squeezebox versus airport express

I don't have experience with the Airport express but I do know it's capabilities. As I understand the SB3 features beat the AE hands down for eg: you could use the SB3 remote to select your music library whereas AE you could not & the SB3 firmware is upgradeable.

One caveat about using the SB3 is the setup can be a bit technical & if you are not tech savvy like me, it might cause some frustration. The other caveat is Slimserver software to be used with SB3 is in constant development & can be buggy.

Aside from the caveats, the SB3 is an amazing product with a sound quality that will satisfy most audiophiles if properly setup.

Good luck...

Hmmm... I have a bunch of SB3s, and its pure marketing BS to claim an unmitigated victory for SB3s over AEX. Sure, SB3 may have a small remote, but with the small remote comes small UI and small functionality. You use the AEX in conjunction with an Apple laptop and while your "remote" (i.e., the laptop) is bigger, its got a helluva lot better UI and functionality.

That said, SB3 is built with semi-audiophiles in mind, so the parts quality is rumored to be better--you get digital coax out, for starters, whereas you are limited to toslink for AEX.

They just serve different purposes, one isn't inherently better than the other. For my main rig, I use something more analogous to the AEX route UI-wise--I actually use a superquiet SFF standalone PC/USB audio device in conjunction with a touchscreen airpanel--but in rooms where music is more for background atmosphere, I'm happy using SB3s.

Never heard the AE, but am VERY happy with my SB3.

As far as remote control, because the SB music server software is basically a webserver, you can use virtually any web-browser as a remote control, from your laptop to a Windows mobile hand-held. Because Slimserver is open source, there are a ton of options for remote control of the virtual jukebox.

Far as comparing, I'd really only listen to the opinion of someone who's actually a/b'd them on the same system in terms of anything approaching an empirical analysis. Anecdotally, since Slim Devices is focused solely on an audio device and gets tons of focused feedback from audiophiles - their CTO and CEO regulary partipipate in their online forums - and because they seem to be targeting a more audio-savvy markey, I've got to think the SB3 might be a superior audio solution to an Apple mass-market solution. Certainly possible that's false reasoning, but seems somewhat logical to me. Only a side-by-side test would tell for sure.

Anyway, my $$ will usually go to a small competitor (Slim vs Apple) when all else is even close to equal.

Edesilva said:

You use the AEX in conjunction with an Apple laptop and while your "remote" (i.e., the laptop) is bigger, its got a helluva lot better UI and functionality.

My understanding was that the SB3 can be controlled by a web browser and that the functionality was pretty deep. I also heard it could be controlled by a Palm or Windows CE devise, but I don't know this for sure.

Having used the slimserver core web server, I'll stick by my assertion that Apple w/iTunes is a better UI. Not a perfect UI, but better than what you get with slimserver. B'sides, if you are going to use a laptop anyway, what is the point of an SB3?