Internet Radio box?

[jwilson56]

I was thinking of looking for an external internet radio unit that has some sort of RS-232 ect on it to be able to control it as well as get current info like whats playing. I know its a long shot but if someone has such a box let me know. It would be great if it has Pandora on it also. A software based application that has an API would also work I suppose.

 

[pete_c]

John,

I've been playing with the Patriot Box Office. A nice Web interface has been written for it. I've can also access it fine via its serial JTAG connector. I have Telnet, FTP, SSH and RS-232 access to it and recently installed a 1 TB drive in it. Very small box with much potential.

Today though using multiple UPNP to TVersity audio streaming boxes (5). (also a couple of them working as Squeezebox players).

 

[potts.mike]

check out the squeezebox radios. they have well documented ip control.

 

[pete_c]

My favorite method of music streaming / internet streaming is via "located at the zones" networked devices. It would the same with a box hanging off the zone amplifier with a TS to control it.

With said documentation for say squeezebox radios you can hang one off your zoned amp (like a Russound) and control both the HW switching and type of media via the network. Adding a simple RS-232 interface would offer a bit more resilence in emulation of the same controls via a serial connection (maybe even a bit faster).

 

[jwilson56]

check out the squeezebox radios. they have well documented ip control.

Will a Squeezebox pick up internet radio like Pandora or Grooveshark?

 

[damage]

check out the squeezebox radios. they have well documented ip control.

Will a Squeezebox pick up internet radio like Pandora or Grooveshark?

we use ours with pandora & last.fm. it works well.

 

[jwilson56]

From what I can tell you communicate and control a Squeezebox with the Squeezebox server (?).

What is the cheapest version that supports Pandora and has server communications? After that I would need to find the API for the server.

 

[damage]

From what I can tell you communicate and control a Squeezebox with the Squeezebox server (?).

What is the cheapest version that supports Pandora and has server communications? After that I would need to find the API for the server.

yes through the server. if you are lucky you can find the old slimp3 or gen1 squeezeboxes on craigslist. i've gotten 5 of mine this way and paid between $10-35 each. (i have a bot that searches for them within specific price ranges)

the squeezebox radio is the cheapest model they currently sell. it's been on sale a number of times for $100. the other models are pricey. i know the API docs are accessible from the server software (under Help > Technical Information), but i've never looked online for them. it's very comprehensive though. there are also xPL & xAP plugins that may fit your needs as well.

if you want to get an idea of how the system works, you can install the server & then the softsqueeze player/emulator http://softsqueeze.sourceforge.net this should give you a good idea of the capabilities

 

[potts.mike]

THere are a couple of software players that you can test with but I found them both to be rather unstable. If you can find the squeezebox radio without the duet remote than thats the way to go. Here is the link to the supported internet radio.

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/70/6432?WT.ac=psE%7C5570

 

[jwilson56]

Thanks... do you have to pay for some of these internet radio stations like Pandora to use it with the Squeezebox? I also read that some people buy the Duet and then sell the remote on Ebay.

Still wondering if the API lets you get the track and artist info back. Anyone have the web link to the API documentation for the Squeezebox server? Lastly from what I have read do far (and I have to say this Squeeze stuff is rather confusing) is that it looks like the Server actually gets the internet radio stream and then sends that to the box. Its too bad that there is not a software player that works well as that would make it much cheaper to use with GUI frontends like CQC or Netremote.

 

[damage]

Thanks... do you have to pay for some of these internet radio stations like Pandora to use it with the Squeezebox? I also read that some people buy the Duet and then sell the remote on Ebay.

Still wondering if the API lets you get the track and artist info back. Anyone have the web link to the API documentation for the Squeezebox server? Lastly from what I have read do far (and I have to say this Squeeze stuff is rather confusing) is that it looks like the Server actually gets the internet radio stream and then sends that to the box. Its too bad that there is not a software player that works well as that would make it much cheaper to use with GUI frontends like CQC or Netremote.

we use the free pandora & last.fm offerings. i have put a zipped version of the command line api on my server http://goo.gl/lBdw - that should cover everything you need. there apparently is an official software player you might try instead of softsqueeze http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/SqueezePlay

 

[potts.mike]

I use free versions of pandora and slacker on a daily basis. I believe that you can now connect directly to Internet streams if you register at mysqueezebox.com but I don't know how that effects two way communication. I use CQC and the driver talks to the server to pull in my entire library and playlist items, album art, etc.... From what I can tell the API is two way and very comprehensive.