Squeezebox , some many different options!
Sep 4, 2006 at 4:57 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 24

robert1325

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Hello,

I'm a 17 year old student from holland and I'm interested in getting a squeezebox to replace my cambridge audio 640C cdplayer. My question is , what will give me the best sound ? I read you can get it modded at bolder cable company

A squeezebox with analog mods ( the basic or maybe the one with better caps)
A squeezebox with digital mods and a simple DAC like the lite DAC-AH or derek shek NOS(possibly modded by diyparadise or pacific valve)

A squeezebox without any mods and a better dac like the lite- dac 68 or xindak dac3 mkII or maybe an MDHT Paradesia( getting an amplifier from china so this will save shipping costs)

I can't find the SB2( for better analog sound with the mod) anywhere so it will be a SB3. And I have read about the linear power supply I should get.

Will they also improve on the sound I already have from my cambridge cd -player?


Sorry for the long post....

I already posted this at audio circle, but As a regular head-fi reader ( not really a big spender , you'll know what I mean if you look at my signature
wink.gif
)
I know head-fiers in general are really experienced with DACs.

The sqeeuzebox in stock form is already suposed to be quite good with low jitter out put. The xindak dac3 mkII seems quite interesting because of it's tube output and it's low jitter clock thingy, also it features the AD1854K dac-chip.
 
Sep 4, 2006 at 4:59 PM Post #2 of 24
Either wait for the new Transporter (and pay $2K), or get a SB3 with a linear power supply and use the digital out to an external DAC. I am waiting for 2 Transporters, but I currently use the SB3 with a Mauimods linear power supply. I go digital out to either my D-03 DAC or the DACs in my TACT. I f you are using an external DAC, I don't think you really need more than a linear power supply. If you are going to do a ton of mods, just get the Transporter.

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DSC00977-1.jpg



Quote:

Originally Posted by robert1325
Hello,

I'm a 17 year old student from holland and I'm interested in getting a squeezebox to replace my cambridge audio 640C cdplayer. My question is , what will give me the best sound ? I read you can get it modded at bolder cable company

A squeezebox with analog mods ( the basic or maybe the one with better caps)
A squeezebox with digital mods and a simple DAC like the lite DAC-AH or derek shek NOS(possibly modded by diyparadise or pacific valve)

A squeezebox without any mods and a better dac like the lite- dac 68 or xindak dac3 mkII or maybe an MDHT Paradesia( getting an amplifier from china so this will save shipping costs)

I can't find the SB2( for better analog sound with the mod) anywhere so it will be a SB3. And I have read about the linear power supply I should get.

Will they also improve on the sound I already have from my cambridge cd -player?


Sorry for the long post....

I already posted this at audio circle, but As a regular head-fi reader ( not really a big spender , you'll know what I mean if you look at my signature
wink.gif
)
I know head-fiers in general are really experienced with DACs.

The sqeeuzebox in stock form is already suposed to be quite good with low jitter out put. The xindak dac3 mkII seems quite interesting because of it's tube output and it's low jitter clock thingy, also it features the AD1854K dac-chip.



 
Sep 4, 2006 at 5:13 PM Post #3 of 24
Thanks for the fast reply!

What do you think of the sound quality, is it good enough to have it as a main source? I don't have the high- end gear you have of course! Oh and could you give me some sort of link for that power supply? I already read you could get a very cheap one in a home depot store...
 
Sep 4, 2006 at 6:11 PM Post #4 of 24
Honestly, when running it through my external DACs and using FLAC, I can't really identify any differences from my other high end sources.

Mauimods.com.... although I don't think he has it posted on that site. He tends to deal with high end gear but did some SB3 work for his customers.

You should go to the Squeezbox forum on their site to find out about cheaper power sources.
 
Sep 4, 2006 at 6:47 PM Post #5 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack
Honestly, when running it through my external DACs and using FLAC, I can't really identify any differences from my other high end sources.



That's what I do (although I use APE rather than FLAC).

Although I have only had my SB3 for a couple of weeks, I am pleased with it so far.
 
Sep 4, 2006 at 7:22 PM Post #6 of 24
Ok, thanks for the reply's so far. I'll go for a normal SB3 with an external dac. Now i'll have to decide wich one....

I'm going to order an amplifier from china. The place where I'm getting it sells Liteaudio and Xindak. I'll have to decide between those two, the xindak dac3 mk2 with tubes or the dac-60 - I might just stretch to the dac-68 if it's really worth it. The xindak has a special clock circuit...

Or should I really go for an MHDT labs DAC?

I don't see much info or reviews about the xindak, with the LITE dac's i'm afraid I'll get one of those mislabeled Dac chips with the dots... I did find a dutch review wich compared the CEC DA53 with the xindak and he said the Xindak gave a more dynamic sound, he wasn't sure wether it was overemphasized ( wrong grammar? )or not. The CEC seems to be quite good.

