[mjg]

Recently purchaced these two items to start on my way along the music server path. The squeezebox does not have a usb out and the tranquility only has usb in. Tried searching for cables/adapters to go either digital coax, or optical to usb with no luck. Anyone here know of one, or if there is a better solution? Thanks in advance for any help or advice you may be able to give me.

Maurice

[WGH]

I don't think there is a solution to your problem, you should probably re-title the thread to "Which Should I Sell?"

I would loose the Squeezebox, keep the Tranquility and use Foobar or JRiver on the computer.

Wayne

[Syrah]

If you do a search, you can find a way to reprogam the Touch to output USB from its USB port.  You kinda need to know what you're doing though.  There might be someone here or elsewhere who can do it for you.  Otherwise, I agree.  You need a computer or a different DAC.

I bought a cheapo Musical Fidelity V-DAC used and it really bring the Touch to the next level.

[Wayne1]

If you do a search, you can find a way to reprogam the Touch to output USB from its USB port.

Unfortunately this does not work very well. As soon as the sampling rate changes, you have to go back and restart everything. As this is a hack, there is no support.

My suggestion would be to sell the Tranquility. It does not support 24/96 or higher resolutions. You should be able to find a very good DAC that has a coax input that can play back 24/96 for the same amount of money that you can sell the Tranquility for.

[krikor]

You might want to try soundcheck's Toolbox for optimizing the touch. It has a control for selecting outputs and disabling the unused ones including analog, digital and USB. Not sure what happens if sample rates change with this mod and I have not tried the USB output. But it is fairly straightforward to add the mod and has detailed directions at the blog, plus you can simply reset the touch back to factory settings if it doesn't work for you.

http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/11/touch-toolbox-30.html

[Wayne1]

You can try TT 3.0,  but don't expect too much with the USB output

From TT 3.0: Note: USB DACS


I tried for quite some time to get USB DACs going. The toolbox is pretty much prepared to get those going.
Unfortunately the majority of DACs (USB Class 2) will not function properly. Logitech is using a very old USB Audio driver which could be the reason.
You'll experience buffer problems (XRUNS).
USB Audio Class 1 DACS with 24bit support might work.
I'll get a device isochronous device for testing soon. If I make it work I'll update the Toolbox.

The Tranquility is 16 bit 44.1 kHz.

Again, my suggestion is to get a DAC that is designed to work with coax input, 24/96. 

[mjg]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I just finished reading a 30 page thread on the subject and I will try the mods as it is worth a try. If anything will be changed it would be the touch as I have a lot invested in the DAC and it is supposed to be a great sounding product.

Thanks again, Maurice

[highfilter]

Thanks all for the suggestions. I just finished reading a 30 page thread on the subject and I will try the mods as it is worth a try. If anything will be changed it would be the touch as I have a lot invested in the DAC and it is supposed to be a great sounding product.

Thanks again, Maurice

That sounds like a solid plan. If anything has to go, it's the Touch. I used to use the Touch into a W4S DAC-2 and it was good for a while. Until I switched over to a Mac Mini as a transport and things improved substantially. And then I got the Tranquility SE and things improved and goosebumps started. The Touch is a good transport/solution for the money, but the Tranquility is a keeper and you'll see things improve as you get better sources.

[Syrah]

Good info highfilter.  I think your post is the first I've seen by someone who compared the Touch to a Mac.  Using the same DAC.  I have a Touch and I've been thinking about the Mac.  Now I'm really thinking...  Anyone else do a head-to-head?

[morganc]

I have both and the Mac with the Tranquility is definitely the best bet.  There are many here who have heard that combo and would agree.  There are also many here with the Eastern Electric DAC with the SB and love that too.    I haven't done a head to head but that is what most here do with these two choices. 

[Syrah]

Thanks.  Quite a price difference though. Mach2 Mac Mini with Tranquility gets over $3k.

I've got my eye on Dan Wright's new DAC, which itself will come out around $3k.  It will have both USB and other inputs.  I'm curious as to whether the Touch would hold its own against a Mach2 Mini with it.

Only one way to find out I suppose...

[ajzepp]

I would suggest going to computer based audio, as well. I had the duet and its receiver for a while and liked it well enough when it worked, but now that I'm streaming from my windows 7 laptop with a usb-to-spdif adapter into my DAC, the sound is amazing.

[wisnon]

I would suggest going to computer based audio, as well. I had the duet and its receiver for a while and liked it well enough when it worked, but now that I'm streaming from my windows 7 laptop with a usb-to-spdif adapter into my DAC, the sound is amazing.

I have a Spdif upgraded Duet (better Caps and Spdif digital signal bypasses unnecessary circuitry) with linear power supply integrated into my Lampizator L4 Dac as well as a McBook Air with a SSD and a Lindemann 24/192 DDC driving the same Dac and I cant say that for RBCD or even 24/96 that the McBook solution sounds better! The Duet when modded is an awesome transport and I know at least one LampizatorTransport (based on Duet)/Lamp Dac owner that says it blows away the MacMini/Pure Music solution he used before.

The Lamp Dac is a tube output Dac that was well reviewed at StereoMojo.

[ajzepp]

I have a Spdif upgraded Duet (better Caps and Spdif digital signal bypasses unnecessary circuitry) with linear power supply integrated into my Lampizator L4 Dac as well as a McBook Air with a SSD and a Lindemann 24/192 DDC driving the same Dac and I cant say that for RBCD or even 24/96 that the McBook solution sounds better! The Duet when modded is an awesome transport and I know at least one LampizatorTransport (based on Duet)/Lamp Dac owner that says it blows away the MacMini/Pure Music solution he used before.

The Lamp Dac is a tube output Dac that was well reviewed at StereoMojo.

Well I would HOPE that it's hard to tell a difference if you spent money on mods for it. I liked my Duet a lot for the furst year but then started having all sorts of connectivity issues. I got sick of downloading the nightly beta updates, restoring factory defaults, etc....but even when it was working, it wasn't nearly as good as what I'm getting now.

But yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about the mods for the Squeezebox products. I may have even considered that if not for the fact that I basically upgraded for free. A fellow AC'er told me about the "remote" app for my iPhone, so I use that to control my iTunes library and it is far more stable than my Duet ever was.

[wisnon]

I paid good good money for most of the equipment, but as I said, quality is similar. I did other work to the Dac, so the spdif mods were basically free. The Dac was purpose built with the Duet PSU embedded.

I never had those connectivity probs, so no worries there. I have a pal who change out the stock clock for a Superclosk 4 and he says its a world of difference! I have not heard it yet. However, getting rid of the dirty PSU and cleaning up the Spdif digital out is a great improvement.

The McBook also sounds great for HiRez, but I still have more comparisons to do. I can control the Duet with an iPad, so that is the best remote there is.