[Felipe]

Hi all,

Much has been said about the litle wonder that keeps amazing everyone, and the possibilty to mod is making it a must have inside the audiophile comunity. I am talking about, of course, the Squeezebox from SlimDevices.

My questions are pretty much what everyone wants to know : How good it really is ??? What does it compare to ? I know its good for the price...but compared to a CD player....of what range ?? Is it as good as a Budget CD player ...a Good CD player....a Very Good CD player ???

Please dont tell me that the SB can play mp3 ,flac and is wireless, blah blah blah....what i WANT to know...is HOW GOOD IS THE SOUND ?

What about the mods ? Does the 5v regulator source really boasts it up ? How much then ? Does make it compete with the best ??

With the new Regulated Supplys from Hugh coming out soon... i am wondering if this SOURCE is worth betting on !!

Anyone has ever tested it with AKSAs ??

Tx
Felipe

[DSK]

I use an SB2 (with digital and analog mods by Bolder Cables, plus the Bolder Cables 'Deluxe' power supply) direct into my AKSA 100N+. It easily outperformed my Sony SCD-XA777ES SACD player (Stereophile 'Class A' FWIW)....to the extent that I don't even miss SACD.

I had Slim Devices send the unit directly to Wayne at Bolder Cables for the mods, so I haven't heard the 'stock' unit. However, there are lots of threads in the Bolder forum here where listeners in the US compare various SB mods and power supply mods etc.

[EchiDna]

not to mention our very own "square circle" (shameless plug - I'm the mod there )

[Felipe]

      jeee....sorry guys        

I didnt know about that Circle ! I am reading it from top to bottom already.
Thanks !

May i ask this....if you were to go with a modded SB3 to use with Hugh's next Power Supply , wich one would you choose : Bolder's or RWA's ?
This bearing in mind analog and digital mods, no power supply.

Felipe

[jermmd]

May i ask this....if you were to go with a modded SB3 to use with Hugh's next Power Supply , wich one would you choose : Bolder's or RWA's ?
This bearing in mind analog and digital mods, no power supply.

Felipe

First, I would say power supply is the most important upgrade to the Squeezebox so I would strongly consider it. Zybar did a comparison of RWA vs. Boolder and initially thought the RWA was better but ultimately kept the Bolder modded box.

As for sound quality, my Bolder modded SB3 (digital out only) is a very high quality transport but perhaps not better than my Xindak tubed CD player.

[Double Ugly]

May i ask this....if you were to go with a modded SB3 to use with Hugh's next Power Supply , wich one would you choose : Bolder's or RWA's ?
This bearing in mind analog and digital mods, no power supply.

I've owned top-of-the-line units from both, and I'd go with Wayne @ Bolder Cable in a second.

Having spent several weeks listening to a highly modified SB with a stock power supply, I encourage you to consider listening to each (stock and modified) if possible before deciding.  In my experience, the difference is not subtle.

[Fredly]

I use a RWA analogue modded SB3, with my own DIY Power Supply.

It BLEW AWAY my heavily modified ART DI/O DAC.

The SB3 goes straight into my modded Aksa TLP preamp, which then goes into my N+ 55W Aksa.

The SB3 is the real deal, better than anything I have ever owned, or heard, for that matter.

I have hooked the SB3 straight into the N+ 55W, but felt it just didn’t have the same impact/presentation without the TLP in the path.

For the price, you just can’t beat this little gem.

The ease of use is absolutely fantastic, and with a wifi IPAQ I can change songs/albums and volume from anywhere within the house. (Real cool   ) .

Hope this helps, Fred in Canada.

[Nick B]

I am currently using my SB2 with the analog mod by RWA. The RWA mod keeps the voltage at 2.1 which I find helpful. The power supply is by Maui Mods and the combined performance is very good. It is the best sound to date in my system and better than I thought it could be for this price point.

[BrassEar]

I use an SB3 with upgraded regulated PS as a transport and I believe it is superior to 95% of all transports out there. I use a external DAC so I can't really comment on the analog section.

