iPeng iOS Playback– Sync options

With regards to my last post here, looking in the Squeezebox Server options there are some delay settings in the sync options. I increased one of them to 15ms from 0 which has slightly improved the issue of iPeng on the iTouch being a little out of sync. However its not perfect and when skipping through tracks it can become out of sync again but its better than what it was (I think).

Logitech Squeezebox Server – Settings.

It looks like they have based this new iOS playback feature using SqueezePlay. I did have SqueezePlay installed on my WHS initially and SqueezeSlave running on my other HTPC machine. I did not really notice any major sync issues then.

I then later uninstalled SqueezePlay on the WHS and installed SqueezeSlave instead as I wanted to run it as a service. Again with SqueezeSlave on both the WHS and HTPC boxes I have not noticed any major issues with sync. Only now using iPeng’s new playback feature has this become something of an issue. But for £2.99 to add an extra audio zone you can’t go to far wrong!

I renamed my iTouch here to iTouch – Kitchen

Changing this delay setting here affects if the iTouch is in sync or not with the other two SqueezeSlave players. However getting this value just right is tricky and I found when I thought I had it correct and all the players were pretty much in sync, but then skipping to the next track on the album the iTouch could come out of sync again. Some tracks start with everything in sync other tracks start and the iTouch is way out of sync. It still needs more investigation I think.

Overall I’d highly recommend iPeng if you have real Squeezeboxes or emulated ones like me. Its certainly the best app I have installed on my iTouch to date.

Update: Below is a response from the iPeng developer.

@CW-KID

Syncing is currently not really supported. It can work but it's - as you have found - not reliably keeping sync. We're working on that.

www.phaze1digital.com

(UPDATED) iPeng now has iOS device playback!

I’ve been using iPeng for a while with my Logitech Squeezebox Server and emulated Squeezebox’s (SqueezeSlave running on HTPC and on my WHS). This has given me a two zone audio setup where I can play music in sync in the two rooms! iPeng is a remote control app for Squeezebox on iPhone / iTouch / iPad.

iPeng recently released an in app update (£2.99) to enable playback to the actual iOS device itself. So for £2.99 I now have 3 zones which is my iTouch in an iPod dock in the kitchen. The update works but I think there is some room for improvement, I found that the iOS device lags and is not fully in sync with the other rooms. Also I had to exit the iPeng app a few times as it seemed to lock up. But it does work and I can stream my MP3’s to the iTouch.

You can read more about iPeng’s new update here.

Happy 2011, iPeng Users!

Here’s the first new release in 2011 and it brings you a long-awaited functionality for iPeng: Playback.

How Does it Work?

iPeng Playback will make your iOS device show up on a Squeezebox Server like any other Squeezebox Player and you control it just like that, too. With iPeng Playback your iOS device will have essentially the same music management capabilities as all your other players, so you can queue up tracks for a playlist or just play an album or even use plugins like Dynamic Playlists.

http://www.phaze1digital.com/