I want a SB2, but...

[kbelinski]

I am really keen on getting a SB2. I have over 100GB of music in FLAC format. The SB2 is ideal for feeding high-quality music to my audio rig. But there is something stopping me from getting one right away.

About 30% of my music collection belong to the Asian genre. They are tagged using Chinese characters. I understand that SlimServer supports Unicode characters. Is the Chinese language one of the supported languages?

My other concern is whether the SB2 supports the display of Chinese characters FLAC tag in its set-top display. I would be dissapointed if the SlimServer software displays Chinese characters correctly but the set-top doesn't. It's really pointless. Experts pls advise. Thanks in advance.

[ceejay]

You could always try it out at zero cost - download the slimserver software, and try the softsqueeze which is included. Its a great way of trying out all sorts of possible issues before you get your credit card out...

ceejay

[seanadams]

Support for Asian fonts is on our to-do list. One of the motivators (besides visualizers etc) for the new 320x32 display is that it has sufficient resolution to do it. There is some localization and font work that still needs to be done though.

[kbelinski]

Sean,

Great to hear that. I am certainly looking forward to it. I will certainly get one when the set-top display support Asian characters. When this feature is in place, you will be opening bigger market in the far east for the SB2.

BTW. Would you be able to provide estimated availability timeframe of this feature? Thanks.

[WSLam]

Hi kbelinski
I am in similar situation. I have maybe 10% of music in Chinese.
But let me tell you, get the SB2 now. 1) you can control your music via a computer UI (notebook, tablet pc) using SlimServer web UI, all chinese will display there. 2) the SB2 is already ready, so it's a matter of font library via firmware upgrade? it's a matter of time. and you can easily listen to the 70% of music you have now.

ws

[kbelinski]

WS,

I am glad to know that there are people other than me out there asking for this feature. BTW. I understand that the SB2 is shipped with external power supply. Is the power supply the universal voltage type, where it takes AC input anywhere between 100V and 250V? Or is it the voltage specific kind? ie. one kind of PS for 110V and a different one for 230V?

[Aylwin]

Different power supplies are available depending on where you are. Just specify this when you checkout the order.

[kbelinski]

Actually my question was whether the power supply is a universal one accepting wide range of AC voltages, or one that is country-specific.

For users who use the SB2 in different countries, having a PS that works with wide range of voltages is a plus. Many mobile phones nowadays are shipped with travel chargers that work globally... if you know what I mean.

[Aylwin]

If I remember correctly (it was mentioned in another thread somewhere), the US power supply is only 100-120v while the UK power supply is 100-240v. I have the European one but I haven't checked the voltage range.

[WSLam]

I believe mine is universal (HK)... but it's plugged in somewhere hard to reach now, can't really tell.

But it will basically run off any 5V DC... including batteries!

[kbelinski]

I heed your advice. My SB2 arrived yesterday evening. The matt black casing feels good to touch and it look great too. The display is beautiful. Is color screen in the pipeline?

Set up is a cinch. It even updated the firmware automatically upon initial power up. No problem there. In the first 5 hours of fiddling with the SB2, SlimServer crashed once. I restarted it and everything a'ok.

SB2 displays series of "????" whenever encountering non-Latin characters in the tag. I am looking forward to the Unicode language feature in the SB2 display... Pls don't make me wait too long.

[max.spicer]

SlimDevices don't generally comment on future plans, but why on earth would you want a colour screen? I can't imagine it doing much apart from drive the price right up and making the display harder to read. Not to mention the joy that the Audiophile forum would have in discussing how it sounds far worse due to electrothingummyx and interferencydoodahy. ;-)

Max


I heed your advice. My SB2 arrived yesterday evening. The matt black casing feels good to touch and it look great too. The display is beautiful. Is color screen in the pipeline?

[kbelinski]

SlimDevices don't generally comment on future plans, but why on earth would you want a colour screen? I can't imagine it doing much apart from drive the price right up and making the display harder to read. Not to mention the joy that the Audiophile forum would have in discussing how it sounds far worse due to electrothingummyx and interferencydoodahy. ;-)

Max

That's exactly what people said a few years ago why would cellphone need color screen? Color screen drives the price up and increases power consumption. Now when I visit cellphone shop I have trouble finding a model without color screen. That's how much it has changed.

I do agree with you on the bit about Audiophile... :-)

[pfarrell]

On Fri, 2005-07-29 at 06:15 -0700, kbelinski wrote:
> That's exactly what people said a few years ago why would cellphone
> need color screen? Color screen drives the price up and increases power
> consumption. Now when I visit cellphone shop I have trouble finding a
> model without color screen. That's how much it has changed.

And why would a cell phone need a camera?
Try buying one without. Even tho if you work in
any sort of secure facility, you can not carry in a camera.

Color screens and cameras are the tailfins of a 59 Chevy.
Needed mostly to make you know that your old one is
no longer stylish.

I tend to keep audio gear a long time. I still have and
use some Large Advents from the early 70s. They are no longer
my main speakers but they are useful in my home theater setup.
My new audio system is over 6 years old, the newest
part of it is the SqueezeBox.

The SlimDevices folks seem to be pretty good about adding real
features that deliver benefit when they release
newer models. Slimp3 to SqueezeBox to SqueezeBox/G to
SqueezeBox 2 is a real progression.

I'm not a fan of tailfins.

--
Pat
http://www.pfarrell.com/music/slimserver/slimsoftware.html

[max.spicer]

Just because the market has forced people to add colour screens, doesn't mean that the devices need colour screens! ;-)

Max


That's exactly what people said a few years ago why would cellphone need color screen? Color screen drives the price up and increases power consumption. Now when I visit cellphone shop I have trouble finding a model without color screen. That's how much it has changed.

I do agree with you on the bit about Audiophile... :-)

[kbelinski]

I understand where you are coming from. I am not at all crazy about color screen. I think color screen and the works are just natural progression. And it really will be the result of the force of competition.

At the present moment, the SB2 may hold its own in terms of features, usability, and sonic quality. The competitions are not far behind. I am sure Roku and others in the fray are catching up in all aspects of the game. One day, they will be on par in many areas including audio quality. And then one of them would roll out a model with color screen capable of displaying album artworks to distinguish themselves in the market. In order not to lose out, others would follow suit. Unless SD can continue to maintain and excel in the niche that makes them what they are today, they will have to succumb to the force of the competition eventually in order to survive in the market. Cheers.