[slow_down]

I'm going back and forth on whether to get a cd player or Squeezebox 3 to use as a source for my first high end stereo setup, and am wondering to what extent the condition of my CD's should be a factor in that decision.  MANY of my CD's - especially ones bought in highschool and college - look terrible, with lots of scratches.  I ripped most of them to MP3 using EAC and found that around 10% weren't able to rip perfectly, with one or more tracks with errors.  I presume that even for the majority of CD's that did rip error free, that EAC probably had to do some real work to get that result.  Does this mean that a CD player will have a harder time getting the best sound out of my CD's too?  Given the above, is it a no-brainer to go with a Squeezebox 3 so the scratched media is a non-factor?  Or are there other things I should consider?  Thanks.

[audio-heaven]

If you have got most of your badly scratched CD's to rip successfully with EAC then you could just re-burn them onto CDr without a noticeable dip in sound quality, get yourself some good quality CDr's from a manufacturer like Taiyo Yuden and they will last you a long time if you take care of them. (here is a good guide to quality media) http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
Your PC is far better at error correction with badly scratched CD's than a CD player is I have had scratched CD's that no CD player in the house could read but the PC could.

Then you could buy a high end CD player and not worry about the the scratched discs anymore.


A Squeezebox is a great and convenient device in my experience, an un-modified Squeezebox without an off-board DAC sounds great for the money but it isn't capable of what I would call a high end sound, if you use it with a dac preferably with a buffered model like the Benchmark DAC1 or the Lavry DAC then you are getting closer to the high end source you are after.
However these DACs are not the only way to a high end sound with the Squeezebox, Wayne at Bolder Cable does some highly respected modifications to the Squeezebox that some say equal some very high end CD players, whatever you do the Squeezebox really needs a high quality linear power supply to start with.

I hope this helps 

[bprice2]

slow_down:

I would agree with what audio-heaven said. 

I'd also like to add that I went through some of the same things you have with scratched Cd's.  I purchased a Skipdoctor CD Repair Kit thinking at the time that it probably wouldn't work, but might be worth the investment in-light of the large number of Cd's I had that had become so scratched over the years that I could not get a complete rip with EAC.  To my surprise this device worked on about 90% of my problem Cd's.

Just thought I'd pass this along.  It worked pretty well for me.

[slow_down]

Thanks for the input.  I will definitely look into spin doctor before "giving up" on my problem CD's.

And thanks for the info on CD-R media, will hopefully have far fewer coasters in the future.  A quick search online showed that I can get Taiyo Yuden CD'R's for as cheap as 28 cents/disc if I buy in bulk.  Good deal!

[richidoo]

If you have another CD-R drive sometimes that will be able to rip where another can't. Weird, but true. You'll love the SB.

[Bigfish]

Slow-Down

Many of the guys on this circle have very strong opinions of using a CD Player or Squeezebox in a high-end 2 channel rig.  I was in your situation back in March when I joined this circle.  Prior to joining I had never heard of a Squeezebox.  If you choose to go the route of the Squeezebox you will want to eventually have the unit modded or use the digital-out to a dac and then to a preamp.  Many here will tell you that the analog-out of an unmodified Squeezebox is very weak.  While I have not tried it yet, many believe an analog modded Squeezebox with a good aftermarket power supply (like Bolder's Ultimate Power Supply) is best when connected directly to the amps (eliminate the preamp).  I personally do not have the experience to say but many here believe a highly modified S3 with excellent power supply will sound as good as or better than a very high-end CDP/DAC combination.  Others do not agree that the S3 is or should be considered as high end gear. 

If you chose to go the CDP route you will eventually want to add a DAC into the system.  Many believe this is the best route to the best high-end sound.  Like I indicated above I do not have the experience to know but I chose to give the Squeezebox a try.  After receiving the unit I tried it and go hooked on the convenience of being able to listen to any song in my library without leaving my chair.  I soon after sent the unit to Wayne of Bolder to have it modified along with having him modify the linear Elpac.  The sound in my system is pretty darn good, much better than my NAD C542 CDP.  I am looking forward to further improving the sound when I am able to add the Ultimate Power Supply.

Good luck on your decisions.  I think the best choice is the one that you feel most comfortable with whether it is the Squeezebox or CDP.  In either case you will end up spending more money to mod the S3 or you will end up adding a DAC and ICs if you go the CDP route.

Ken

[martyo]

At the Detroit show in the Salk/AVA room, they used a stock SB3 as the source into an AVA Ultra DAC, into an AVA Ultra preamp into an AVA Ultra 550 amp. There are many comments on various threads here on  the circle praising the quality of sound from that room.

[avta]

I'm a Squeezebox guy. Nuforce 9.02 V2 amps, Norh Tube preamp and Magnepan 1.6 speakers. Just ordered a Benchmark dac. The Squeezebox offers reasonably good sound and a lot more since it can be used in wireless mode and allows access to hundreds of internet music sites free. Ditto the Skip Doctor comments. It's fixed some cd's and game discs I thought were ready for the trash.