[mdconnelly]

Being an early adopter is fun - but can be costly. 

No, make that *will be* costly.   I've had several components modded over the years and when it came time to sell, I never recovered even a third of the cost of the mods.    But, it is fun and the mods almost always make a very positive difference.

The only problem I have with the Squeezebox or Transporter mods is that not only will I take a bath on the mods when I'm ready to upgrade (which I will , but I also have to think that this technology is rapidly evolving so even the Transporter itself is likely to depreciate rapidly in value once next generation devices come out.

[Philistine]

I'll jump in here and help Ted out:

Ted's claim to fame is the first TP out of the Modwright grotto, my TP's fame is that it is the fashion photo model that appears on his website, Audiogon and other promotional materials aa

Before I go into details about the TP some background on how I arrived here might help: About 5 years ago I had all but given up with 2 channel audio, my so called Stereophile 'A' rated CDP was painful to listen to as my system just resolved more weaknesses and the harshness/brittleness of digital sources.  After spending years of cleaning records, and watching a diamond being dragged across the surface of a piece of vinyl, going back to a turntable was not going to happen.  Consequently my system was converted into a home theater system, I then spent the following 2 years spending 80% of my 'media time' watching movies and only 20% listening to 2 channel - I stopped buying music.  My local dealer loaned me an Esoteric Universal player, which was built like a tank and much better than my 'A' rated player.  At the same time I had lurked on the various Modwright forums but nervous about taking the plunge into the unchartered waters  of the modification business - a call to Dan didn't help, he was just too modest and unwilling to commit on a comparison of his work with the Esoteric (on the basis that he hadn't performed an AB with the two).  Consequently I took the plunge and bought one of his modded 999ES's and found it more fun and musical than the Esoteric, I still regard the Esoteric as an excellent player.  My HT audio system was subsequently dismantled, my 2 channel system beefed up and I became a buyer of CD's again - all driven by the pleasure and fun the 999ES gave me.

Fast forwarding - I heard that the SqueezeBox thingy was generating interest, but my paradigm said that a $300 source that was driven by a PC could not be serious HiFi.  As a Brit living in the US I was intrigued by the ability to stream the BBC into my home office and took the plunge.  At the same time I read the 6moons review of EAC and followed the links, which enabled me to integrate EAC/Accurate Rip/FLAC.  You do need some computer literacy and basic understanding, but the step by step instructions allow you to put together these free tools - once you've done it the process then becomes 'automated' with no changes required.  I found the SB to be a lot of fun, had it modded and bought an upgrade power supply.  One of the main benefits I found was the ability to set the SB to random play, and discover music I'd completely forgotten about or never listened too.             

[Philistine]

Part 2.

Having ripped my CD collection to a hard drive I followed Dan's progress on the modded TP.  I liked the concept of:

A one unit system.
HiRez Audio (96kHz)
A mature and proven electronic design/circuitry
A great DAC
Tubes/valves sound good
The Modwright 'House Sound'.  Dan uses his ears and sound theory. 

This was enough for me to take the plunge, and my TP arrived just before Christmas.  My main system is off line at the moment so I cannot hear the full potential of what the TP has to offer, all I can say is that my wife is complaining that I spend too much time listening to music - guess this says it all.  I will post back later with more details on the sound, but I'm now hearing all the nuances I haven't heard before such as musical cues and decay.

Dan has given us an abundance of tube rolling choices, this is potentially dangerous as I want to explore all the combinations and permutations - so I'm pleased that the first adopters are using this site to share their experiences.  Unlike Ted I'm using FLAC exclusively, but have not done an AB with an uncompressed music file - all the 'experts' seem to agree that a  FLAC file does not degrade the musical performance.  At the same time I am astonished at how inexpensive large hard drives have become.
For the future (next week) I will designate an old PC as a music server and attach an external hard drive, this will be left on 24/7 and will stream to my TP and SB wirelessly.

So, I've just sold my CDP and this weekend all my CD's have been boxed and archived with my LP collection!  A symbolic move.

I'll get back later with feedback on how it sounds in my main system.       

[Philistine]

Being an early adopter is fun - but can be costly. 

No, make that *will be* costly.   I've had several components modded over the years and when it came time to sell, I never recovered even a third of the cost of the mods.    But, it is fun and the mods almost always make a very positive difference.

The only problem I have with the Squeezebox or Transporter mods is that not only will I take a bath on the mods when I'm ready to upgrade (which I will , but I also have to think that this technology is rapidly evolving so even the Transporter itself is likely to depreciate rapidly in value once next generation devices come out.

