JBryan Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I hooked up a ReadyNAS server and Slim Devices Squeezebox network player last week and am enjoying playing with the new toy. Its certainly not gonna replace my turntable or even CDP as far as sound quality goes but its so convenient I imagine I'll listen to it as background instead of the tuner (sorry NPR). Besides, you can get a slew of internet radio stations in every genre imaginable. Speaking of radio, I subscribed to Pandora and all you do is give it band or song you like and the service starts playing music that matches your choice. As it plays a song you can give it a 'thumbs up or down' and the program will customize your playlist accordingly. It is an off-shoot of the Music Genome Project... "January 2000 - a group of musicians and technologists came together to create the most comprehensive analysis of music ever. Over the next 5 years, they listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. Assembling hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to - it's about what each individual song sounds like." I've put together 7 stations (you can have up to 100) in the past few days and I've noticed that the service is getting much better on those 'stations' that I give more feedabck to than the others. Its a free service (unless you don't want to do commercials or want to use it with a Squeezebox). I can only guess how they equated Gentle Giant with Queen but I still think its a good thing. Give it a try. http://www.pandora.com/ You can get more info at http://blog.pandora.com/faq/ Have fun, Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 WOW, this is cool, thanks for turning me onto it. I can see how this could generate CD sales and help the music industry. I started with Led Zeppelin and it threw on my fave cut 'We're Gonna Groove', now I've got a Miles Davis station starting. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Joe Henerson, Andrew Hill- who are these guys and why have I missed so much! Damn there's some good music out there- I think I"m hooked again... M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I just heard Julie London doing 'Light my Fire' on my Chick Jazz station- I'm going to Best Buys right now! OH MY GOD, she makes Krall sound like a Boy Scout! Julie's Best of CD contains Cry me a River and all kinds of great old standards. And the album covers aren't so slouchy either. M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I found that Pandora works best for me when I choose a more obscure group or title. The popular songs/groups seem to elicit a more generalized playlist (which may be a good thing for some folks). More obscure music seems to get fewer, more specific playlists which suits me well. I've had the most fun with 2 lists - Gentle Giant and Nina Simone. Decidedly different but each station plays very interesting and enjoyable music. Granted the GG station played a bit too much "Canterbury"-style for my tastes at first but its only been a few days now and I hardly hear that style anymore. I hardly hear any Nina Simone (maybe every 10-12th song or once and hour on average) but the range of music is fascinating. Mostly female vocals with piano but that's about the only obvious shared trait - blues, jazz, show tunes and downright weird stuff I haven't heard before - that's the real treat. Have fun -Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I get the feeling that if you don't care for a particular selection, that you give it 'thumbs down' and not just >> through it. Also I wonder how it scores on one you just listen to vs giving a thumbs up to? After all, that is the only feedback the system receives. Also, it's cool that you can have it bookmark a song or artist. I wonder if that goes into it's selection criteria as a double star selection? It would be interesting to see what algorithms this works on, but for now I'll just enjoy the tunes. Now I'll have to hook my PC up to the HK/Dahlquist office system along with the imac jukebox. Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBryan Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I've just discovered Pandora and have been making stations for play while on my computer - I don't have a squeezebox, but I'd sure consider on. What do you think is the negative of the squeezebox? Also, how well does the wireless work? I'd be about 50 feet from the wireless hub. md Mark, A Squeezebox is like having a homebound iPod on steroids. Aside from your library, there's internet radio, streaming news and tickers, etc. The biggest drawback I've noticed is that it also sounds like an iPod - a bit rolled off on top and less intimate than my CDP. Like the iPod, its really all about the ease of use, convenience and variety of selections. To mimmic a Squeezebox with a typical system would be a arduous task to say the least if not impossible. If you want something with the SB's network abilities and better audio quality, you may want to look at the Slim Devices' Transporter. have fun, Bryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranjith Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Ive never heard of Pandora, and I think I'm really starting to like it a lot.. theres so much music I haven't heard that I really like! nice post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garymd Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Joe Henerson, Andrew Hill- who are these guys and why have I missed so much! Damn