[ben_r_]

Im wondering the same. I now have two of them and love em! Looking to add a third soon too!

 

[LarsHP]

News? Hmmm. I forgot to report back on the direct comparison of the Fidelity Audio digital modded Touch and the stock I got.

In short the differences are truly there, however not as big as I thought just after receiving the modded Touch (and without the stock next to it). This was partly because I made a room damping when the Touch was in England and when I got it back, it sounded so much better through the speakers. When I checked with my HE-6 the difference was less present, but then I remembered the room change. My Martin Logan speakers seems to be more ruthless with jitter than the HE-6. Anyway, I still feel the upgrade was worthwhile, and I don't have any desire to upgrade any further. That alone is worth - well all the money I would spend on even more audio gear without much improvement plus the serenity knowing there's no more to fix.

@ Auduoexcel:
How do you like the John Kenny Mk3?
And how does it compare to the SB Touch?

 

[Audioexcels]

 
Quote:

News? Hmmm. I forgot to report back on the direct comparison of the Fidelity Audio digital modded Touch and the stock I got.
In short the differences are truly there, however not as big as I thought just after receiving the modded Touch (and without the stock next to it). This was partly because I made a room damping when the Touch was in England and when I got it back, it sounded so much better through the speakers. When I checked with my HE-6 the difference was less present, but then I remembered the room change. My Martin Logan speakers seems to be more ruthless with jitter than the HE-6. Anyway, I still feel the upgrade was worthwhile, and I don't have any desire to upgrade any further. That alone is worth - well all the money I would spend on even more audio gear without much improvement plus the serenity knowing there's no more to fix.
@ Auduoexcel:
How do you like the John Kenny Mk3?
And how does it compare to the SB Touch?

 
I sold the MK3 before even listening to it))  I honestly cannot hear much of anything between these different transports I have tried.  I have concluded the differences is like tube rolling, but even less than that.  It's like taking a bunch of similar sounding tubes and you hear subtle differences in each one, but in the end, you just have to pick one you feel works or sounds best, and for me, it's more of an application specific thing. In other words, I have found the Xonar ST to sound just fine and since it goes right inside the desktop case, has not synching issues, it's actually better than the slight delayed asynch Hiface when watching movies.  This is much the same as the convenience of the Touch where you get exceptional radio stations with any music you can possibly want and just have to turn the device on and start playing.  With a computer files, you have to turn on the computer, load the program, play the file, etc. etc. etc.  To listen to music via computer, you have to open up something as similar to what the Touch offers and use it in a somewhat similar way...only the Touch is far easier for this because I can use a remote much quicker/easier to access radio via Touch.  Touch digital is just fine, again, nothing special, nothing bad, just fine=good enough as the other transports I've used have been.
 
My next thing to do is to work with a cheap but decent say, Cambridge player than uses the Wolfson chip, and to use its dac directly connected to my preamp so I run it similar to how I currently run my pre-dac unit.  Or, I may just get something like a cheap Sabre design and use that as my dac connected direct to my linestage for my pre-dac.  I'm essentially wanting to hear how the newer chips are like vs. my older CS based one or my 1820 based one.  I am also curious about how taking a decent player like the Cambridge and using my linestage direct to it sounds vs. PC audio.  Is there really any differences between the more traditional methods vs. the extensive stuff one can do with PC?  If so, and it is favors the cdp w/linestage driving its dac direct, I'd use it for my music listening, and use a cheap sound card like a used Xonar ST or STX for my computer listening and particularly movies, etc.  I don't watch tv much at all, but on rare occasions, I still want my main speakers in the equation vs. some 5.1/7.1/9.2/blah blah blah garbage HT setup.  
 
