Still Using A Squeezebox Touch after 10 years, Time to upgrade??

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reynaldo01

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I use an external DAC (Topping D50 through coaxial) and my music is in a disk station, and to me it sounds ok, I built a volumio raspberry Pi and it does sound different, better? I am not sure, and I would be happy to keep using it but every time I add music it does take a while for the pi to update my library (about 1.5 terabytes in flac files)  when it comes to digital I find the "upgrades" not as easy to identify. Obviously in 10 years I am sure technology has advance and I am looking at one of those Bluesound Nodes, but I wonder how much would I gain performance wise but mostly in sound quality. Any thoughts? Recommendations?

hibuckhobby

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I still use a Logitech transporter which is even older than the Touch I have.  Both work well with an external DAC
and sound just fine to these old ears.  In fact, the Transporter is still a very good sounding piece as long as you
don't need something for Hi-Rez.
Hibuck...

reynaldo01

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I have a few Hi-rez files, but I don't see myself buying lots of them in the future, I rather spend $10-$15 more and get the vinyl, I do remember the Transporter!

Phil A

I used a Touch for many years.  If you don't go for a dedicated music server (Lumin, Aurender, BlueSound, Cocktail Audio, etc.), something like a small fanless PC with Windows 10 and JRiver (or whatever software player you choose - e.g. Foobar, HQ Player, etc.) set up properly can be a nice step up.  Of course, with something designed as a music server many like not dealing with Windows and the playback software of your choice.

richidoo

Low jitter is the most audible metric for good digital audio, imo. As time goes by the quality of clocks and digital circuit design improves while prices go down. So a RPi with SPDIF hat output can have much lower jitter than a high end DAC from a decade ago, but it's still about 60pS. Digital starts to sound pretty good when jitter is reduced to <100pS. I use iFi iPurifier (SPDIF version - $150) to reduce my 10 year old Sonos ZP-80's terrible SPDIF output jitter down to 60pS, and it sounds really good considering the Sonos source. My SOtM sMS-200 network renderer sounds even better but I don't know the jitter. AudioCircle sponsor Empirical Audio makes Synchro-Mesh which reduces jitter down to only 7pS. Some ultra high end DACs have fS jitter. Even top DACs with built in reclocking like my Auralic Vega still benefit from combing out some of the jitter on the digital input. Power supplies affect jitter as do the digital cables.

If you like the Squeezebox you could try a jitter scrubber out it's output to improve the signal quality rather than change the digital transport and still need a to add a jitter filter anyway to equal your SB with a jitter filter.

reynaldo01

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I heard of the iPurifier but never consider it, but know that you have mentioned it may be exactly what I am looking for, cause I do worry about the SBT SPDIF out mostly and that would be the only reason to look for a new streamer, Thank you richidoo!

Wayne1

If you install the Enhanced Digital Output app, you can use the SB Touch to play back files up to 24/192. It also allows you to use the USB connection as an output to a DAC.

WC

Allo DigiOne hat gets down to 0.6pS. That is what I use as a transport.

limits

I'll second the Allo suggestion. I have a DigiOne running Volumio and a DigiOne Signature running DietPi in another system. Both are unbeatable in their respective price ranges IMO. I would suggest using the BNC connection, and a linear power supply for them. They both easily beat my Touch. The D1 signature is awesome! It does use two power supplies,  but the Allo-sourced one powering the raspberry pi seems to work just fine, with the LPS powering the Digi hat.

limits

HT cOz

I recently purchased a used Transporter which had the Modwright modifications.  I couldn't be happier and my system has never sounded better.  I was setup in 20 minutes and I play mostly Tidal using iPeng.  I'm planning to add Allo through BNC to add limited High Resolution support (24/192).  Looking at the Modwright offerings, the Transporter is still very competitive with tube power rectification, transformer coupled balanced output, and the tube buffered SE outputs..  It's early days, but I think I'm done with the digital merry go round for a long long time.

I can't believe how much Slimdevices got right so long ago and just wish Logitech hadn't dropped the ball. 

http://penguinlovesmusic.de/ipeng-8/

http://www.modwright.com/gallery/album.php?s=transporter-truth-mods


firedog

The Touch is still competitive sound wise. Something like a reclocker and/or improved PS will kick performance up a notch or two, but will cost some money. If you are happy with the features and form factor, I don't see a lot of reason to switch it. For me, the reason to switch it would be if the interface no longer is convenient for you, or it lacks a feature that more modern devices have.

For instance, I'm now a big Tidal listener. And yes, you can listen to Tidal over the Touch, but the interface for it isn't the best. That, for me, would be a reason to consider different HW or UI software (like controlling the Touch over Roon) that would do the job better. 

Jazzman53

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I used a SB Touch for years and only sold it because I got its big brother; a Logitec Transporter, which I'm still using today.  I don't know if I could tell the difference between them sound wise; which says a lot about the SB because the Transporter is killer. 

A great feature that SB and Transporter have that most other music servers don't have, is a volume controlled digital out.  On most other servers, the digital out is just a pass thru. 

My setup uses a digital EQ and a separate digital crossover downstream of the Transporter.  So; by using the Transporter as the preamp, I avoid having multiple A/D and D/A conversions in the signal path, as I have only a single D/A conversion out of the crossover to the amps.

The only way to take away my Transporter is by prying it out of my cold dead hands :-)