[RonD2]

I have spent the last two nights listening to Vinnie's fully modded, battery powered Squeeze Box 2.  In a nutshell, it is great!  Beyond great.

For a point of reference, I have been using a fully hot-rodded Clari-T for some time now.  It drives very efficient back horns with either Lowther or Fostex as drivers.  I have been very happy with this combo.  

I am a long time analog guy with a pretty good front end (Shelter, ET2, VPI, Wavelength phono stage).  My digital playback has been going through a constant evolution.  Most recently, I was using various transports (a Vinnie-modded Tosh, an unmodded Samsung, etc.) into a Monica II installed inside the Clari-T and had been reasonably happy with it though I felt my analog setup sounded noticably better.

A few months ago, a search for a better transport led me to the Squeezebox.  I initially used it's digital out to feed the Monica II and noted an immediate improvement in the sound compared to the DVD player.  I lived with this setup for about a month while I ripped CDs and organized my collection.  

Vinnie lent me a linear power supply for the SB and it also noticably improved the sound.  I have lived with this setup for the past several weeks (into the Monica II) and was very happy.  I didn't think it was going to be easy for the fully modded unit to significantly improve upon.  I was wrong.

With the caveat that it has only been two nights, I can say that it is better "in every way".  You know the rountine.  Suddenly, you can listen to tracks that you have "burnt out" on and find new things to hear, etc. My system sounds more powerful and expressive.  Its been pretty dramatic to me.  This is using the modded analog out which bests the Monica II pretty easily imo.  I have even taken to using the digital volume control.  

I am trying to contain myself here, but this is an amazing package.  Just on the basis of the sound it would be absolutely worth it.  The convienence of having complete control of the system and your CD collection from a wireless laptop is beyond belief.  Add to this internet radio (a real surprise, btw, not so much for the sound as for the programming available) and you truly have the receiver of the new millenium.

And to think that there it is, wirelessly connected to the ethernet data stream and not another connection in sight.  Amazing.

I am guessing that there will be a lot of questions.  Be patient with me.  I am a slow typer and will have a great deal of trouble pulling myself away from the listening chair tonight ( and tomorrow night, etc.).

Ron

[Vinnie R.]

Hi RonD2,

Thanks for taking the time to post your initial Red Wine modded SB2 impressions!  You will find that it gets even better once the Auricaps, Black Gates, etc burn-in, as you found out for yourself with your modded Clari-T.  

This is using the modded analog out which bests the Monica II pretty easily imo. I have even taken to using the digital volume control.

Now that you know you love the sound of the modded SB2s analog output, the next step is to remove the Clari-T's voluem control and simply use the SB2's volume control...it gets even better!  

I am guessing that there will be a lot of questions. Be patient with me. I am a slow typer and will have a great deal of trouble pulling myself away from the listening chair tonight ( and tomorrow night, etc.).

Take your time, and please post a follow up after you put in more time listening!  

Thanks again!

[Paul_Bui]

Congratulations to both of you, Ron and Vinnie.  Please keep more good news coming.

Could you tell us about the headphone amp capability of the SB2?  I have two pairs:  one Beyerdynamics, one AKG and am hoping the SB2 will also provide equally good sound quality to those outputs.

My stock unit has been ordered and will go directly to Vinnie this Thursday, so you see I'm going to join you singing the happy theme soon.

Thanks Ron & Vinnie for sharing the experience.  I have started the CD to WAV conversion process.  It's fun!  Oh yes, a huge hard drive is in order, too.

[Vinnie R.]

Could you tell us about the headphone amp capability of the SB2?  I have two pairs:  one Beyerdynamics, one AKG and am hoping the SB2 will also provide equally good sound quality to those outputs.
.

Paul,

Thanks for reminding me:

   The analog output stage mod that I do takes the output directly from the Burr Brown dac chip, and sends it to the RCA jacks via Auricaps.  Everything else is disabled, which include the opamp output stage as well as the headphone output.

I believe that it would be best to use a dedicated, high quality headphone amp.

Let me update this on my webpage...

Thanks, Paul!

[maxwalrath]

I have started the CD to WAV conversion process.  It's fun!  Oh yes, a huge hard drive is in order, too.

Paul, how much time is this taking?

[ryno]

Does the software/or plugins have any eq ability?
Ryan

[Paul_Bui]

I believe that it would be best to use a dedicated, high quality headphone amp.

OK, can't agree more with the minimalist approach.

[Paul_Bui]

I have started the CD to WAV conversion process.  It's fun!  Oh yes, a huge hard drive is in order, too.

Paul, how much time is this taking?

Using EAC (exact audio copy) software, it takes me from 30% to 50% of the real time to convert CD tracks to WAV files - no compression.  It would be faster if you use more convenient software such as Roxio EZ Creator or Windows Media Player, but the fidelity probably won't be that good.

[maxwalrath]

Thanks Paul. I saw this ad on the slimdesigns site.

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_ripping.html

I would probably go this route if I digitized everything to save all the time.[/url]

[gbeard]

Hi Guys (and gals?),

I have been using a sqeezebox for some time and I can vouch for how much better the version 2 is, even in stock form. I am drooling over the idea of having Vinnie mod mine at some point.

