Yes. The sound quality was so promising I have played around with a few different permutations. Cheap DACs do not improve it. But the cheapest fix that really improved the sound was to put a Jensen Transformer between the audio outputs and my amplifier. The improvement was pretty startling. I have now decided I will upgrade my PC, and put my old one in the basement. The basement PC will have large disk storage holding all my CDs at full resolution, running the Slimserver 24/7, so that I can use the Squeezebox anytime I want.
I rip the CDs at full resolution and then use FLAC to compress the files without any loss of resolution. I started out using wifi but have switched over to a wired lan for greater reliability and much reduced jitter.
The convenience of selecting any of my music with a remote from my seating position is amazing. A much bigger jump in convenience than moving from vinyl to CDs - it is totally compelling.
I am so impressed, my mission is to get the reliability and sound quality up to a level where I no longer need my CD player. What I find stunning is that a USD199 box sounds so good without tweaking. One of the reasons is probably the lower jitter of reading off a magnetic disk rather than an optical one, but it is still better than say a Rega Planet CD player (though that is not saying much). With the Jensen Transformer it is much better again. Ideally it would be paired with a good DAC, but have not had the chance to try any good DACs with it yet. |
Finally put a decent DAC on the Squeezebox, a Northstar Model 192 DAC. I am thinking of perhaps putting a MSB Network card in the Squeezebox next. The MSB netwok card upsamples and reclocks inside the transport and then has an I2S output via RJ45 and ethernet cable. Similarly the Northstar Model 192 has an I2S input via RJ45 connector. I am selling my CD player and modifying a TEAC VRDS transport and then it will be 'game on' between the Squeezebox and the TEAC. It should be fun. The Northstar is sounding better and better every day as it runs in.
I haven't any idea what an AIFF file is Harry, so I will look it up. Any reason why you use it? Is it an equivalent to FLAC?
I am TOTALLY sold on the Squeezebox. The convenience makes a big difference to my music listening. Perhaps the biggest thing is that it results in me listening to a lot bigger range of music in my collection - simply because I do not have to go over to my CD rack and figure out what to play next. Staying in the listening seat, listening to the current track and wandering around 10,000 tracks to cue up what I will listen to next is just magic. Adding three of four albums into a playlist and then shuffling them up and hitting play is great too. |
I found the hardwired connection to be better than the WiFi - it sounded like less jitter |
That fits with my understanding of the issue, I think. Jitter can occur at any point in the chain but can be put back in its right place by clocking it right - which is the purpose of the Big Ben (I want one!), but of course jitter in the recording process cannot be fixed in the playback process or vice versa. The added jitter I thought I experienced with WiFi was possibly power supply issues when using WiFi causing the crystal clock in the Squeezebox to operate less effectively.
Just on this jitter issue - I am no engineer, and what I am about to say will probably anger anyone who is, but my playing with stuff is unbounded, and I think there are possibly other issues than just hitter at play in digital cables etc. I suspect that digital cables pick up EMI and RF to different degrees and therefore induce more or less noise into the analogue parts of any audio system. The reason I think that is that I have done blind tests where me and a couple of buddies have been able to pick which digital cable was which based on how those two same cables sounded when used as analogue interconnects!!! Wierd I know, but some of the characteristics of the cables when used as analogue interconnect cables, could be heard when the same cables were used as digital cables.
Therefore the Big Ben, or Benchmark DAC or whatever reclocking you use, does not necessarily mean you do not need to play around with 'flavours' of digital interconnect - and implies some things about use of decent fiber cables instead. |
For what its worth, my Squeezebox, with 25 metres of ethernet cable, through a router down to my computer in the basement is outperforming my now run-in TEAC VRDS transport, except for slightly better extension at the extremes from the TEAC. The Squeezebox is more precise and more musical. I am going to modify both over the next month and see how the order of preference changes. Unlike Harry, neither is benefitting from an intermediate devide, they are both going into a Northstar Model 192 DAC. |
lol - i often do the same in front of the stereo i must admit - usually buying something on a'gon |
Interesting. I would still prefer the Squeezebox. My server computer is in the basement, running full-time. I never need to go down there because I manage it remotely using VNC from another computer when required. I don't want a computer running in the same room as the stereo if I can help it, and do not see the need to have a full screen open to access the music. I find the little Squeezebox client to be just fine for accessing the music. Where I think we also differ, is that I have a wired ethernet connection from my PC to the Squeezebox client - I found the WiFi painful with drop-outs and clearly inferior sound, particularly with full resolution wav files.
Since you are happy to run wired connection to the Xitel and then to the stereo Harry, why not try an ethernet cross-over cable from your PC to the Squeezebox and see how the sound/performance is then? |
Dmitrydr: Have a look at the squeezebox site. The squeezebox was apparently developed in consultation with an audiophile club of some sort.
Harry is right that you can get good sound out of it if hard wired. The latest software and firmware upgrade has helped eliminate the bugs. I have it working now at a level of quality and reliability so that my modified TEAC VRDS transport doesn't get any use, and just gathers dust.
You need to add a decent DAC. Replacing the cheap switch-mode power supply with a stiffly regulated one is good. But better is opening it up and putting Black Gate caps wherever possible.
The main thing is, if you are a music lover you will love being liberated from having to waste time on those silly bits of aluminium and plastic, not to mention their horrible little cases, and just sit back and select the music you want with a push of a button. I am as anal an audiophile as most, but the functionality of the squeezebox has yielded the biggest boost to my music enjoyment of any purchase for many years. |
The principal reason I raise the Black Gates point is that I had a local guy who is pretty experienced with CDP mods look at the squeezebox and his opinion was replacing a few caps with Black Gates and improving the diodes was going to be more beneficial than replacing the external power supply. In the end I decided to do both. The context for that was only to upgrade the digital out performance and not the analogue section. In total the sound became faster, more extended at the extremes and there was better stage depth, presumably as a result of better detail retrieval.
I am tempted to try the Waveterminal. The only thing that keeps me wedded to the Squeezebox is that devices like the Waveterminal require me to have a monitor going somewhere close if I am going to select music from the listening chair. |
It looks like the real deal to me. But sadly they will not ship internationally (unless you count Canada), so I miss out. |
