[Rob S.]

Hi all,
    I'm committed to buying a SB3 and want to know how the wireless one makes life any easier for me?

Is all it does is eliminate one set of wires going to the SB?  I will still have to run a long Digital Coax cable through the wall to my DAC and then on to the stereo (stereo and laptop + external HD in adjacent closet to listening room).  Doesn't seem like much added value.   What am I missing here?

Thanks,

Rob S.

[PhilNYC]

If you get the wireless SB3, you can put the SB3 in the rack with your stereo (it doesn't have to sit next to your computer or hard drive).  That is assuming you have a wireless network set up in your place that has coverage to reach your listening room.

[sl_1800]

I bought the SB3 because I already have a wireless network and did not want to run cat5 to the listening room.  To me for only 50 more the wireless version is the only way to go.

[mfsoa]

Has anyone compared wired vs. wireless, all else equal?

I've read accounts of wired sounding better, but of course theory says no diference.

Let theory guide, experiment decide.

Anyone done this experiment?

[DeadFish]

Since I too had 'wireless' as part of what my router provided, I like the wireless function because I can drag the SB3 around ANYwhere in the house and have a good time.  I can 'jam' where I hadn't thought of putting a hifi before.  (and move it when I'm done!).
But I'm also curious if anyone has actually done a wired vs. wireless critical comparison. 
I don't know if my old ears are up to hearing the difference, but I'm willing to listen to others who say they do.

Regards,
DeadFish

[avta]

I've tried wired and wireless with my SB2 and can't tell any difference in sound. ( Norh pre, Nuforce 9.2's, Magnepan 1.6's ) I emailed Slimdevices tech department about this. They said the information transferred should be the same.

[jqp]

(Ah... the norh ACA, I know it well)

Why go with wireless, indeed?

I would think for convenience only (or, if you do not have a perfect wireless network setup, endless agony) and no improvement in sound quality.

[TomS]

I can hear static bursts that sound like "buffering" of large data chunks a few times a second in my setup.  Only noticeable on musically silent moments.  I use wired and it's gone now.  SQ other than that is the same.  Tom

[nickspicks]

while the SB3 is cool and all...

what I do is use a bit-perfect 24/96 sound card ,(by bit perfect i mean it doesn't resample or anything like that, just plays and passes signal) in a quiet PC.  Toslink into the DAC.
PC has no monitor, keyboard, mouse..etc.  I control it remote via my laptop, and its slick as shit.
Although...a little more of a setup (very little), and more "stuff" involved for the same output, I bet you have all that gear on hand all ready?  I did, so it was a no brainer for me. 
FYI, Monarchy DIP boxes in this chain really work well too.  helps a lot when driving a longer cable, for example.

[JLM]

I tried both ways due to network issues and thought wired sounded better.  Keep in mind that wireless signal strength was only 65 - 70% (with the server on the 2nd floor and the SB in the basement).  Adding a $50 network antenna probably would have solved the problem (we needed one for my PC thats in the same room).  But now its $80 more (the 25 ft cable was $20) than wired.

[chadh]

I don't think wireless signal strength should have much to do with the issue.  As long as the signal gets there, the signal should be right.  When you have a low signal strength, it raises the chances of drop-outs.

The sound quality issue with wireless, I think, is that the squeezebox offers various opportunities to pick up  noise from the environment, or from itself.  For example, the SB display puts out some interference that can be picked up by the capacitors in the audio circuit.  And the wireless circuit can pick up other forms of wireless interference.  When you run the squeezebox in wired mode, the wirless receiver is shut down and you remove a potential source of interference from the system.  Whether it makes an audible difference presumably depends on a whole lot of things.  How many wireless signals in the same frequency range are floating around your house?  How exactly is your antenna positioned?  At what time of day are you listening?  And who knows what sort of minor random things can influence how well the circuit can or can't filter out such noise.

I used to have all sorts of interference problems with my modded SB2.  Wayne at Bolder Cables generously offered to give the SB2 a treatment with ERS paper.  While it was away, I ran a stock SB2 in wired mode with no real interference problems.  And when the modded one came back, I ran it wirelessly without any problems.  In an extremely casual test, I couldn't tell the difference between the modded SB2 with ERS paper when run in wired mode or run wirelessly.  But it wouldn't surprise me if the next person found a night-and-day difference, just because of the nature of the wireless interference.

Chad

[eastein]

One thing not mentioned is that with the wireless version can tune into Internet radio independent of the SB server or a computer via the squeezenetwork. 

[Grumpy_Git]

One thing not mentioned is that with the wireless version can tune into Internet radio independent of the SB server or a computer via the squeezenetwork. 

 

All SB 2 and 3 should be capble of this. The only difference in terms of features between wired/wireless models is just that.

Nick.