[kmcdonou]

I was set on getting a modified Squeezebox (either by Empirical Audio or Dan Belitty in France) because Foobar was a PITA to get configured to my liking without spending a ton of time.

However, I discovered J. River Media Center, which has ASIO built in along with displaying cover art and a good database arrangement. So, I wonder what would be a better purchase, an Empirical Audio Off Ramp Turbo or a modified Squeezebox.

I am planning to use my laptop (IBM thinkpad) as the computer in my listening room connected to an external hard drive, playing flac files ripped via Plextools and my Plextor Premium drive.

Once you take the advantage of the networking feature away (as the computer will be near my listening area), I wonder what advantage the SB would be. My original thought was that I could eventually move the computer downstairs and use the SB in the listening area.

I am little concerned because only Dan Belitty has done mods on the SB and he is in France, so the shipping will be costly. I know Steve could do the mods, but since he hasn't looked at a SB yet, I am wondering if the performance would equal his Off Ramp Turbo. I would also have to pay the cost of the SB + mods, which to equal the performance of the Off Ramp Turbo, would likely result in a cost of over $1000, versus $975 for the Turbo USB sound card.

Dan's mods do not include a Superclock but rely on a buffer multiplicator to use an external clock reference. He does not try to improve clock accuracy but to use the SAME clock signal for all digital unit of the audio system. Not knowing much about clocks and stuff, I don't know if his clock sytem is as good as a Superclock in an Off Ramp Turbo.

Any one have any thoughts what would be the better option as far as sound quality and other issues?

 

[lan]

Isn't the off ramp turbo digital out only? So you'd need a DAC. It and SqueezeBox have difference funcationality then. What is the rest of your signal chain? Without listening to both of these units, it's hard to compare. Otherwise it's just speculation.

 

[Wodgy]

You'd be better off, sound-quality wise, with a good external DAC rather than either of these modified offerings. Empirical Audio's mods are breathtakingly expensive for what they give, and in some cases, for instance with the Benchmark DAC1, it's not clear that they increase performance at all. Empirical has also made some dubious and potentially misleading technical claims in this forum in the past. It's not at all clear to me that he understands the devices he is modifying from an engineering perspective.

I've done fairly substantial mods to the M-Audio Sonica before (largely the same device as the M-Audio Transit that Empirical is modding with the Off-Ramp), but the sound quality is still a notch below things like the Bel Canto DAC2 or Benchmark DAC1. If you want a one-box device for use with your computer, the Grace 902 is another option. Save your money on mods -- I personally would not have Empirical mod my DAC2 or DAC1, as some of his mods he does, particularly of the DAC2, don't make sense to me.

 

[kmcdonou]

Sorry, I forgot to add that both the modded SB or the Off Ramp Turbo will be used as transports only. I have an Ack Dack 2.0 and Benchmark Dac-1 at the moment. One is going to be sold or returned. The dac will feed my upgraded MPX3 and Grado RS-1s.

So, as transports which one might sound better? Any other considerations besides sound quality that might give one the edge of the other? Wodgy, I agree that Steve is a little pricey. Yet, I know many people enjoy the sound from their modded equipment. I think if someone was going to get a dac modded by Steve, they would have to be at peace with the sound signature that is pleasing to Steve's ear, which may not be for everyone.

What I want is one hell of a computer audio transport that will equal the best transports for no more than $1000. At that point, I feel my system will be as complete as I am willing to spend. Well, maybe I will try to add some silver interconnects (value priced ones only), but generally the system will be set. Actually, I am pretty happy with it right now, but want the easy of having my albums on an external hard drive and try to better my NAD 541i as a transport.

 

[seanadams]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmcdonou I was set on getting a modified Squeezebox (either by Empirical Audio or Dan Belitty in France) because Foobar was a PITA to get configured to my liking without spending a ton of time.

Have you looked at Squeezebox2 announced last week? No modding of the s/pdif should be needed, but if you really want to you can wire up aftermarket clocks very easily.