Squeezebox/Transporter question
Jun 7, 2007 at 5:20 PM Post #152 of 164
awesome... i mean, aww crap, now i have to start saving more money up again. i only just recovered from a series of diy projects, i was done with my speaker setup, but this is too good to pass up.
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Jun 14, 2007 at 4:26 PM Post #153 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I want to buy one of the 2 for streaming music from the internet to my speaker rig. Question is whether I will see any additional benefit from the Transporter vs Squeezebox. Is the music streaming compressed or no and how will the Transporter give a better sound? I have already plugged in my laptop and it sounded pretty darn good!
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The squeezebox can't be compared to the Transporter. The DAC in Transporter is audiophile quality. Only by using the Squeezebox as a transport and adding a high quality DAC and digital cable can you compete.
 
Jun 14, 2007 at 4:28 PM Post #154 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by sc53 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I have 3 Squeezeboxes and use 2 with DACs, the third just analog out to my preamp. All stream Apple Lossless music and all sound very comparable to my very expensive CD players--Linn Unidisk 2.1 and Ayre CX-7e. If you don't plan on using a DAC and have a really good system already, get the Transporter. If you plan on using the Squeezebox unit as a secondary source or have a DAC the plain ole Squeezebox will be absolutely fine. There are also mods you can get for the Squeezebox including upgraded power supply (HIGHLY recommended; a popular one is available from Bolder.com) or modded digital or analog output sections (also available from Bolder.com). The audiophiles forum at forums.slimdevices.com has a lot of info on the various units, mods, and comparison between SB3/Transporter.


The Bolder PSU is a monumental waste of money. You can instead buy a cheap $17 Elpac linear PSU and achieve the same results.
 
Jun 14, 2007 at 6:29 PM Post #155 of 164
I received a Mogami Gold Digital AES/EBU XLR 6' cable today, to replace my 2 piggy-backed Cardas Neutral Reference balanced IC's. The digital XLR is a perfect 110 ohms (as opposed to 75 ohms for a digital coax). It goes from the XLR digital out on the TP to the PCM in on the Dac 6e.

I will report back on the sound differences (if any) when it has a little time on it.
 
Oct 21, 2007 at 3:54 AM Post #156 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I received a Mogami Gold Digital AES/EBU XLR 6' cable today, to replace my 2 piggy-backed Cardas Neutral Reference balanced IC's. The digital XLR is a perfect 110 ohms (as opposed to 75 ohms for a digital coax). It goes from the XLR digital out on the TP to the PCM in on the Dac 6e.

I will report back on the sound differences (if any) when it has a little time on it.



Aaron, did you ever post on this? What are your impressions? My TP will be here next week
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Oct 21, 2007 at 5:06 PM Post #157 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig /img/forum/go_quote.gif
im not saying it doesnt work. It works if you slave the dac to sb3, but there is no clock input to slave the sb3 to the dac with a word clock frequency


There can be. The Pace-Car reclocker does exactly this. Provides a "master clock" to the SB3 (with some minor mods) and reclocks the data from the SB3 using a high-performance clock, such as the Superclock4 or Ultraclock. The low-jitter output from the Pace-Car can be S/PDIF or I2S. See:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/frPace-Car.html

Steve N.
Empirical Audio
 
Oct 21, 2007 at 8:27 PM Post #158 of 164
Cali Aaron,
The Mogami XLR to the Emm Labbs Dac 6E is as good as it gets. There are more expensive digital XLR's out there, but these were recommended to me by a sound engineer who uses mostly Cardas, Tara Labs and Mogami cables in the studio and this cable (2M) cost me $75 from Musician's Friend compared to $750 for the Cardas, and $1k for the Tara Labs.
Comparing it to the direct Dac output of the TP into my McIntosh is like comparing grandma's home cooking to "All you can Eat" sterno buffet food.
I have to constanly volume match because the Meitner's output is considerably louder, but...apples and oranges. The TP DAC is real good, but doesn't hold a candle to the EmmLabs.
I also used the TP digital out to an Ack!dACK! and it the Ack!dACK! isn't in the same league. The TP is much better.

