designer well before you buy anything.  Most people don’t realize the planning that should go into setting up a TV or music system.  Even a system as simple as a TV on the wall with a cable box can be installed cheaper, and perform better, with the proper planning.  Without proper planning, coaxial cables, data cables, speaker cables, and line-level cables are often run to the wrong place or left out entirely.  A home cannot be pre-wired correctly, and at minimum cost, without the homeowner’s anticipated needs being taken into account.  If construction is already going on in the home, it’s advantageous to have that conversation with an a/v designer at least one month before the work is finished.  This way, your audio/video outfit can wire while your place is torn apart, rather than have to make fresh holes which you’ll have to fix!

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have this conversation with an audio/video specialist.  They may think that the gear they buy will automatically do what they need, because their needs are simple.  They say they wouldn’t know what to talk about with a system designer.  They say, in their own way, that they’re not audiophiles or videophiles.  But, there is no correlation between the need for planning and one’s passion for, or knowledge of, things audio or video.  Rather, planning is required to correctly execute certain types of installations and to fulfill certain user needs.

Again, it’s not about how much the end-user loves music or movies.  Indeed, a real hi-fi freak may need no planning, because his interest is in state of the art equipment sitting in an open rack—the better to regularly move gear around.  An example is the enthusiast who constantly tinkers and “upgrades.”  There is no wiring behind walls for this guy, there is no wall mounted TV, and there is no equipment hidden in a closet or cabinet—three criteria that pretty much guarantee you need advanced expert planning.  On the other hand, the couple who want things looking neat and tidy, who might have some background music playing when company is over, who want to be able to plop down on the couch and watch TV at night without needing an engineering degree:  these are the ones for whom planning is critical.

Thinking that your needs are simple, and so not planning properly, will hurt you every time.  People who say their needs are simple often want the following system features. These features all require particular wiring, and additional equipment that is easily missed.

Features that necessitate an a/v plan before you wire:

  1. Ability to listen to TV through the TV speakers only, but also the ability to listen through the stereo or surround sound system.  For instance, some homeowners want the nightly news played through the TV speakers, and they want the HBO movie, or the 60’s music channel, played through the surround sound speakers.
  2. Ability to have music from one centralized audio system play in more than one room (i.e. a multi-room music system).  People will have their electrician or their builder handle this wiring without the audio/video system figured out in advance.  The resulting wiring is usually wrong.  Even a home theater expert would need a proper system design if he’s going to get the wiring right, and this design requires planning between the a/v designer and the client.
  3. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to play one thing outside—say the iPod—while cable TV is being watched in the Family Room.
  4. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to control volume from whatever room you’re listening in.
  5. Ability to hide the equipment from sight.
  6. Ability to see the TV from different angles.
  7. Ability, in a multi-room music system, to change radio stations, or songs on an iPod, or tracks on a CD (i.e. control beyond simply changing volume), from rooms other than the one the music system is in.

Lots of homeowners don’t like to have the planning conversation with a system designer because they want to buy at cheaper prices than the designer sells at.  This is missing the point, which is to not be penny wise and pound foolish.  Besides, it’s the good system designer who often saves people money by keeping them from more expensive equipment that they will not appreciate.  Indeed, as the TV market now stands, and has stood since the advent of flat panel TV’s, the TV that would make any given consumer most happy—even if any TV could be had for free—is almost never the most expensive one.   This is often the case for sound systems, as well.

Do yourself a favor, and reach out to your local audio and video specialist.  In addition to getting more for your dollar, or even spending less, the experience is usually more positive than when dealing with the big box retailers.  Consultations are often in-home, providing you with the undivided attention of the system designer.  Typically, when you need something else after the sale (e.g. more equipment, upgrade, service), you have the pleasure of dealing with an organization that remembers you.

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Wireless, Network, & Streaming-Based Audio and Video

August 13th, 2011

The cutting edge is the bleeding edge.  This is a sentiment I learned from my colleagues back in my retail sales days.  Like any good salespeople, we wanted our customers to be happy with the audio and video systems we sold them. For most customers–users who don’t enjoy breakdowns or glitchy operation–that meant selling them systems that did what they were supposed to do, day in and day out, with no surprises.  Products that promised new capabilities were, rightly so, eyed with suspicion.  They weren’t proven technology and they often worked as promised only some of the time.  Is any of this sounding familiar?

 

There’s a revolution going on in how we get our music.  CD sales have been overtaken by download sales.  More people play their music from a computer file than play it from a CD.  Free and subscription based music are coming to us via the internet.  Music is, more and more, traveling from point A (a network or computer) to point B (an amplifier or speakers) wirelessly. This is the new cutting edge and I’ve seen lots of blood.  Blood has spilled for video, too, for largely the same reasons–and also because of HDMI. This is the convergence of computers and audio/video that people have been predicting since the 90′s.  It’s a world where glitches and unpredictability rule.

