But how do you order one in the UK

I work for the company. I can order what I want

(They still make me fax a copy of my credit card though!)

Rob

Ok, I've got one:
Does it have similar functionality to the Rio Receiver? That is, if I already have 60+ gigabytes of mp3s shared out on my home network, can it play from there? Or can it only play what it has stored. This would potentially make its storage unlimited.

"I'm sorry Mr. Starr, but if you want to write a check, I still need to see some ID."

OK, so how do we order one in the UK?

And there are 200 posts saying they could build one for cheaper...Ok, so I'm overstating the number of posts at this moment, but give it a few minutes, and there will be that many

I put my $0.02 in already...I told them I tried building something like that, but couldn't touch the audio quality of the empeg.

There are a number of posts saying "I wish it used Linux" as well...

ROFLMAO I missed those...I'm starting to read /. only for the trolls...

Does it have similar functionality to the Rio Receiver? That is, if I already have 60+ gigabytes of mp3s shared out on my home network, can it play from there?

Well, it comes with a Rio Receiver, so I guess the answer would be "Yes. Just plug the Rio Receiver into your home network."

I don't think the HSX-109 can stream files off of another server, though. It's meant to be the centerpiece of your home audio network, the main server. It's not meant to be a client.

You can squirt tunes into it with emplode, so there's no problem copying the stuff from your home network onto it. And if you want more than 60gb of space, then just put a bigger hard disk into it (similar to, and probably easier than, putting a disk in the empeg car).

If you are happy using a PC to serve up all your music on your home LAN, then this product probably isn't for you.

The HSX-109 is for you if:

- You have never had a big music server on your home LAN before.

- You have a PC-based music server on your home LAN but you don't like to leave it on all the time (the HSX-109 is meant to be left on all the time).

- You don't like the complicated process of ripping, tagging, and encoding. The HSX-109 makes it literally as simple as inserting the CD. Everything about the ripping, encoding, and tagging is completely automatic. You can even listen to a new CD as it's being ripped.

- You want a single central unit to store and manage all of your music, including downloads to portables.

Really, it's meant to put MP3s into the living room instead of the computer room. It's for people who don't already have MP3 server solutions worked out, or for people who aren't completely satisifed with their existing MP3 server solutions. Think of it like an expandable 700-disk CD changer that only takes up a single-unit space in your audio cabinet.

They rejected my story that I submitted several hours ago. I made sure to highlight the fact that it is running Linux, and is by the same people who made the empeg, so the hackability should be high. But they chose that story instead, and Now I'm not even going to bother with trying to convey that information in the comments.

The slashdot croud is going to bash the hell out of the thing. Unlike the empeg, it is very easy to build something close enough at a much cheeper price, complete with software. But the main market as Tony said below is those people not wanting to use their PC for all of the managment of music. Sell this to the same people who buy the Sony 100 disk changers, and they can use it, and will be willing to buy it.

As far as $1500, I'm not sure how well it will fare though. The HP one is $1000, and on store shelves now. Can SonicBlue market it well enough to justify the lag time in getting it out, and the $500 price increase.

What a good day to get mod points on Slashdot... =) Shame they don't give you enough points to shoot down all the rubbish people keep spouting...

Knocked a couple of Rob's posts up though... =)

Yeah, the $1500 price point is a real tough obstacle. The Empeg had NO competition to speak of, so the price was worth it (says the owner of two Empegs.) This thing has some features that make it nicer than the competition, but those features come at an unbelievable cost.

Didn't we just go through this with the Empeg? I thought the idea was to make more consumer-friendly products and stay away from the fringe features which jack up the price but only appeal to the high-end crowd... This thing will NOT sell in large quantities at $1500, of that I am certain.

Is there any way we can get images of the back of the unit?

I take it, since it wasn't mentioned, there is no TV out?

How about more images of the display while playing? Are there any options for font sizes?

I ask becasue on my friends Dell Reciever, you have to be standing directly in front of the LCD to actually get anything done. Selecting music from across the room is impossible... (without intimate knowledge of the PINS.)

Thanks :-)

The Slashdot reaction is no surprise. For one thing, NOTHING is ever cool to those guys, or if it is then it's not as cool as it SHOULD be. The main problem, though, is summed up by Roger "They can build anything using a PC motherboard and a small aubergine".