One problem I am having, and maybe one of you guys reading this can help me with this, is that, after downloading the latest Slimserver revision of software, the TP is now showing up as my G: drive, even though it always has been my F: and even though I unplugged everything and restarted empty and then plugged in the WD hard drive, it refuses to take the F: which is the next available drive.
Now, when I look in my library, I have to force it to scan my G: drive and had to allocate all of my other shortcut folders to G: instead of F:, otherwise it doesn't see any library.
I changed everything over, but I just can't figure out why this software revision is insisting on using the G: drive for my external HD.
Whenever I plug in an MP3 player or USB printer or digi camera, it takes over the F: position.

It's an FM!
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Oct 22, 2007 at 4:26 AM Post #159 of 164
Hi Folks;

I see on CI's site Dusty has a new ps for the SB3. Has anyone tried it yet?
Thanks.

Bazile
 
Jan 17, 2008 at 11:13 AM Post #160 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by eyeteeth /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Almost. I discovered this information after I was dissatisfied with the SB as a transport. All was well after I took the "manipulation" out of the loop. Also, 'Bit Rate Limiting' set to "No Limit" (even though 16 is the limit, unlike the Transporter).

HowtoBestAudioQuality - Slim Devices : Community : Wiki

"If the volume control is enabled in the SqueezeBox then the digital information provided by slimserver is manipulated by the firmware and output through the digital output. This manipulation may cause some loss of information. If the digital volume control is switched off then the SqueezeBox simply plays what it receives and your DAC does the job it did before when it was directly connected to a CD transport."




That's shocking! How do you disable it?
 
Mar 7, 2008 at 12:42 AM Post #161 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazile /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Hi Folks;

I see on CI's site Dusty has a new ps for the SB3. Has anyone tried it yet?
Thanks.

Bazile



hey, I am happy listening to the SB3 right now getting wireless feed from my laptop, and the CIA VDA2 is a big improvement indeed. but to echo bazile, any impressions on the CIA power supply would be appreciated.
 
Mar 10, 2008 at 10:24 PM Post #162 of 164
I think much of the discussion of the use of music servers like the Squeezebox misses the greatest motivation. Music ripped from CD to FLAC and played through even a modest music server / DAC sounds more intelligible, read better, than the sound from any but the most elaborate and expensive CD front ends. Real time extraction from optical media is most problematical. The ass-backward use of the CD player as the source for the digital clocking instead of the DAC is another huge stumbling block. All that is obviated by ripping to a lossless format and playing through a more optimal, less troublesome path.
If I had any doubts prior to hearing Ivor Tiefenbrun of Linn demonstrate this they were dispelled afterward. Linn also had a very effective demonstration of the superiority of the music server over the CD deck at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest last November.
 
Mar 10, 2008 at 11:30 PM Post #163 of 164
Quote:

Originally Posted by KenW /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Chaos, I've not had that problem happen on my Macbook Pro. I had a headfier tell me that iTunes on a Mac is a different critter than the flavor on a PC and in my experience that's correct. So far....flawless. I only maintain mp3 files due to my ZVM. I kept hoping Creative would offer mac support but that was simply wishful thinking on my part. I've grown to love the Mac so much that I'm determined to cut all ties to my PC days. That means I become an ipod user. That's not a bad thing I guess as my entire family has the ipod. I've been the lone holdout. Just didn't like being part of the crowd I guess. Still, having to keep my old PC around just to deal with my portable has grown old and quickly so the ipod is coming. That's a bit off topic but felt like sharing I guess.

In my experience with the PC, I can honestly say that iTunes would not be part of the mix for me. On that platform, I'd stick with EAC and foobar. Throw in the dbpowerAMP software and you're golden. Use the EAC to rip to FLAC. From there, if you need another format, you can use the dbpowerAMP software to go easily into any format you want. I'll miss those programs, but again, for the sake of being "windows free", it's a sacrifice that I'll GLADLY make....and not look back either! I'm a Mac user forever now.




You needn't throw over FLAC to use a Mac. Just avoid the newest generation of iPods. Use anyone else's DAP that supports FLAC. I'd encourage you to give Apple the finger on this score. The iTunes/iPod's hoggish and proprietary scheme is counter to the open source magic of Squeezebox and FLAC. Reminds me of the days when you couldn't buy a power supply for a Compaq from anybody but Compaq. To Apple I say, "Standardize, fool." Supoort FLAC. If you haven't already done so go to the iTunes website and give them feedback that demands support for FLAC and open standards.
There's a reason that all this wonderful software like EAC and foobar 2000 is written for Windows or Linux. It's because Apple is a closed system. Like not open.
 

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