[Dimitris]

Ken,

Can you please let us know your impressions when you get the SB3 if you feed the output to the Opus 21 DAC? I am very interested in the Opus when I upgrade my cd-player.

Ralph,

Have you ever tried running the Transporter directly to the power amp without any pre-amp? What were the results?

 

[Lord Chaos]

I have run Slimserver on three different computers:
1. "Big" computer, Pentium 4 with Win XP.
2. Mac Powerbook G4
3. Old Dell PC laptop, Win XP

Slimserver has run perfectly on all of them. No conflicts nor crashes.

My main music server right now is the Powerbook. The music itself is on an offboard USB hard disk. When the computer goes to sleep the hard disk spins down, but when I want to use the Squeezebox, Slimserver wakes up and then the drive comes up. Takes about 15 seconds before I get music.

So, at least on my machinery. Slimserver is one of the best programs I've used. The user interface needs work but it's reliable.

Edit: Ralph cross-posted. I agree with his comment about the Squeezebox changing the way you listen to music. It's quick and easy. I could easily put the computer in another room and just use the Squeezebox as my control system.

 

[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Chaos /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have run Slimserver on three different computers: 1. "Big" computer, Pentium 4 with Win XP. 2. Mac Powerbook G4 3. Old Dell PC laptop, Win XP Slimserver has run perfectly on all of them. No conflicts nor crashes. My main music server right now is the Powerbook. The music itself is on an offboard USB hard disk. When the computer goes to sleep the hard disk spins down, but when I want to use the Squeezebox, Slimserver wakes up and then the drive comes up. Takes about 15 seconds before I get music. So, at least on my machinery. Slimserver is one of the best programs I've used. The user interface needs work but it's reliable. Edit: Ralph cross-posted. I agree with his comment about the Squeezebox changing the way you listen to music. It's quick and easy. I could easily put the computer in another room and just use the Squeezebox as my control system.

I've got the MacBook Pro and an external HD which contains all my lossless files so the setup is quite similar. Are you using iTunes? If so, any problems?

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ralph, Have you ever tried running the Transporter directly to the power amp without any pre-amp? What were the results?

Dimitris,

No I haven't basically because from what I've read both the Transporter and the Squezebox sound their best when their volume is set at 100%. Since I already own a very nice preamp, which I still would need to switch between my Transporter, MacCormack disc player (which plays SACDs and DVD-Audio discs) and my turntable I haven't bothered to check out the sound of the Transporter connected directly to my amp. Hey, isn't that the kind of thing that the professional audio equipment reviewers get paid to do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Chaos /img/forum/go_quote.gif Edit: Ralph cross-posted. I agree with his comment about the Squeezebox changing the way you listen to music. It's quick and easy. I could easily put the computer in another room and just use the Squeezebox as my control system.

Mr. Chaos,

Here's an example of just how transforming a Transporter can be:

My wife is applying for a temporary job (through 2009/2010) located in the Netherlands. There is a very good possibly that should she get the position I would go with her to live there for at least some of the time. Now I have a very large LP and CD collection and the thought of either taking those LPs and CDs with me or leaving them behind are both very frightening. However, with a Transporter, a terrabyte external hard drive and nice laptop computer I can now take most of my CD collection and at least some of my LP collection with me by ripping them onto the hard drive. All I would need to get once in Europe would be a decent integrated amp and some nice monitors and I'd be all set.

Plus I could still buy new CDs and rip them onto the hard drive via the laptop without even owning a CD player and I could still listen to my favorite US streaming radio stations via SqueezeNetwork. Truly a remarkable concept and very much transforming of the way one thinks about collecting recorded music.

Edit: Quote:

I've got the MacBook Pro and an external HD which contains all my lossless files so the setup is quite similar. Are you using iTunes? If so, any problems?

Why would one even want to use iTunes? Does iTunes even recognize FLAC files? Does iTunes do anything other than use up all kinds of resources on one's computer? Oh that's right, with iTunes you can get pretty pictures of the album art provided of course that the album in question is available via the iTunes store which is not really useful if you happen to like JAZZ!!!

Sorry for the mini-rant but I tend to get very frustrated with the fact that iTunes can't automatically provide any cover art for more than 50% to 75% of my music collection. I added the word "atutomatically" since if I jump through enough hoops I can cover art in iTunes to just about any recording.