You have the right idea with respect to end results and sound IMHO.  People need to find the best sounding speakers they can, then work with the speaker placement, room they reside in, and so on.  If you have a speaker you truly love, it will sound good even with junky equipment.  If you have a speaker you do not like, but you admire how amazing the front end is, you will only admire what that front end can extract from that speaker, but you will be left entirely displeased with the overall sound because NOTHING can change that fundamental sound of the speaker.  Anyhoo, it's all in the speakers, the room, and the recording.  It's 99% of the equation IMHO.  The rest of the 1% I give the majority to the amp/preamp, and then the dac/source...the front end is really just there to get the job done because the speakers/room/recording are doing 99% of that job and no equipment can make that 99% sound any worse than 99% so long as the equipment is good enough as in, amp has enough power, preamp has proper gain, dac/source provide proper data of the recording.

 

 

[DrTone]

24/192 asynchronous usb and spdif playback with Triodes plugin.  I guess that would be considered news.

 

[LarsHP]

Quote:

24/192 asynchronous usb and spdif playback with Triodes plugin.  I guess that would be considered news.

Certainly! Will check this out

 

 

[LarsHP]

The plugin is called "Enhanced Digital Output" and is only for
1) USB DAC connection - or if you want
2) 176 / 192 kHz via SPDIF output
 
Quote:
The app should add support of the following to your Squeezebox Touch:
- External USB dacs using either USB audio class 1 or 2 protocols [USB 1 dacs normally state they support up to 96k sample rates, USB 2 dacs normally state up to 192k]
- Support of 176 and 192k playback via the standard digital output
 
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?94512-Announce-Enhanced-Digital-Output-app-USB-Dac-and-192k-Digital-Ouput&highlight=triode+plugin+asyncronous
 
I hoped for asyncronous USB connection via USB HDD, but this is probably not even technically applicable

In that case this app is of no use for me, since I have no files w/ higher sampling rates than 96k.
 
Edit: I now read that some report better sound with this app when playing all kinds of sample rates, so this might be worth a try anyway.
 

 

[BrainFood]

 
Quote:

The plugin is called "Enhanced Digital Output" and is only for
1) USB DAC connection - or if you want
2) 176 / 192 kHz via SPDIF output
 

 
The touch only has spdif and optical digital outs, right?  How does a software plugin 
enable connection to an outboard dac via usb? 

 

[LarsHP]

Quote:

The touch only has spdif and optical digital outs, right?  How does a software plugin 
enable connection to an outboard dac via usb? 

The stock SB Touch has a USB connection, and the plugin uses that for async. USB DAC output. The stock Touch only features USB input from a HDD, and in short you might say that the plugin makes it possible to have data going out instead of in. How the software works / makes this possible? I haven't got a clue, because that's way too technical for me.
 

 

[BrainFood]

 
Quote:

The stock SB Touch has a USB connection, and the plugin uses that for async. USB DAC output. The stock Touch only features USB input from a HDD, and in short you might say that the plugin makes it possible to have data going out instead of in. How the software works / makes this possible? I haven't got a clue, because that's way too technical for me.
 

 
Okay, thanks for the explanation.  I might be tempted to take that brand new touch out of its box and connect it to my Eximus DAC then.

 

[BournePerfect]

 
Quote:

 
 
I sold the MK3 before even listening to it))  I honestly cannot hear much of anything between these different transports I have tried.  I have concluded the differences is like tube rolling, but even less than that.  It's like taking a bunch of similar sounding tubes and you hear subtle differences in each one, but in the end, you just have to pick one you feel works or sounds best, and for me, it's more of an application specific thing. In other words, I have found the Xonar ST to sound just fine and since it goes right inside the desktop case, has not synching issues, it's actually better than the slight delayed asynch Hiface when watching movies.  This is much the same as the convenience of the Touch where you get exceptional radio stations with any music you can possibly want and just have to turn the device on and start playing.  With a computer files, you have to turn on the computer, load the program, play the file, etc. etc. etc.  To listen to music via computer, you have to open up something as similar to what the Touch offers and use it in a somewhat similar way...only the Touch is far easier for this because I can use a remote much quicker/easier to access radio via Touch.  Touch digital is just fine, again, nothing special, nothing bad, just fine=good enough as the other transports I've used have been.
 