there's some good music out there- I think I"m hooked again... M Michael, You haven't been paying close enough attention to the "Right This Minute" thread if you have to ask who Joe Henderson is![] Never heard of Pandora but if it's a computer thing, I'll most likely pass. Sounds like a great idea though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Piney Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 That is a cool concept and I have no doubt that it will expand over time. But don't try Atomic Rooster or Esther Ofarim. It is not familiar with them just yet. Better keep the vinyl and cd's for now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macho Nacho Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I like Pantera as well, they F-ing Rock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macho Nacho Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Endora was not too shabby either. She really could get under Darwood's skin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Joe Henerson, Andrew Hill- who are these guys and why have I missed so much! Damn there's some good music out there- I think I"m hooked again... M Michael, You haven't been paying close enough attention to the "Right This Minute" thread if you have to ask who Joe Henderson is![] Never heard of Pandora but if it's a computer thing, I'll most likely pass. Sounds like a great idea though. Gary, I recognized the name, but just never actually heard Joe until yesterday. DAMN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmsummer Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Been running Pandora for the last few weeks. Probably bought about 8 CDs because of it! I've now got two Apple Airport Expresses w/AirTunes streaming it from my office to my living room and bedroom set-ups (using AirFoil). It great non-critical listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Couldn't you use a DBX Dynamic Range Expander in conjunction with the squeezebox to umcompress it and breathe some life into the lossy format. Is it RCA input based? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rplace Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Mark and others,<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> If you are new to the idea of a networked appliance like the squeezbox give a look into the turtle beach Audiotron http://www.turtlebeach.com/site/products/audiotron/producthome.asp <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Turtle Beach has always been top notch on the computer sound scene. It has an internal DAC so you can output from RCAs to your receiver/pre and it also has a digital out so you can bypass the ATron's DAC and keep it all digital to your pre/pro if you like that route. It will pay MP3, WAV and WMF formats. I've had one for about 3 years now and could not be happier. Cons: It is no longer in production, it won't play FLAC files unless you are willing to mess a bit. That said you can get them on ebay for 100-175 any day of the week. For another $40 buck you can pick up a wireless bridge by Linksys or some other company and be up and running wireless for less then 200 bucks. If you have a wired home network with outlets where you want the music you don't need the bridge. You can have up to 255 Audiotrons spread through out your house and have all your music anywhere you want it. I have all my CDs ripped to 320bit MP3s located on a computer on a different floor of my house. With my slower 802.11b wireless network there are no issues streaming large, high quality MP3s to the device. The Audiotorn is the size of a standard stereo component and has optional rack mount ears. Not quite CD quality, but light years ahead of any ipod I have head and super convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarence Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 I have a late model SB3, wireless in white FS if anybody is interested. I'm going back to cd's. It is in mint condition with the box, manuals, reciept, etc. Still under warranty. I will take the first $250, I will handle shipping in continental US. compare to ebay at $275-$290 plus shipping. paypal only. edit: my dynaco autospec st-70 is also available, I am looking for $550 firm! These make a great pair, with the sb3 and remote! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Here's another similar thing that I've spent too much time on...never really found anything I liked though, but maybe it'll get better eventually: http://launch.yahoo.com/ The nice thing about this is you can go through and search out artists and rate them high so that they show up in the random playlist. And you can also prevent things from ever playing as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranjith Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 rplace, I've read about the audiotron but never heard it personally. Have you heard the squeezebox? I wonder how it compares to the SB. Audiotron does seem to go for a lot cheaper so I guess it'd be more of a logical place for me to start. I have all my music on my PC in 320 format as well, played around with the variable bit rate but wasn't quite satisfied. Plus external 200 or 250gb drives are relatively cheaper these days off ebay to have everything in lossless as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Ranjith- type in Led Zeppelin and have a blast man! Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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