 

[Lord Chaos]

Ken, I use Itunes and it works fine... unless there's a problem with a CD. This is rare, but if Itunes can't read a disc it just sits and whirrs and clicks... The only thing I can do is force-quit Itunes. Sometimes this takes down the rest of the computer and I have to reboot. In the 500-odd discs I've ripped to date this has happened four or five times.

What's odd is that the CD will rip just fine on the PC. Most of them have already been ripped once, to Windows Lossless. Converting from that to Apple Lossless didn't work; the music played slow by around 10%. So, now I use the PC version of Itunes to rip the CD and then copy it to a flash drive to move to the Powerbook. In extreme cases I'll use Winamp to burn a CD of the problematic disc from the WMA lossless files, and then rip that one on the Mac.

I don't really care about cover art, but it is a bit frustrating. WMP gets cover art with no trouble. Why would I need an Itunes store account to get the covers? It would be nice to get the liner notes someplace, as when the CDs are packed into boxes I can't read the booklets.

There is something fascinating about looking at boxes and boxes of CDs, and then at the hard disk about the size of a book that replaces them. I can take the hard disk anyplace.

The real problem is file formats. Machine A will play file set X. Machine B will play file set Y, which overlaps with set X but not completely. Itunes on a PC will play WMA lossless, but Itunes on a Mac won't. To use FLAC you need other third-party software which I didn't know about when I started getting into this particular revolution, so by the time I'd heard of them I was deeply into the Windows hole.

Fortunately, Slimserver is pretty much a universal translator. If I could use Slimserver to run my Shoutcast programming I wouldn't have to bother with the Apple Lossless re-rip.

 

[KenW]

Now, now Ralph....iTunes ain't THAT bad. I'm using apple lossless with the iTunes and mp3 with my portable(still got a couple of PC's) but do have FLAC archived. Since going to the MacBook Pro, I've come to appreciate iTunes a bit more. Do I enjoy it more than I did foobar? Nope, but considering how much I love the Mac, I'm willing to make that sacrifice for all the other goodies/advantages I enjoy over the PC platform. Heck, I'm even going to pick up a new ipod. My entire family has the ipod but I've resisted and stayed with the ZVM but it's not going to last I'm afraid. Going with the ipod only makes sense now that I've gone mac.

Album art is nice I guess. iTunes did a pretty good job with mine. I'd say I got about 90% of the covers. Getting the rest was pretty simple with all the online sources to choose from.

 

[Icarium]

I didn't read everything in this thread, but the transporter is fricken awesome. Aesthetically/convenience and sound. Sadly it is 2000 which is more than I currently want to spend. Plus my set up is next to my computer anyways... But someday I'll probably score one. When I get a living room speaker rig no doubt. That or a squeezebox depending of course on my DAC situation.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KenW /img/forum/go_quote.gif Now, now Ralph....iTunes ain't THAT bad. I'm using apple lossless with the iTunes and mp3 with my portable(still got a couple of PC's) but do have FLAC archived. Since going to the MacBook Pro, I've come to appreciate iTunes a bit more. Do I enjoy it more than I did foobar? Nope, but considering how much I love the Mac, I'm willing to make that sacrifice for all the other goodies/advantages I enjoy over the PC platform. Heck, I'm even going to pick up a new ipod. My entire family has the ipod but I've resisted and stayed with the ZVM but it's not going to last I'm afraid. Going with the ipod only makes sense now that I've gone mac. Album art is nice I guess. iTunes did a pretty good job with mine. I'd say I got about 90% of the covers. Getting the rest was pretty simple with all the online sources to choose from.

It's not that I need or really care about the cover art rather it's that iTunes claims to have this vast selection but in reality their selection is all about mass market or popular music. If one listens to other kinds of music like classical or jazz then iTunes Achilles heel is exposed.

No one doesn't need an iTunes store account to get the cover art but only items available via the iTunes store have cover art available.

Since I use either FLAC or APE as my lossless file format I don't have any use for either iTunes or Windows Media Player, both of which are fine examples of bloatware and either of which is easily bettered by very nicely coded freeware such as Exact Audio Copy and FLAC.

 

[KenW]

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.