Rob

The press release said $1500.00 as an MSRP. I wonder if it will be sold at a lower price through other channels?

The HP unit with the $1000.00 price tag mentioned elsewhere.. It that its MSRP or its street price?

I'll save everyone else the trouble..

Main Entry: au·ber·gine
Pronunciation: 'O-b&r-"zhEn
Function: noun
Etymology: French, from Catalan albergínia, from Arabic al-bAdhinjAn the eggplant
Date: 1794
1 chiefly British : EGGPLANT 1
2 : EGGPLANT 2


That is such a perfect description of the Slashdot way of life.

Thanks, I resisted asking.

And I was thinking it was some kind of a knock-off of the Fraunhoffer encoder...

Mmmm aubergine parmesean...

As a small aside:

Yes an aubergine is a description of the slashdot way of life.

I also think Robs comment is also making a reference to a UK TV Show [whose name escapes me for now] which features a Indian [from India, not a Native American...] Mother-in-law whose standard recipe for ANYTHING [whether food related or not] involves a list of improbable ingredients ending with '... and a small aubergine' [or starts with 'take one small aubergine...'].

Which also, I think, sums up the slashdot crowd quite nicely too.

It's interesting that CmdrTaco posted about the car player a number of times in a very positive way, when it was also a very high price premium product that many people did not "get".

The way in which he posted about the HSX109 was very different. I won't suggest it's because we gave him a free empeg, but rather because the Slashdot crowd are champions of the small guy (empeg) and haters of the corporation (SB) - and unfortunately any given topic is too short lived to receive more than a superficial glance from posters.

Rob

champions of the small guy (empeg) and haters of the corporation (SB)

That characterization would probably describe many of the readers of this BBS... Maybe even some of the more frequent posters..

That characterization would probably describe many of the readers of this BBS...

I fit into this characterization. I would have been much less likely to give Rio $1299 for my Empeg. Now... $699... That's another story.

This one was worth the +5 Funny:

Having already infuriated the entire television industry, SonicBlue was unsatisfied with it's level of legal disasters, so they have now gone and scared the bejeezus out of the RIAA.

Well done. I won't be surprised if the RIAA & MPAA just drop the pretext and break out the laser-guided bombs. Where's SonicBlue's headquarters?

What a good day to get mod points on Slashdot... =) Shame they don't give you enough points to shoot down all the rubbish people keep spouting...

Knocked a couple of Rob's posts up though... =)



Yup... me too... And I had quit reading slashdot because of the noise level.... Go to look at this story, and I have 5 mod points..

Well.. I HAD five points...

It doesn't have TV out. It does have a very bright bold display which is incomparable with that of the Receiver. There are several display modes, and the main functions are all designed to be usable via the remote from some distance.

I'll post some images when I get a moment (probably tomorrow).

Rob

How about "small friendly development team within large corporation"? It that OK?

Anyway, SB are a mid-sized corporation.

Rob

TV program is "goodness gracious me"

Okay more questions on your HSX

Will it stream to a PC like a car player with displayserver

What remote are you going to use will it be the same as the car

Out of intrest does it use the same caching as the car player not that it would be needed.

I hope you will bring one (one each would be nicer) to the owners meet in july

We're priced midway between the PC manufacturers (e.g. HP Audio Center at $999) and the consumer audio guys (e.g. Kenwood Entree at $1799). Our price includes a retailer margin, unlike some of the competitors who sell direct only.

Clearly this isn't a mass market product and nobody expects incredible volume. We do expect to establish a market segment for technology that right now few people realise they need, but in time everyone will want. The big advantage of our version (apart from being much better than everyone elses of course) is that SB have a wider range of products and we're going to make sure they all talk to each other.

Rob

Will it stream to a PC like a car player with displayserver

I'm sure it could if someone wrote the software for it. The Rio Receiver protocols are well documented. And I get the feeling that Displayserver could be run on it with very little change, as it uses an almost identical architecture.

What remote are you going to use will it be the same as the car

It has its own VCR-style remote with a unique codeset.

Out of intrest does it use the same caching as the car player not that it would be needed.

It has much of the same code. However, when it it streaming and playing audio, its disk stays spun up.

As you may have worked out, Tony is one of our Beta testers - as is Rob Schofield. They are both quite at liberty to be critical or complimentary about the product as they see fit.

Rob