My next thing to do is to work with a cheap but decent say, Cambridge player than uses the Wolfson chip, and to use its dac directly connected to my preamp so I run it similar to how I currently run my pre-dac unit.  Or, I may just get something like a cheap Sabre design and use that as my dac connected direct to my linestage for my pre-dac.  I'm essentially wanting to hear how the newer chips are like vs. my older CS based one or my 1820 based one.  I am also curious about how taking a decent player like the Cambridge and using my linestage direct to it sounds vs. PC audio.  Is there really any differences between the more traditional methods vs. the extensive stuff one can do with PC?  If so, and it is favors the cdp w/linestage driving its dac direct, I'd use it for my music listening, and use a cheap sound card like a used Xonar ST or STX for my computer listening and particularly movies, etc.  I don't watch tv much at all, but on rare occasions, I still want my main speakers in the equation vs. some 5.1/7.1/9.2/blah blah blah garbage HT setup.  
 
You have the right idea with respect to end results and sound IMHO.  People need to find the best sounding speakers they can, then work with the speaker placement, room they reside in, and so on.  If you have a speaker you truly love, it will sound good even with junky equipment.  If you have a speaker you do not like, but you admire how amazing the front end is, you will only admire what that front end can extract from that speaker, but you will be left entirely displeased with the overall sound because NOTHING can change that fundamental sound of the speaker.  Anyhoo, it's all in the speakers, the room, and the recording.  It's 99% of the equation IMHO.  The rest of the 1% I give the majority to the amp/preamp, and then the dac/source...the front end is really just there to get the job done because the speakers/room/recording are doing 99% of that job and no equipment can make that 99% sound any worse than 99% so long as the equipment is good enough as in, amp has enough power, preamp has proper gain, dac/source provide proper data of the recording.

 

 
99% huh?
 
*buys HD800, Fiio E7, closes Headfi account*
 
 
 

 

[Audioexcels]

 
Quote:

 
 
99% huh?
 
*buys HD800, Fiio E7, closes Headfi account*
 
 
 

 
99.9%?
 
 

 

[DrTone]

I'm now thinking of picking up a BNC Hiface 2 and using it on the touch.  First one won't work with the touch but apparently the new one will.

 

[Audioexcels]

 
Quote:

I'm now thinking of picking up a BNC Hiface 2 and using it on the touch.  First one won't work with the touch but apparently the new one will.

 
Is this so you have a USB based interface vs. SPDIF?  Seems like too many conversions and extra pieces when you can just use a PC and attach the Hiface directly to it.

 

[DrTone]

 
Quote:

 
 
Is this so you have a USB based interface vs. SPDIF?  Seems like too many conversions and extra pieces when you can just use a PC and attach the Hiface directly to it.

 
The Touch is a little PC running Linux.  I'm confuses to where you think these extra conversions and pieces are coming from?
 
There is no software player on a PC for LMS that supports 24/192.  As much as I like J River, no software player catalogs as nice as LMS especially when handling compilations with existing Album Artists.
 
The advantages over the internal SPDIF.
 
1) Galvanized Isolation
2) Better clocking 
3) BNC connector instead of the RCA.

 

[Audioexcels]

 
Quote:

 
 
The Touch is a little PC running Linux.  I'm confuses to where you think these extra conversions and pieces are coming from?
 
There is no software player on a PC for LMS that supports 24/192.  As much as I like J River, no software player catalogs as nice as LMS especially when handling compilations with existing Album Artists.
 
The advantages over the internal SPDIF.
 
1) Galvanized Isolation
2) Better clocking 
3) BNC connector instead of the RCA.

 
I gotcha...so you are using your Touch as a standalone device w/external HD attached vs. going into the computer to access anything, correct?  I don't think there are any advantages or disadvantages what way you go into the Touch, though I can see why the other things like LMS would be beneficial.  You can always use a BNC in place of the Touch's RCA much the same as using a BNC in place of your dac's RCA.