Is the Squeezebox Touch complicated?


Most of the erudite and precise contributions to this forum concerning the Logitech Squeezebox have made me think I should just go right out and buy one. Over at the forum on Logitech's own website the users complain of one malfunction after another: sound drop-out, unplayable files, album cover mix-up, firmware updates that seem to cause more trouble than solve problems, and many more. Comments?
swissguy
Agree with Mlsstl.

Overall, I find the Squeeze system to be quite straightforward and reliable, and a fairly mature product, but some comfort level dealing with computer apps is always recommended with these things. Its not nearly as easy as popping a CD in a CD player, but the advertised benefits should far outweigh the disadvantages for the computer literate. If you are computer literate, expect to reach a comfort level with the entire system and all the options within a few weeks minimum with some focus and effort. Its really not so bad if you have the chops to deal with this kind of thing. If not, it will surely become overwhelming quickly.

Most of the complexity comes into play when setting up a personal music server, which is where a lot of the benefits reside, but is optional. Connecting to the Logitech managed web service via internet for access to internet radio, Pandora, etc. is quite straightforward as those things go, and alone provides access to so many new music sources to soak in that you might not even get around to trying to set up your own server for your music for quite some time. PErsonally, it was about 1 year until I even got around to setting up a music server when I first started with this computer audio stuff. I spent the first year simply enjoying all th e new and good sounding music available via internet playing on my rig.
Visit a Microsoft web site and one might think no one has ever seen one of their program actually work...
Oh, do they actually work...I thought that everything MS released was in perpetual beta ;-)

Seriously, I have had some issues with using my Logitech Transporter. They are mostly due to wireless network issues as Mapman mentioned but I will admit that the firmware updates are a little too clunky over wireless and a little too frequent for my liking. Still, the benefits are many and if you will be going wired OR have a good strong signal at your SB location, you should be fine. if you have some basic PC skills or access to a teenager.
I purchased a Touch about a year ago and I'm very happy with it. Setting it up through my wireless network was straight forward. I'm not a computer techie and I use a Windows system (Macs are reportedly easier to use), and yet it was very straight forward.

I never had album covers mixed up. Had some dropouts, but nothing I've gone nuts about. Usually has something to do with network usage, as my kids using the same network to stream video while I listen to music. Considering a dual-band router now to by-pass that issue. Nothing to do with the Touch itself, though.

For correctly ripping CDs and avoiding the guesswork you might want to check out the Guide to Ripping CDs over at computeraudiophile.com. I followed it to a t and had never had a problem.

I hope this helps.
i'm not one of the erudite or precise contributors, but i've been using my sbt for about two months now and, despite being something of a computer audio novice find it quite user friendly. setup is easy and interface is extremely logical and intuitive. as stated above, it's not as foolproof as a cdp--you'll get some dropouts and may need to reset it once in a while, but overall it's reliable and, of course, massively convenient. i'm led to believe that the earlier iterations were buggy, but in general it's a breakthrough product.
Its a serious audiophile bargain all around, and relatively easy to setup initially for very good trouble free sound. It will also amply reward a user willing to experiment a bit and adjust/tweak settings. The soundcheck mods are very worthwhile as well. Overall, I can't recommend the SBT highly enough. Where else in this overpriced, over hyped hobby can you get a product for $300 that can deliver so much out of the box and so much more with a bit of effort?