 

If you’re sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and you didn’t expect it and you wanted to get to your destination at a certain time, you might get frustrated. If you know the traffic is there before you set out, there’s a good chance you’re going to sit in it calmly. Similarly, you should converge your computer with your audio and with your TV, knowing that it’s not as easy a path to entertainment as playing a CD, DVD, or vinyl record.  Better still, hire a professional. A professional will advise you as to what you can expect by way of glitches.  That person will know how to properly set up your system to minimize glitches and ensure the fun.  First an foremost, that person can design the appropriate audio/video and computer/network solution. (The a/v designer and the computer designer is usually not the same person, but they often work together.)  Beware of a popular alternative to the
professional, the a/v or computer geek/hobbyist.  Generally speaking, the professional has made a career out of it and the other guy hasn’t–though the latter may be getting paid.  Still, why should you care which one you go with?

 

A good professional knows which equipment to put together with which other equipment, and with which end-users.  This is system design. Good design is crucial if you’re going to be happy with your purchase.   A good designer can tell you the kind of performance you can expect from a system or from an individual component.  If you give him adequate time and attention, a good designer will be able to get you a system that matches your expectations as close as possible, within your budget.  The hobbyist or geek, on the other hand–usually a friend or relative–often gives recommendations without understanding what you will find easy to use and maintain.  Unlike the hobbyist, the professional sees so many more people struggling with this or that equipment, that he better understands which people find which equipment easy or difficult.  A good designer/professional may
even change your plans about what products or features you should pursue, steering you clear of aggravating calls to tech support and clear of angry family members who can’t use the system.

 

If you’re not sure whether any of this applies to you, here are some telltale signs that it does.

1. You want something wireless (e.g HDTV, music, Netflix, satellite radio, speakers, etc.)

2. You want to get your music or TV content from the internet

3. You want to enjoy your music or video throughout other rooms of your home or in other geographic areas

4. You want high-resolution audio or high-definition video from the internet

 

It’s not all doom and gloom.  If you accept what limitations there are and decide to take the plunge, I highly recommend computer based entertainment. Youtube, for instance, is much better on the big screen and with the vastly superior sound that a good stereo can provide. And, streaming movies is extremely convenient.  Just browse the available titles on your computer or TV screen, press a button, and within 3 minutes you’re watching the movie. There are several ways to do this, my favorite being Netflix.  It’s less than $10/month for unlimited movies and the picture is very good and the sound is great.

 

As for music, I wouldn’t believe how broad and inexpensive the options are if I didn’t see for myself.   I use Rhapsody, have for years, and for $10/month I can listen to just about any song or album I want from the 1950′s on–I haven’t tried earlier decades. It sounds great, too.  For 90% of the people I meet, it sounds every bit as good as it needs to.

 

Lately, I’ve been delving deep into a given year’s 100 best albums.  To find out which albums these are, I settled on the recommendations of www.besteveralbums.com. So far, I’ve created separate playlists of 100 albums each for ’67, ’68, 2010, and 2011.  I can listen through a whole album at a time or I can shuffle the playlist and hear songs come up at random.  I didn’t have to buy any of these songs–that’s what the $10/month paid to Rhapsody is for.  When Captain Beefheart pops up in the playlist, the computer fetches the song from Rhapsody.  It’s exactly as seamless as if the songs were on my own computer, when it works–which is 95% of the time. I’m fine with that.  I’ve discovered so much great music! This is the promise of convergence coming true.  I’m like a kid in a candy store!

 

Your idea of a good time may differ, but if it’s audio or video related, you may want to find an a/v professional and take the plunge, safely, into computer-based entertainment.

 

Dennis Hartwick, dennis@dhaudioandhometheater.com, DH Audio and Home Theater, (908) 686-4913.

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Logitech Touch Media Player

April 21st, 2011

Advantages (many):

Put your CDs in storage

Lots of audio formats supported:

MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, HE-AACv2, HD-AAC, Apple Lossless

WMA Lossless, APE, MPC and WavPack supported through transcoding

Some formats may require additional software installation (e.g. QuickTime), depending on platform

Crystal clear radio reception for every station on the AM/FM dial, via the internet

Receive Sirius satellite radio

Receive internet-based music services  (e.g. Rhapsody, Pandora, Slacker, and others)

Plenty of add-on features available (e.g. see artist biographies, get cover art) and the list is growing

Unit measures only 3.57 x 5.90 x 3.18

Unit costs $300 and includes Squeezebox server software

No computer required to operate

Passes the following streams through its digital out:

16 bit / 44.1 kHz, 16 bit / 48 kHz, 16 bit / 88.2 kHz, 16 bit / 96 kHz
24 bit / 44.1 kHz, 24 bit / 48 kHz, 24 bit / 88.2 kHz, 24 bit / 96 kHz

Will play higher sample rate files than above, by halving the sample rate.  So, you can listen to 192/24 files.

