Slice

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:25 pm

I posted a link here to what I consider to be a pretty good up to date media server called Slice expecting some interest from forum members. I think it offers a lot better function over Squeezebox. After 48 hours there was no repsponse so I deleted the thread. Disappointed.
What the fuck. Kind of feel AT is going down hill. Nick now posts far more readily (albeit occasionally) on forums other than his own. All very dissapointing. I'm loosing faith and interest in this forum or maybe some of you guys have decided to annex me? If so, just say so and I will contentedly simply go away. I really hate some peoples inability to face up and expose the facts.

Let me know.

Post by **Nick** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:54 pm

TBH Greg, I stopped posting after your (two) tirades over LDR preamps. I wanted nothing to do with the place after being told how I had disappointed so many people with my change in attitude.

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:55 pm

Having a bad day Greg ?

To be honest, most forums I visit are quiet at the moment.

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:57 pm

Nick wrote:TBH Greg, I stopped posting after your (two) tirades over LDR preamps. I wanted nothing to do with the place after being told how I had disappointed so many people with my change in attitude.

I'm very sure most of us regulars don't think you are a disappointment in any way, shape or form Nick.

Post by **Nick** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:15 pm

Plus I generally got tired of hearing the sound of my own posting.

Cressy Snr · Post by **Cressy Snr** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:50 pm

Deleted.
Serves no useful purpose.

chris661 · Post by **chris661** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:51 pm

Wait...
You gave it 48 hours and then deleted it.

Some people might only visit here once a week, or even less frequently than that. Maybe someone had seen it, and decided to test it out before reporting back.
A lack of immediate enthusiasm only means that the people that are interested haven't got around to replying yet.

Chris

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:25 pm

Sometimes I'd like to reply but no nothing about the subject, or simply not sure what to write. Or don't have time right now. Or simply forget.

The Stratmangler · Post by **The Stratmangler** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:35 pm

Greg

Your comment about offering greater functionality over Squeezebox exposes your ignorance of not just the Squeezebox way of doing things, but of your lack of understanding of things IT related.
You're still locked into the box for a job mentality - a CD player for CDs, a record player for records etc.

As I commented on one of your posts another forum, there are devices that have been available for a number of years that offer what looks to be the same functionality as the Slice.
They are very good at what they do, and I'm sure the Slice is very good at what it does, but the only difference is that the Slice is built up from a RPi board.

My perspective on LMS is that it's one of the best ways to access a managed library of music material.
Don't forget that LMS is not built on work by Logitech - it's founded on the work of an open source community of code writers, and that community is working flat out out to retain the functionality of LMS.

And seeing as how Logitech pulled the plug on Squeezebox players the only way to retain LMS serving material is really to go with the players that utilise RPi.
I'm more than a little bit interested in the hardware developments on RPi that HiFiBerry have done, especially with regard to it working with LMS (Logitech Media Server) and may well go down this route at some point.

Enjoy your Slice.
I'm sure that it will do everything that you want of it.

shane · Post by **shane** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 8:44 am

I was very interested in the Slice, and was looking forward to reading your experiences after it had arrived. There were a few questions I wanted to ask about it but it seemed sensible to wait until you'd got your hands on one and played around with it for a few days.

It's christmas, times are hard, it's quiet everywhere. Don't depair!

Ray P · Post by **Ray P** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 6:41 pm

Nick, I miss your contributions and insights, even the ones that I don't readily understand as they make me work to try and understand, which occasionally I do, so you're missed by me. That said I can understand why you might feel that you're pissing into the wind at times.

As for it being quiet here, it isn't for Nick alone to make this place work but for each and every one of us to try and contribute constructively.

The Stratmangler wrote:Your comment about offering greater functionality over Squeezebox exposes your ignorance of not just the Squeezebox way of doing things, but of your lack of understanding of things IT related.
You're still locked into the box for a job mentality - a CD player for CDs, a record player for records etc.

Chris, while Greg hasn't perhaps approached this in the best way I think you're being a bit unfair with your comment. A quick look at the specs shows that the Slice, out of the box, is indeed richer in functionality (multimedia/onboard storage) than a squeezebox (at least those I've owned) and I don't see the connection with the box for a job reference.

That said, I suspect like you, if I wanted a multimedia device I would go for something like a WD TV device utilising internet sources and my network storage.

The Stratmangler wrote:...but the only difference is that the Slice is built up from a RPi board.

It's the use of the RPi board architecture that actually gives it a bigger differentiator than simply the board itself, that being the ability to install any distributions/software that have been developed for the RPi. You could, for example, replace the pre-installed software with Volumio or Rune Audio to give a nice self contained audio player, or the RPi squeezebox software to give a neat little SB player. If you felt so inclined you could even run it as a Linux based desktop device. The Slice hardware looks to be tidy and of good quality so could be a cost-effective base for a lot of projects.

The Stratmangler wrote:My perspective on LMS is that it's one of the best ways to access a managed library of music material.
Don't forget that LMS is not built on work by Logitech - it's founded on the work of an open source community of code writers, and that community is working flat out out to retain the functionality of LMS.

I've moved away from LMS having experienced its foibles a while back and now use AssetUPnP as my music library. One of the projects that might be quite good with Slice hardware is to run a lite music server using the Asset release for debian/RPi. A slice with a suitable SSD would be quite a neat implementation.

The Stratmangler wrote:I'm more than a little bit interested in the hardware developments on RPi that HiFiBerry have done, especially with regard to it working with LMS (Logitech Media Server) and may well go down this route at some point.

The RPi isn't the best basis for a music player as it is fundamentally compromised by its onboard clock and the inability to feed it an external clock. Having tried the HiFiBerry DAC, which was actually quite nice for the cost, I've moved onto building a DAC with a Beaglebone Black as the renderer; I'm using the miero distribution and an AckoLabs isolator/reclocker board to feed good quality clock signals (both 44.1Khz and 48KHz families) to preserve native sampling rates and deliver clean i2s data streams to the DAC (Buffalo IIISE/Legato).

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-bu ... er-gb.html

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/twisted- ... river.html

Ray

jack · Post by **jack** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:00 pm

I'm a moderator on other forums (neon stuff, vintage radio etc.) and everything is quiet.

People just don't seem to be doing a lot of projects at the moment - those in work are shagged out and the holidays are downtime, those out of work are looking for work, and those who are retired are probably too busy trying to have fun.

On the RPi front, I did two small projects before Xmas, turning normal screens into smart TVs - the Pi is good for simple stuff like that.

I managed one non-radio & non-audio project in the last six months (the "Letter in a Box" - took 2 full days), which is, for me, depressing, though the recipient (SWMBO) was very pleased. On the bench are about 10 projects, including a sub-miniature PP amp (got the iron for that), an all-valve & trigger tube nixie clock (over 180 tubes - got all those & done the PCBs, made the custom xfrmr), some Quad ESL 63s and Lord alone knows what else.

We'd all like to do more, but times are hard and time is short and valuable...

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 4:31 pm

All the forums I look at most at the mo have been fairly quiet too...

Personally I've been mostly involved in biking stuff, when time and money permits...

simon · Post by **simon** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:45 pm

The problem with recessions is you either lose your job or have to work extra hard because of the others who lost theirs. I can't really say where the last 5 years have gone but I know I feel knackered most of the time. And I'm lucky as so far I've seen out the deep construction recession of the last 5+ years.

Hobbies like audio are very much at the bottom of the time and cash pile

.

Paul Barker · Post by **Paul Barker** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 8:18 pm

Ditto.

Added to which winter viruses are profuse and persistent.

audio-talk

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