[jholtz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bizzel /img/forum/go_quote.gif I keep seeing people claim that the SB3 is a good DAC. That may be true for them but I found it was easily beaten by an old Marantz CD42 player and they're cheap as chips nowadays. Sure, the CDP is nowhere near as versatile as a Squeezebox but for sound quality from the analogue outs it's much better.

I think it depends a lot on how high of resolution the rest of their system is. I have a Red Wine Audio modified SB2 that sounds MUCH better than the stock unit but it also has less bass. It's now my transport which I think it does a great job of. I'm using using the coax out to a Zapfiltered Zhaolu 2.5C and love it.

Once you've experienced the convenience of the Squeezebox, you'll never go back to spinning CD's. If you use it as a transport like I do,
you'll have as good of sound as the DAC you use. It's great!

Jim

 

[tosehee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d-cee /img/forum/go_quote.gif do you mean the data coming from it? because not all players will output the same digital data from the same CD eg. some DVD players although they have TOSLINK out re-sample CD audio that is natively 44.1kHz to 48kHz or something else then there are the TOSLINKs on computer sound cards, and again depending on how they are setup may output something else again most of the time the DAC that is receiving the signal will accept the signal, but doesn't necessarily mean all the above devices will sound the same

Sorry for asking again.. These things do make sense, but not clearly to me. I am totally noob in these regards..

Can you tell me if there is any sonic difference in these two configurations?

1. airport express -> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receiver --> Speaker
2. SB3 -> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receiver --> Speaker
3. IStar Mini HD (Media Streamer) --> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receier --> Speaker

The difference is basically SB3 vs. Airport Express vs. IStar Mini HD, but since I am using the external DAC through Toslink, the sound should be identical right? Or is there some magic going on in SB3 that would make the sound better?

Thanks a lot for a comments. I've been learning a lot.

 

[Herandu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif The difference is basically SB3 vs. Airport Express vs. IStar Mini HD, but since I am using the external DAC through Toslink, the sound should be identical right? Or is there some magic going on in SB3 that would make the sound better?

You have either moved the goal post, or been beating round the bush

. What you really want to know is which of those 3 choices to go for IF it is all the same sound wise. The simplest answer is for you to pick the one that suits your requirement and that you like the look of. Sound wise there won't be a difference in your proposed set up. In these kind of audio setup the audio differences begin after the toslink cable. The choice of front end in your selection of 3 is one of personal preference. It won't impact on the sound.

 

[d-cee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tosehee /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry for asking again.. These things do make sense, but not clearly to me. I am totally noob in these regards.. Can you tell me if there is any sonic difference in these two configurations? 1. airport express -> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receiver --> Speaker 2. SB3 -> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receiver --> Speaker 3. IStar Mini HD (Media Streamer) --> CIAudio VDA2 --> Receier --> Speaker The difference is basically SB3 vs. Airport Express vs. IStar Mini HD, but since I am using the external DAC through Toslink, the sound should be identical right? Or is there some magic going on in SB3 that would make the sound better? Thanks a lot for a comments. I've been learning a lot.

assuming theyre all bit perfect outputs, and i believe they are... in my experience i don't hear a difference

however there are a lot of people that say there is quite a difference

you will have to hear it for yourself

for once i agree with Herandu and that the analogue part will have a larger influence on the sound

 

[tosehee]

Thanks a bunch.

I have decided to go with airport express -> receiver DAC through toslink for now.

So far, the sound is great. I will probably have to see if there is really an audible difference between my pioneer receiver (VSX-92) vs. CIaudio VDA2. But that's something that I would try in a future.

Really appreciate the responses. It gave me a confidence in making this purchasing decision.

Kind Regards.

 

[krmathis]

Wise choice!
I use an AirPort Express to feed my external DAC myself, and really love the combination. Its easy to set up, are bit perfect, and last but not least its wireless.

 

[tosehee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wise choice! I use an AirPort Express to feed my external DAC myself, and really love the combination. Its easy to set up, are bit perfect, and last but not least its wireless.

Exactly.

I was leaning toward SB3 or even Duet, but that darn thing is like $299 or $399 depending on which model you get, and if I get the external DAC later on, the internal DAC is pretty much useless which would be wasting my money.

So far, I love the sound of it. I can't wait to try that on the decent external DAC. Having iPod Touch and iPhone is also good combination as I can execute the songs on my MacPro without having to go there.. I wonder what SB Duet provides that my combo doesn't.

 

[classicalguy]

I have a mediagate mg35 hooked up to my big stereo system. I also have my computer in another room hooked up with a really long 40 foot toslink connected to an maudio transit, with foobar/asio output to the same receiver. I can tell you for sure that all toslink is not the same. The mediagate sounds like crap, and the maudio sounds very good. I think the mediagate is adding tons of jitter to the signal. I'm very disappointed with the mediagate. I get better digital output on other systems with my dlink dsm-320 streamer. Anyone who says all toslink is equal is just wrong - I mean the toslink part may be equal, but the source that converts the 1s and 0s to light impulses is not equal.

 

[tosehee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicalguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a mediagate mg35 hooked up to my big stereo system. I also have my computer in another room hooked up with a really long 40 foot toslink connected to an maudio transit, with foobar/asio output to the same receiver. I can tell you for sure that all toslink is not the same. The mediagate sounds like crap, and the maudio sounds very good. I think the mediagate is adding tons of jitter to the signal. I'm very disappointed with the mediagate. I get better digital output on other systems with my dlink dsm-320 streamer. Anyone who says all toslink is equal is just wrong - I mean the toslink part may be equal, but the source that converts the 1s and 0s to light impulses is not equal.

That's exactly what I used to have.. Well, not exactly because I had 350HD. But it's pretty much same HD.

The audio from that optical link is a crap $*#@. I couldn't bear it. So, I've been burning discs to play on my system which gets tedious over time.. So, I went in the journey for a decent solution which is what I ended up having now.

 

[tosehee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicalguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have a mediagate mg35 hooked up to my big stereo system. I also have my computer in another room hooked up with a really long 40 foot toslink connected to an maudio transit, with foobar/asio output to the same receiver. I can tell you for sure that all toslink is not the same. The mediagate sounds like crap, and the maudio sounds very good. I think the mediagate is adding tons of jitter to the signal. I'm very disappointed with the mediagate. I get better digital output on other systems with my dlink dsm-320 streamer. Anyone who says all toslink is equal is just wrong - I mean the toslink part may be equal, but the source that converts the 1s and 0s to light impulses is not equal.

That's exactly what I used to have.. Well, not exactly because I had 350HD. But it's pretty much same HD.

The audio from that optical link is a crap $*#@. I couldn't bear it. So, I've been burning discs to play on my system which gets tedious over time.. So, I went in the journey for a decent solution which is what I ended up having now.