[Seano]

OK........despite looking at the product quite a few times I still don't truly understand what the hell it actually is.  I get the impression that it is simply a glorified wireless iPod which still requires a certain amount of 'tuning' to get the best out of it.  But I suspect I'm missing something......

The only price I've found for this toy in Oz is AU$500.....before the mods are taken into account.

So since I'm considering the new Cambridge Audio 640C V2 CD player @ AU$850 (which has been getting huge wraps in Oz and in Europe) to go with my GK-1 and 100N+ then why should I consider a SB @ AU$500?

And I don't have a digital music collection either.....it's all still on the the little silver platters.

[AKSA]

Sean,

I was so amused by your trademark Oz candour (and your complete lack of BS, some might call it a lack of pretension in any form - congrats!) I just HAD to answer this.

Imagine ripping all your little silver platters to a very big HDD on a PC.  Then imagine some software, like i-Tunes, which gives you access by artist, song title, genre, and a variety of other interesting classification systems.  Now picture this.....

Your PC sits in the same room it always does, except it now sports a 300 Gig HDD with maybe 350 complete albums on it, from Vivaldi to Cold Chisel.  You even have a backup - a few DVDs lying around somewhere!  You have a wireless card in your PC, and you set up the SBIII in your listening room where your AKSA presently resides.

You have a pretty slick remote comes with the SBIII.  The SBIII sits on top of the amp and has a large, bright display on the front you can read (with your good, long distance eyes!) from three metres.  Using the remote, you can flick through the playlists which are transmitted straight from your PC.  The digital stream is sent by wireless technology from the PC, and then reclocked in the SBIII (so the jitter in the PC is unimportant) and then processed by an internal, good quality, IC-based DAC.  It's then passed to the power amp, and presto, you have it......

It even has a good quality volume control built into the remote functions!

It will revolutionise music entertainment, I'm sure.  I've heard DSK's (Darren) setup and it is absolutely as good as the best CD/DVD players I've heard, AND it has this huge flexibility with handling the software.  Gone are the messy, vertical stacks of precarious CDs lying all over the listening room;  this is a surgically clean, wife-pleasing system which I think has a huge future.  And it's even directly linked to the internet!!

I'd get the SBIII over a new CD/DVD player any day.  More flexible, proven musical quality, I think the're the future.........

Cheers,

Hugh

[EchiDna]

'the future'?

try the present Hugh

I've been PC based audio for 4-5 years now and each introduction of better DACs and better S/N ratio sound cards etc brought improvements...

still yet to purchase a SB3 but there is that tantalising US$100 discount if you buy 2 direct from slimdevices before the end of May to consider.... must find another victim to split costs with though!!

big unknown: the 'offer' price may be a runout thing with a new model around the corner... very probable IMHO...

[AKSA]

Glen,

Sheepishly I admit you are absolutely right.  The present.     Hmmm.  Sobering, huh??

I would reckon you are right, this could presage another model release.  Don't buy one, because I suspect the next will have better power supplies and maybe even an LCD readout on the remote.  Doubtless they've kept an eye on Wayne from Bolder Cables!

Cheers,

Hugh

[Rhythm Willie]

There was a lot of talk over the last few years about hard storage being the way of the future and with a large no of products released (or about to be released) this will be the way to go.

Vaf Research have been developing their own media centre for quite a while and have been busy modifying (under licence) Microsoft Media Software and discussing future trends in this area with Microsoft & Intel.

I had a look at a prototype in action last year.

They have had(kept from the media) visits from 3 of the top executives from Microsoft about 2 months ago(their 1st visit to OZ) and from Intel and are about to finally release their own 1000GB "Hi-Fi" user friendly version.

One of these combined with squeezboxes or the impressive Sonus systems and good amplification and speakers , wont make any compromises in sound quality if properly applied.

[Seano]

I'd get the SBIII over a new CD/DVD player any day. More flexible, proven musical quality, I think the're the future........

They may be the future but I'm still well anchored to the past!!

For me to get to the stage obviously required for the SB would require a financial, physical and philosophical shift of gargantuan proportions.  