Mutltiple units may be used to pipe the music throughout the house

Disadvantages (few):

It doesn’t come with a wireless touch screen controller

I own the Touch.  The reason I wanted a media player at all was to play audio files off of a hard drive.  My hard drive happens to be a network attached storage device, otherwise known as a NAS.  You could use the hard drive in your computer or an external hard drive or whatever storage device you want.  My audio files came from the CDs I copied to the NAS.  I copied my CDs to a NAS mainly because I thought that being able to browse my titles on my computer would help me rediscover what I own.  And, in particular, I envisioned listening in shuffle mode so that music would play that I forgot I had.  I was right.

Since I started using it in 2008, I’ve banged my head against a lot of wall on account of Logitech’s Squeezebox software.  This is the software one uses to control the various Logitech media players—the Touch included.  You see, there’s a right way and a wrong way to use Logitech media players and software.  Perhaps what I’m about to tell you is good advice for other media player solutions as well.  I’d play it safe and assume so.

First, when you copy CDs to a hard drive, make sure you create files that will preserve the meta data (e.g. track name, artist name, album name) should you ever copy those files.  For instance, .wav files, once copied from, say, your overflowing computer hard drive to an outboard hard drive, will lose their meta data.  So, when you copy your CDs to whatever storage device, don’t create .wav files.  I settled on .aif files as they’re compatible with both Logitech and iTunes and they maintain the meta data when they’re copied.

I used iTunes to copy my CDs to the NAS.  It doesn’t matter what software you use to copy your CDs to a storage device.  Just pick a file type that will preserve the meta data when that file is copied.  Squeezebox software is not for copying your CDs to a hard drive, by the way.

Second, load the Squeezebox software onto the same drive as the music.  This is huge.  I started out with the Squeezebox software running on my laptop and the music stored on my NAS.  Lots of headaches ensued.  They usually involved the software not syncing with my NAS.  So, no music.  And, many computer restarts and many hours on the phone with tech support.  The tech support is pretty bad, by the way.

Third, assign a fixed IP address to your Logitech Touch and, if you’re using one, to your external storage device.

Having the Logitech Touch, now that I implemented the three lessons above, is like having a microwave oven. You never want to go back to not having one.  I use the Touch for Rhapsody.  Rhapsody is awesome if you’re a music lover.  For $10 a month you can listen to just about anything you want and it sounds pretty damn good.  And, I play vinyl for its superior sound quality, so I’m picky about sound.  Indeed, if I fall in love with a record I buy the vinyl or the CD because I hope it will sound better than it did on Rhapsody.  But, the quality of Rhapsody is enough to let me enjoy the music.  If I don’t fall in love with the record but I want to hear it I can play it anytime I want as long as I keep giving Rhapsody $10 a month.  What’s not to like?

I love Sirius satellite radio.  Deep Tracks is the best radio station I’ve ever heard.  This is the radio station I always wanted, probably because I’m a 43 year old white guy who likes classic rock.  Deep Tracks mercifully avoids all the songs you’ll hear on the classic rock stations and plays the other cuts and, at least as important, the other bands from roughly 1965 to 1975.  I’ve been turned on to great music by the James Gang, Loggins and Messina, Renassaince, Stephen Stills, Robin Trower, Poco, and the list just goes on and on.  What a rich era.  I always knew it was, and there was never such an easy way to get exposed to it all.  The Logitech Touch serves it up.  Oh yeah, and Sirius has a couple hundred other stations—providing music and talk radio for a variety of tastes.

Having Squeezebox and the Touch also gives you access to any terrestrial radio station anywhere.  Or, at least, that was it seems like.  Want to hear what radio is traveling through the air in Portland, New Orleans, Madison, LA, NY, Honolulu, London, Paris, Istanbul?   I don’t think any of that is a problem.  So, no more worries about ugly antennas and static.

You get still more music sources, and other niceties, as well.  There’s a live music archive.  You won’t necessarily find the big name bands here, but there are tons of live recordings to check out.  There’s Pandora and Slacker, Last.FM, a podcast player.  And, both Logitech and 3rd parties write plug-ins for the Squeezebox software.  I’ve downloaded ones that find cover art and that give me bios of the artists.  And, way cool, is software that I got for $10, called iPeng, that puts all of the above sources and plugins onto my iPhone.  I use my iPhone4 to control my Touch.  It works great.

So, to get all this you need $300 for the Logitech Touch.  Once you have it you get the software for free.  The Touch can be connected directly to your stereo with either analog or digital cables.  If you want better sound you’ll use the digital output into a good digital to analog converter.  While you can choose want you want to hear by touching the Touch—this device is basically all touch screen on the front with inputs on the back—its need to be wired to your stereo prevents most people from having it at their side when they’re sitting on the couch.  (The Touch does, by the way, connect wirelessly to your hard drive and to the internet, if you like.  I like to go wired when I can, and that’s how mine runs.)  So, use a laptop for the most comfortable control of your Touch, or use the iPhone if you’re good with one of those.

For more info, check out:

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/speakers-audio/wireless-music-systems/devices/5745

To get a Touch installed in the greater NYC metro area contact DH Audio and Home Theater, (908) 686-4913.

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