 

[KenW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ralphp@optonline /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not that I need or really care about the cover art rather it's that iTunes claims to have this vast selection but in reality their selection is all about mass market or popular music. If one listens to other kinds of music like classical or jazz then iTunes Achilles heel is exposed. No one doesn't need an iTunes store account to get the cover art but only items available via the iTunes store have cover art available. Since I use either FLAC or APE as my lossless file format I don't have any use for either iTunes or Windows Media Player, both of which are fine examples of bloatware and either of which is easily bettered by very nicely coded freeware such as Exact Audio Copy and FLAC.

No doubt. If I were still a PC user, I'd not be using iTunes either. On my two remaining PC's, I've got EAC, foobar and dbpowerAMP. With those, I'm set. Still, I can't say enough about the Mac. I'm simply in love with it. If that means bye bye foobar and hello iTunes, I'm more than willing to make that sacrifice. I once felt as you do in being very down on iTunes but again, my only experience with it was on a windows machine. Not the best way to experience iTunes as I've come to learn. So in the end, I think we agree, no?

 

[kurumaya]

I use a SB3 connected to a Zhaolu 1.3, the early modded version. It competes for play-time with a Wadia 301, in an all Pass Labs system (X1, X150.5). The Wadia is exceedingly good, one of the best digital sources I have heard.

Surprisingly, it's not better than the SB/Zhaolu combo by a huge margin, and in fact very similar on many albums. Consequently, my new discs get ripped to FLAC, and the Wadia has starting to gather dust. Note that I am using the balanced output from the Zhaolu.

Whoever said that the SB3 will change your listening patterns hit it bang-on. All of the convenience of computer based audio, with *zero* sacrifice in SQ. Factor in that the SB/Zhaolu pricetag is less than 1/4th the price of the Transporter, and it's a pretty easy decision to make.

edit: I can't really back up that last assertion, as I haven't heard the Transporter. I just really can't imagine it sounding better than what I'm hearing right now...

 

[immtbiker]

I'm really lovin' this thread, because I was lucky enough to win the SB3 that was up for grabs at the HF2 National this weekend, and it was one of the prizes that I was really hoping to snatch.
This is kind of a new frontier to me, and I'm just starting to build a knowledge base for computer-based source other than using it to fill up my DAPs and ram chips.
I have a lot to learn about lossless compression and the software and capabilities that accompany them.

 

[ralphp@optonline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really lovin' this thread, because I was lucky enough to win the SB3 that was up for grabs at the HF2 National this weekend, and it was one of the prizes that I was really hoping to snatch. This is kind of a new frontier to me, and I'm just starting to build a knowledge base for computer-based source other than using it to fill up my DAPs and ram chips. I have a lot to learn about lossless compression and the software and capabilities that accompany them.

Congratulations Aaron and welcome to the club.

As stated earlier in this thread the best place to go for help and assistance with the SlimServer software is the Slim Devices Forum. Luckily SlimServer is fairly easy to use and to set up, although it is quite powerful and has lots of user definable configurations.

As far as learning about lossless compression and all the required software, I'd say that Head-Fi is one of the best resources available for this Kind of information.

You'll soon find out that winning the Squeezebox is going to cost you some money: outboard DAC, cables, wireless router and external hard drive. Of course the more of these you already own the better. As we like to say around here, Welcome and look out for your wallet

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by immtbiker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm really lovin' this thread, because I was lucky enough to win the SB3 that was up for grabs at the HF2 National this weekend, and it was one of the prizes that I was really hoping to snatch. This is kind of a new frontier to me, and I'm just starting to build a knowledge base for computer-based source other than using it to fill up my DAPs and ram chips. I have a lot to learn about lossless compression and the software and capabilities that accompany them.

Congrats!Lets us know what you think of it. I am hoping to receive mine soon. I have an external hard drive and wireless setup in my house already and cant wait for listening hours of music from Pandora.

 

[immtbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ralphp@optonline /img/forum/go_quote.gif You'll soon find out that winning the Squeezebox is going to cost you some money: outboard DAC, cables, wireless router and external hard drive. Of course the more of these you already own the better. As we like to say around here, Welcome and look out for your wallet

Thanks Ralph. I have the DAC, router, cables, and hard drive (don't you know me?) from all of my previous travels.
I'm already so broke, I can't even afford a wallet

.

What I need now, is a wholesale amount of new compression-less files.