YARFSRRS? Yet another request for suggestions to replace my Roku Soundbridge!? (1 Viewer)

[DougP]

Long time no post... I'm sorry if this is long but I wanted to explain details of what I am looking for - I'd really appreciate people steering me towards a device that will solve my problem here...
And... I sure hope I posted to the right forum (seems the closest match!)
My Roku Soundbridge M1000 died after ?8? years so I find myself looking for a replacement. The M1000 is a small device that sits on your network and acts as an iTunes client (some other protocols too). It hooks into your amp via optical/digital out and with it's little 2-line display you can play any playlists, browse genres and artists and so on - from any iTunes server you have on your network.
I then have a NAS running Debian Linux that runs an mt-daapd server (iTunes server/DAAP/firefly). I edit playlists, genres and so on using my PC and then from time-to-time export the iTunes database to my NAS which then serves music 24x7 without having my PC turned on.
Now - with my Roku M1000 dead, I need a new way to get music to my amp! And that's why I'm posting... I've been browsing the internet only to find Roku seems to have dropped the entire market in favor of pure video-streaming. It seems the M1000 was somewhat replaced by Squeezebox who was then purchased and killed by Logitech.
I don't think there is an obvious choice to replace the M1000 for what I need.
1) I absolutely want something that I don't have to turn the TV on to play and browse my music. The 2-line display and simple interface was just fine - I don't need album art or fancy menus... I just want it to be a CD-player without the CDs!
2) I have ~10,000 songs in my iTunes database on my PC. Therefore whatever the device is, it either has to be an iTunes client OR it has to be able to import an iTunes database. I am "linux capable" so if that means installing and configuring a new music server protocol on my NAS that can read my iTunes database and THEN the client could connect to that server - that's an option too. BUT - I do have to be able to rate songs and create playlists in iTunes. OR - I'm not married to Apple; if I need to change media players and I can migrate my iTunes database to a new PC-client and server, I'm willing to change protocols.
3) I do not want to have a PC running to serve the songs. I have a debian linux NAS running 24x7 - it's currently running mt-daapd (firefly I think). Our PCs get shutdown at night - my NAS uses 17 watts, I don't want to change that. (I have no other media server running).
4) Video streaming would be nice - but not required (and yes, I know I have to turn on my TV to see video . In fact, it would be ideal if the new device did audio and video (most seem to) but only had to have the TV on for video. Not sure what the server-side would look like (new protocol... read above) but that's fine, I'm willing to work at it as long as I don't lose my 10,000 songs' metadata!
5) If it's integrated with an amplifier, great but my limit is $500-$700. I don't need 7.1 and with kids and a small house, my amp never gets turns up! My amp is quite old and this would be a good excuse to replace it but I've yet to see an amp that had an integrated display, even a 2-liner LED display (or is CRT?..whatever). All the network-streaming-integrated amps I've seen require the TV to be on to browse the music - and I don't want that.
Am I S.O.L. or is there a solution out there?!
Thanks a ton folks!

 

[DougP]

Oh yeah - I am aware of the Logitech Squeezebox Duet which I can still find for sale but I believe is discontinued? It's also pretty pricey at $500 for JUST the client and JUST audio. From what I can tell it WOULD fill the hole and I guess I have to consider it but truly, that's pricey for what it seems to do.

 

[Al.Anderson]

All network receivers handle the music side of your request, and most mid-high DVD players handle the video. I discarded my WD Live and Seagate FreeAgent and just use the receiver/BRs with a NAS. (I could select music with just the receiver, but I find it much easier with the TV on.)
If you really want the one stop component, I think the basic low-mid end options are Popcornhour and Dune.

 

[DougP]

Thank you for your response Al. I will have to check out network amps, I had thought they had to have AirPlay support to do iTunes and I couldn't find any ads that show the displays in action. And for some reason I had disregarded the popcornhour off the cuff, I think I didn't see all their models and probably was looking at one without a display. Hmm, ok - that definitely gives me more food for thought.
If you don't mind my asking, what amp do you have? It will stream from iTunes and show you iTunes playlists on the front display?

 

[Al.Anderson]

I have Yamaha RX-V671.
I don't stream iTunes, I use flacs. But there are NAS servers that can stream itunes. I was using the free DLNA app that came with my NAS (ReadyNAS Duo) to stream, but they also have an ITunes server. I just switched to using Twonky and I'm pretty sure it streams everything with bits, but I'd have to check to confirm.
I'd be a little leary of streaming iTunes unless you ripped them at a very high bit rate. I think you have to have Airplay to stream wirelessly (I'm wired).

 

[DougP]

Hmm. The server side of iTunes streaming I have working (firefly), it's the client-side that I'm worried about. One of my top requirements is that the device be able to read my iTunes playlists and display them without the TV. I've invested a great deal of time tagging all songs with ratings, genres and so on - and built playlists that depend on that data. The client hardware MUST be able to browse those playlists and present them on the display somehow. I do NOT need album art - it's nice, but I don't need it.
So - can someone confirm (a link to any screen shot would be awesome) of a receiver that's able to browse an iTunes playlist/genres? Al you said you think most all of them do this - yet I've yet to see a single AV receiver online-ad that shows the display showing a song or playlist and reading features/details of products, I have yet to find an ad/link that clearly states any receiver that does this. I don't doubt some do - but "almost all"?

 

[rayman1701]

I've got a Squeezebox Touch that I love and even bought a spare since Logitech went bonkers. I use iTunes to import and keep my database and I use mostly ALAC files, personally I use a laptop to run the server, but you can run it on a NAS with the correct install package. There are lots of options and it's pretty flexible. No TV needed.

Now for the not so good, as long as you've got everything tagged 99% of those tags will be read by Logitech Media Server, but since standards vary on reading/writing tags, it won't read the iTunes ratings tags (heck from what I've read it won't read FLAC or MP3 either, a few people have been disappointed with that). My wife is currently doing a laborious work around (rating them with Windows Explorer then sorting into folder directories. Major PIA for what should be written into the file) because those tags are generally in the iTunes database and not stored in the tags. LMS can be configured to read the iTunes database info, but I'm not sure what all the info it will display with a Squeeze system. It will read the iTunes playlists I do know that.

The latest LMS version will do video as well, and is also a DLNA server too. It's free to download and mostly open sourced with some plugins that might help you get what you're looking for. The Squeezebox forums, the user ones, are a great source of info of all the ins and outs and there are some really experienced users that could hopefully help you figure out if it would work for what you are looking for. Here's a link to the forums: http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?20-User-Forums

With the open source nature of Squeezebox products, I'm sure I'll be using one for a long time to come, whether or not Logitech replaces it with something as flexible as the Touch. Which is why I bought a spare in case one goes bad.

There is the Sonos system as well, but there are limitations with that being a closed system, but it could work for you. I'm not sure how it handles iTunes though.

Hope this helps some.
Ray