The financial alone is enough to kill it since no-one digitally stores 1000 CDs in high qaulity formats without having access to significant storage....although I do have PoS computer lying about somewhere that can only run on Linux....wonder if I can jam 3 x 400GB HDD into it?  Oh yeah that's a thousand bucks worth of HDD before we even look to the SB....so let's say two grand for the properly equipped new computer....and with the SB two and half all up.  That's a lot of cash.........

......then there's the loading up of those many CD's.....when I'd prefer to be listening to them.

Not saying it is a bad idea........but I'm just not there yet...hmmm

I think if I were to jump then I'd look for a stand alone solution much like the Cambridge Audio Music Server (only 160GB though perhaps I can simply add external HDD) which can be had for AU$2K

[Papajin]

FWIW, you probably don't need THAT much storage.  I'm storing about 320 CD's in about 95 GB using FLAC format which is compressed, but not as compressed as MP3 or similar lossy compression formats.  So a single one of your 400 GB drives would probably be enough for starters.  2 of them or perhaps something like 2 250-300 GB drives would probably set you up for quite some time.

[Geoff-AU]

I've been PC based audio for 4-5 years now and each introduction of better DACs and better S/N ratio sound cards etc brought improvements...

They've come a long way since the original Soundblaster (classic) I got for christmas when I was a kid  

One bad thing about my current card (Audigy 2 LS) is that it appears to invert the audio stream.  Other than that it sounds very clear - my Rotel CD player still has the edge as far as making the music sound fluid and wonderful though.

an "iPod for audiophiles" would be great, but it looks like you have to mod them a fair bit to get the sound quality up.  Still, looks like a cool idea!

[Felipe]

As every piece of gear in audio world, the power supply still prevails as the MAIN upgrade. For the SB, people say (i dont have one yet so...) it DOES make all the difference in the world. I believe it.

This leads me to another thought......power cords and conditioners.  
How many of you have these audio tweaks installed, with AKSA's ? Do they really make a difference ? I just cannot understand why an AC power cord made of exotic wires and finishes sounds better that a simple copper one.

And what about power conditioners ? Do they add or subtract the AC noise ?
What i am thinking is....if someone buys a $1000 power cord...and then connect it to a common 6-way plug (rest of the gear) and then to the wall receptacle that is in series with all the other domestic appliances in the house......how will that 80cm of "GOOD" cable make the difference ??? The cable itseld doesnt eliminate anything....doesnt filter...so.....    

[simbloke]

I'm with Hugh and the others on this one, the SB3 is fantastic.

I already had machine in the back room recording tv so no extra hardware was required. Installation of the SlimServer software was a doddle and works flawlessly.

Ripping a CD is as easy as putting the the disk in the and coming back 3 minutes later to replace it with another one. A Perl script gets the album and song names, no questions for me to answer.

I have mine plugged straight into my ASKA 55 using the built in volume control. I reduced the gain of the AKSA and lowered the level of the pre-amp output on the SB3 (by the web frontend) so the digital volume control is often nearly at full.

It sounds great and my linear power supply hasn't arrived yet.

I don't think it could be much easier to use and there's no CD's cluttering up my living room.

It's the best thing I'v bought since my AKSA  

Simeon

[EchiDna]

....One bad thing about my current card (Audigy 2 LS) is that it appears to invert the audio stream....

better you move away from creative cards - they resample, [yes even the latest audigy 2 series] to 48kHz... try using ASIO out, this helps a lot and bypasses the built in windows 'k-mixer' resampling software - a simple plug in for foobar2k and it is excellent.

This is still my player of choice today - EAC ripped lossless files, played on foobar2000 with ASIO out through my M-Audio revolution's digital coax output to a highly modded Art DI/O which pushes the tunes into my GK-1

soon to become EAC ripped lossless files played on a self modded squeezeboxen to the GK-1 -> AKSA 100n.



Seano, aint you got a PC that you are typing on? there is nothing special required in terms of hardware to run slimserver and the CD rips aint that big ( about 100mb per CD on average for me). Convenience is the thing here, you just pick files off the server or line em up in a playlist and listen for the next 6 months and if you buy direct from the US, and split the shipping, the device doesn't cost anything like AU$500 delivered.