Squeezebox Touch with an Oppo BDP-105

I use SBT connected to a PWD MKII DAC via coaxial for internet radio ONLY. It's connected to my squeezenetwork account bypassing laptop and it sounds very very good. I like playing Jazzradio.com and some classical stations for background music.

If use with music server, I would get a linear power supply and get Wayne @Bolder to upgrade digital out. Bolder is no longer in business and Wayne has changed careers but can still do the upgrade in his spare time.

Tuneman,

You can use the USB as an output, but you have to install a third party app to make it work. It isn't a bad deal, though. From what I understand, the third party app was written by a guy that was on Logitech Squeezebox team. The app is call "Enhanced Digital Out" and can be installed directly from the Squeezebox via the internal menu. You just have to enable all third party apps. The little mod also allows the SBT to do 24/192.

EDO also allows you to disable the analogue outs when using digital.

There's also a little app written by the same guy that disables the screen. The screen will come back on with a key press, but will go blank after a set time. When the app kicks in, it completely disables the screen. I was surprised at the difference that disabling the screen made.

I don't use the EDO app, because I have no need for the USB mod. I use a "Toolbox" mod that did improve the quality of the sound for me. If you want to check that out, just do a search for "Toolbox 3.0 Squeezebox Touch."

After applying the mods, I could not tell a difference in sound quality when going with a linear power supply. I just went back to using the wallwart because it's smaller.

As for the sound quality of optical vs. coax, you'll just have to try them both to see what sounds better to you. If you go coax, make sure that your cable is 1.5m long. There are a few threads on the subject. I don't remember the exact reasoning behind it, but can say that going from an 18" cable to a 1.5m cable made a small, but noticeable difference for the better in my system.

I've messed with my SBT quite a bit applying tweaks and such. You can get some good sound quality out of it. I've also found that just about any external DAC of reasonable quality will improve the sound quality versus the internal SBT DAC.

Thanks Kr4. Would probably go digital RCA coax out of the Touch. Really like the way the Touch operates so would be reluctant to give it up.

Thanks Knghifi. Have heard positive things about the Bolder upgrades but remember them being pricey.

Thanks Tonyangel for your findings. I hear disabling the analog outs improves the sound using digital. I want to leave all outputs active to start so I can compare the analog to digital outs. If I do indeed like the digital outs to a DAC better then disabling the analog outs would be my next step. I use some of the settings Klaus (Soundcheck) recommends like disabling apps you are not using but have not installed Toolbox 3.0. Is it a pretty easy and painless process? One thing recommended is to change where the FLAC is encoded. When I tried the Soundcheck setting for this my HD Tracks 24/192 albums would not play at all showing an "Unsupported Sample Rate". Switching back to stock setting they played fine. Of course they are downsampling them to 24/96 as the Touch analog outs will only play 24/96 and below. I run my Touch wireless which may be a factor. I have heard that 1.5m is best length but also have heard 1m is optimum length as well. Some say it doesn't matter. Anybody tried it? Thanks!

Tonyangel, very interesting "Toolbox 3.0 Squeezebox Touch" info. I will give it a spin if ever use SBT with my music server. I'm already using most of the Media Server settings.
Thanks!

Tuneman, really, I don't even remember if the Touch will play 24/192 files without the "Enhanced Digital Out" third party application. If you are getting an unsupported file error with 24/192 files, you should try installing the "Enhanced Digital Out" third party application.

As far as having your server (whatever it is that you may be using) doing the decoding, your success is going to be dependent upon your setup.

If you are feeding files over a wireless connection, you may run into problems because sending the decoded file over the network takes up a lot more bandwidth. If you run into problems having your server doing the decoding, just leave the setting so that the Touch is doing the decoding.

I have my NAS and Touch on a wired network and have never had any problems having the decoding done on my NAS. I use a Synology Disk Station.