My reason for posting is simple. I have taken the easy (and perhaps unpopular) route with respect to ripping by using iTunes. I make sure I have the options for Apple Lossless and Error checking selected and GO FOR IT! While I have never used EAC so I have no basis of comparison, I can honestly say that I love the sound. It may, perhaps, lack the last smidgen of resolution that a better ripping method has, but dagnab it, she sure does kick butt through my outboard dac.

Oh Vinnie...  

gb

[Jon L]

Hi Guys (and gals?),

I have been using a sqeezebox for some time and I can vouch for how much better the version 2 is, even in stock form. I am drooling over the idea of having Vinnie mod mine at some point.

My reason for posting is simple. I have taken the easy (and perhaps unpopular) route with respect to ripping by using iTunes. I make sure I have the options for Apple Lossless and Error checking selected and GO FOR IT! While I have never used EAC so I have no basis of comparison, I can honestly s ...

Not to worry.  I've compared exact same tracks ripped with iTunes w/ error correction vs. EAC highest setting.  Apple lossless played in iTunes and same track in FLAC playing via Foobar do sound different due to differences in players (on PC).  But when this very apple lossless file is converted to FLAC and played on Foobar, there is no loss of sound quality.

BTW, does Squeezeboxs 2 support apple lossless files?

[gbeard]

Yep! That is one of the reasons I like it so much.
Rip and build playlists with iTunes and play
'em through SlimServer!

[Vinnie R.]

Yep! That is one of the reasons I like it so much.
Rip and build playlists with iTunes and play
'em through SlimServer!

Hi gbeard,

Welcome to the Red Wine Circle!

I know what you mean about simplicity in using iTunes.  Initially, I was using Windows Media Player Lossless compression, and yes, it was very easy and automated, and fast.  

After reading a bit online (Slim forum, audioasylum, etc), I began to realize that maybe it wasn't the best idea to store all my files in a SW format controlled by a company like Microsoft or Apple.  With all the copy prevention crap, it makes most sense to go with FLAC.  FLAC is open-source, and the goals and anti-goals of FLAC can be viewed here: http://flac.sourceforge.net/goals.html

However, before you can compress with FLAC, you need .wav files, and EAC is a great program to make bit-perfect .wav files (it even corrects errors!).  The "problem" with EAC and FLAC is that it takes more time to setup, and time to rip and compress, but the results are as good as it gets.  You can also use FLAC to convert back to the .wav file and store the .wav.  

Or, if you have a bunch of disk space, maybe it is best to keep everything as .wav files.  Everything has its pros and cons, but if you like iTunes and using Apple Lossless, there ain't nothin' wrong wit dat!  

Have fun...that's what its all about!

[gbeard]

The Vin-miester sez: Have fun...that's what its all about!

You put yer CD in, you pull your CD out, you put yer next one in and you spin it all about. You do the Harddrive-pokie and rip a bunch of discs...That's what its all about!


CAN I GET AN AMEN TO HAVING FUN WITH AUDIO!

 

[Paul_Bui]

I have started the CD to WAV conversion process.  It's fun!  Oh yes, a huge hard drive is in order, too.

Paul, how much time is this taking?

I take it back.  How fast it is to rip your CDs will depend on your CD/DVD drive.  The drive on my Dell PC is OK (see earlier post), but when I tried my Dell laptop, it's much quicker, taking only about 10% of the real playing time.  For instance, if my CD lasts 60 minutes, the ripping time takes about 7 minutes.

My digital library keeps growing for the last 2 days.  It's approaching 20 GB now with over 400 CD tracks in WAV format.

[Vinnie R.]

I take it back. How fast it is to rip your CDs will depend on your CD/DVD drive.

Yes, and it also depends on if EAC finds errors on your disc.  If this is the case, it takes extra time to correct them.  There is an indicator in the SW that shows if error correction is taking place, but IMO, it is well worth the extra time...

[Paul_Bui]

Went shopping locally today, checked out FRY's and BEST BUY, and found a Seagate 300GB hard drive for $199 (after mail-in rebate).

[Brad]

Paul,

Keep an eye on www.techbargains.com if you're looking for hard drives, computers, etc.   May save some money when you go to add another 300gb drive.

[Paul_Bui]

Thanks Brad for reminding me.  Yes I did go there this morning but didn't find a recent deal on HD.  OTOH, my digital library keeps growing and may eat up my data backup drive any day.  BUY.COM is selling one for $249 plus tax, but I couldn't wait for another day.  It was tempting to get a 1 TB drive, but it's expensive, so the Best Buys deal fits my bill nicely.  Also picked up an optical wireless mouse for my laptop, but after trying it on the PC it works so great (smooth, fast, no mouse ball) that I plan to go back and get another one for the laptop.

[Paul_Bui]

I have started the CD to WAV conversion process.  It's fun!  Oh yes, a huge hard drive is in order, too.

Paul, how much time is this taking?

I take it back.  How fast it is to rip your CDs will depend on your CD/DVD drive.  The drive on my Dell PC is OK (see earlier post), but when I tried my Dell laptop, it's much quicker, taking only about 10% of the real playing time.  For instance, if my CD lasts 60 minutes, the ripping time takes about 7 minu ...

Ripping Song Bird CD (Cassidy Eva's) to WAV with about 450MB takes less than 3 minutes!  Isn't it cool?