Escient E40 update, any problems?

[Robert]

I have a client with a E40 and a Crestron system. We did not sell this to him and we are not a current Escient dealer. We are a Crestron dealer. He uses a TPS5000 and his PC to control the E40. He likes the pipeline software and is afraid of losing some of it's features. My question is this. Have any of you done the update to the E2 yet? Did it give any problems? Was it worth it? Any input welcome. Gary, aren't you a fan of Escient?

[Gary]

I'm from the don't fix it if it's not broke school, so I havn't upgraded anyones yet. The units at home and the shop are H series and the upgrade does not apply to them.

I do have a couple of the new verisions at the shop currently being loaded, but I won't get to play with them until they are installed.

[The8thst]

I have a few of the new version fireballs out there.

Your client is partially correct, the pipeline software is gone, and I can say I'm glad its gone.

The new webserver system is a much needed improvement in my opinion. Just use any computer on the network with a webbrowser and enter in the IP number of the fireball. The gui looks very much like the TV version and is very easy to navigate and learn.
It also gives you an option to select "remote" or "streaming" modes. The remote controls the unit as any control system would and the streaming just streams files to the computer and lets the computer play the audio. This basically makes the fireball capable of multiple 'virtual zones'.

You can map network drives to the fireball on the computer for an easy way to drag and drop music files onto the fireball or take files off of the fireball. This is accomplished through a virtual server running on the fireball. By using different start folders for the mapped drive you can get to "incoming" to dump data onto the fireball and "music" to have access to all the music files stored on the fireball (and this is permanently a read-only folder, thank god).

I have had no problems other than rear IR input issues. The new codesets work very well when flashing the front IR reciever. I cannot comment on the 232 with the new software, but give me a few weeks and I should have an idea.

[Robert]

Thanks guys.

[Gary]

OK I played with one of the new ones today, that record on insert feature is very slick, yes Alan I know Request has had this forever.

[AudibleSolutions]

I am not even participating in this discussion. Truth be told I disable this on every installation as it will occasiionally lock up --at least on an ARQ.

Way off topic: I find it difficult to keep up with products over time once I've made a decision to go with product A. Once upon a time most of the big CD server companies were jerks. They responded very slowly to installer feedback and took the attitude of we produce a box you figure out how to control it. Request came to market and shook up this don't bother me attitude. For a while they were the best because they listened and produced all of the features you could want--and they gained market share. Which caught the attention of everyone else. And low and behold they changed the way they did business. Imerge and Escient now produce interfaces for just about every conceivable control system on the market. They update their firmware much more often and pay attention to installer feedback. Reliability is still a problem and all of the server manufacturers are guilty of not ephesising the importance of a UPS on their systems but differneces between the players is not all that geat.

I just go through programming an Escient and my biggest issue was that it was not a Request. In other words I was not used to the way it worked and its quirks. I like their stock GUI and my only criticism is that their smaller GUI does not contain an easy way to obtain keyboard serach access. But the capability is there so one would only need spend the time to develop one. I also found all of its features unwieldly. Too many pages to navigate through but then I do not value Internet radio and control of a CD changer.


I have criticized Escient elsewhere and it turns out that many of my complaints are out of date. I think the player is still too many things. CD player interface, Internet radio, MP3 player and I think photos. There are still some things about their interface that I do not like such as the inability to search for an indivicual song. That said the differences between the big 3, Imerge, Esceint and Request are not all that great any longer. At some point it comes down to familiarity. Do I prefer an ARQ? Certainly but some of that comes down to basic familiarity with the product relative to the Escient and Imerge products. What this thread is proving is my point that differences between products is bcoming harder to ascertain. In the end it may be like Pioneer Elite vs Fujitsu or AMX vs Crestron. You pays your money and you makes your choice.

Alan