by rbziggy on Tue Mar 22, 2005 12:19 am Just wanted to drop a note of praise in for Xlobby...
I'd seen it mentioned a few times on home automation sites and, as I'm in process of setting up a whole house audio, thought I'd give it a go as I wanted something that could operate on a ppc (small and not too intrusive) and control multiple zones. Didn't seem to be a lot of options (especially at this price point).
Well, I've been playing for less than a week and I have to say I'm increasingly impressed. Far from being a temporary test, I think it will become a permanent feature.
What clinched it for me was getting hold of the latest 'prerelease1' version. The skin is near ideal; good, elegant, clear and simple. It addressed many of my initial doubts in the version on the download page.
A few observations:
- The learning curve is pretty steep (as others have observed) but even just a few hours playing begins to sort out the thinking - I'm getting the hang of the skin editor now to do my own tweeks for my setup. So feeling increasingly confident.
- Multi zone is excellent. I have 3 zones based around a PC server with an SB Audigy ZS card with KXproject drivers (3 stereo pairs from one card). I'll be adding a second card soon to give 6 zones driving a Russound power amp which distributes at speaker level around the house. With 2 zones installed I seem to get very good syncing (no issues in my case).
- The ppc 'crashing' feature on poweroff is probably the only noteable drawback from SWMBO acceptance viewpoint. If this can be sorted ppc operation will be absolutely superb. Apart from this one point, the family are mightily impressed.
- Overall speed of operation is amazingly good - I had not expected near instantaneous response from ppc to music responding.
- Flexible - oh yes!
Overall, an excellent product - I look forward to learning more and contributing a bit. (Some via Paypal - it's too good not to make a contribution!).
Keep up the great work.
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