The storm digital do2 looks really interesting with it's battery power and so on, but I read some bad reports about waiting times?
 
Sep 5, 2006 at 12:42 AM Post #7 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack
Either wait for the new Transporter (and pay $2K), or get a SB3 with a linear power supply and use the digital out to an external DAC. I am waiting for 2 Transporters, but I currently use the SB3 with a Mauimods linear power supply. I go digital out to either my D-03 DAC or the DACs in my TACT. I f you are using an external DAC, I don't think you really need more than a linear power supply. If you are going to do a ton of mods, just get the Transporter.

DSC00939.jpg
DSC00977-1.jpg



Do you mean it sounds on par with your esoteric cdp?
 
Sep 5, 2006 at 4:20 PM Post #8 of 24
Yes, how is that possible actually, i've read several comments, about the unmodded digital out sounding as good as a cheap dvd player as transport. The transporter is to expensive for me, I'm still thinking of getting the bolder digital mod and a dac like the lite audio dac 60 ...
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 12:21 PM Post #9 of 24
A little OT but does the squeezebox allow to change the volume of its digital output? I'm considering it with a DAC for my active monitors but i'll need volume control if i dont want to get up to change the volume all the time
biggrin.gif
The website states its possible for all outputs, is that true?
wink.gif
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 12:44 PM Post #10 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by bizkid
A little OT but does the squeezebox allow to change the volume of its digital output? I'm considering it with a DAC for my active monitors but i'll need volume control if i dont want to get up to change the volume all the time
biggrin.gif
The website states its possible for all outputs, is that true?
wink.gif



Yes. The SB3 has a digital volume control that is controllable from it's remote. Will do volume control on the digital out as well as analog out.
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 1:51 PM Post #11 of 24
You’re going to have a tough time finding a DAC that actually out performs the DAC’s in a CA 640 (v2?) for less money. Cambridge Audio has a certain degree of economy of scale. Few separate DAC manufacturers make as many units as CA does.

The sound of a Squeezebox DAC combination is extremely DAC dependant. The current 640 v2 CD player is a real serious player. I doubt that you could find a better sounding DAC for less than 4 or 5 hundred dollars (US prices). If you are expecting the SB mated to a budget DAC < $200 to outperform a CA 640 v2 I think you’ll be disappointed.

I plan on purchasing a SB to use for casual listening. I will hang on to my main player for serious listening.
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 1:55 PM Post #12 of 24
I believe that the digital volume control when set for anything less than full level truncates the data word (i.e. you loose resolution). Not a good thing.
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 4:35 PM Post #13 of 24
SB3 does have digital volume control, however for best sound quality it is recommeneded that it is disabled and a full signal be sent to the DAC.

As for the SB3 sounding as good as my Esoteric..... I haven't done any side by side comparisons, but I do know that when I run the SB3 through the Esoteric DAC, it sounds amazing and when I run it through the TACT DACs, it sounds as good as any source I have used. Again, this is using an external DAC. While others might find differences, I simply don't hear any and feel that if you have a DAC you like, the SB3 can definitely be used as an audiophile transport.
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 5:24 PM Post #14 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sleestack
Either wait for the new Transporter (and pay $2K), or get a SB3 with a linear power supply and use the digital out to an external DAC. I am waiting for 2 Transporters, but I currently use the SB3 with a Mauimods linear power supply. I go digital out to either my D-03 DAC or the DACs in my TACT. I f you are using an external DAC, I don't think you really need more than a linear power supply. If you are going to do a ton of mods, just get the Transporter.

DSC00939.jpg
DSC00977-1.jpg



Is Mauimods still doing the linear PSU upgrade for the SB3?
 
Sep 6, 2006 at 7:33 PM Post #15 of 24
Quote:

Originally Posted by Yikes
You’re going to have a tough time finding a DAC that actually out performs the DAC’s in a CA 640 (v2?) for less money. Cambridge Audio has a certain degree of economy of scale. Few separate DAC manufacturers make as many units as CA does.

The sound of a Squeezebox DAC combination is extremely DAC dependant. The current 640 v2 CD player is a real serious player. I doubt that you could find a better sounding DAC for less than 4 or 5 hundred dollars (US prices). If you are expecting the SB mated to a budget DAC < $200 to outperform a CA 640 v2 I think you’ll be disappointed.

I plan on purchasing a SB to use for casual listening. I will hang on to my main player for serious listening.



I agree with you on this. I used to own an Arcam CD23T which is a bit better then the 640 but the 640 is pretty nice also. I had to have my Squeezebox modded by RWA and feeding a MHDT Paradisea with a $50us tube and upgrade my digital cable between the two in order to best my good old CDP. The stock SB is certainly a very nice unit but in order to best a good CDP, you need a little more then a stock SB...
 

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