Mike, I understand your concerns on resale value but I recently sold my 3 year old modded CDP (Modwright 999ES) for 65% of the cost.  I consider this in line with a non-modded player of the same age.  A modder like Dan, and others that participate in this forum, have robust and reliable reputations and as such I don't see them being heavily discounted.  At the same time I understand your issues with the computer based platforms - as Moore's law comes into play.  This has to be good news though as our hobby transforms away from the traditional business model and we all buy HiFi from Silicon Valley/China!   

[ted_b]

I would agree with Mike that standard mods lose up to 90% of the modded value (leaving the stock value, which will have depreciated, of course).  But Dan's Modwright brand is beginning to have its own goodwill on sites like Audiogon (and here of course).  I've sold both his modded 999ES and his own initial preamp, the SWL 9.0SE, for prices in line with their full value, less depreciation. 

[bhobba]

The only problem I have with the Squeezebox or Transporter mods is that not only will I take a bath on the mods when I'm ready to upgrade (which I will , but I also have to think that this technology is rapidly evolving so even the Transporter itself is likely to depreciate rapidly in value once next generation devices come out.

Yea - me too.  You must seriously consider whether to get one since the new squeezebox and its remote is the obvious direction the transporter will go.  It is tempting to wait until that model appears.

Thanks
Bill

[ted_b]

The only problem I have with the Squeezebox or Transporter mods is that not only will I take a bath on the mods when I'm ready to upgrade (which I will , but I also have to think that this technology is rapidly evolving so even the Transporter itself is likely to depreciate rapidly in value once next generation devices come out.

Yea - me too.  You must seriously consider whether to get one since the new squeezebox and its remote is the obvious direction the transporter will go.  It is tempting to wait until that model appears.

Thanks
Bill

What model?  The Duet is a headless SB3, and although it may have newer parts, is still a $200+ streamer, hardly the platform for mods.  The major part of the $399 Duet is the Jive remote, now reportedly selling for $299 itself.  If I didn't have a Nokia 770 setup for fun I'd look at it (the Jive) to run my Modwright TP.  To be honest, the simplicity of the newer "chocolate bar" remote for the TP is pretty much all I need anyway.  I also have it incorporated into my Pronto 9400, but end up using the TP remote.  Simple "My Music->Artist->album" is about all I need.. 

I agree that the pc music world is in its infant stages, and that spending $3500 on an audiophile platform like this has risks.  My reasoning was that redbook can't go much further; the DACs might get a bit cleaner, the form factor a bit sexier, but other than that there wasn't a lot left to do (and if anything, the addtl work was likely at the ripping end, not the streaming end).  Conversely, I wouldn't spend $3500 on a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player, no matter how good..even though 1080P is as far as were going for now (4k is unlikely in the next 5 yrs, IMO).  The format is risky;  spinning disc media is risky; the standards are all over the place.

[bhobba]

The major part of the $399 Duet is the Jive remote, now reportedly selling for $299 itself.  If I didn't have a Nokia 770 setup for fun I'd look at it (the Jive) to run my Modwright TP. 

Will it?  If so then I agree - only too happy to get a TP and use that remote.

Thanks
Bill

[Frank S.]

The major part of the $399 Duet is the Jive remote, now reportedly selling for $299 itself.  If I didn't have a Nokia 770 setup for fun I'd look at it (the Jive) to run my Modwright TP. 

Will it?  If so then I agree - only too happy to get a TP and use that remote.

Thanks
Bill

Squeezebox Duet Network Music Player
Squeezebox Controller
Spin. Click. Groove.
Squeezebox™ Controller

Listen to the music you love in any room in your home. Browse and play songs from your personal collection, online music services, and Internet radio. Control your existing Squeezebox or Transporter™ from anywhere in your home, or just add a second Network Music Controller to your Squeezebox Duet setup.

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Squeezebox Duet Network Music Player

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[AphileEarlyAdopter]

Hi Srajan,
I am writing this more as a fan of your writing/magazine than as a Modwright customer. I know Dan by his reputation in forums like this and audioasylum. I have the original model Silverline Sonatina speakers (exactly like the one as reviewed by Soundstage). I bought it with an intention of going into tube after a impressive stint with the Audio Refinement Complete integrated (supposedly has a tube like sound). But once my kids were born, I never went into tubes. I went in totally the opposite direction. My DAC and AMP is now my Panasonic XR-55. This enabled an all-digital path right up to the speakers (in bi-amp mode), delivering an impressively clear, transparent and dynamic sound. Reading about digital, I became aware of jitter. Also, I was soon getting tired of various CD polishes, mats etc. I purchased the Squeezebox because it was supposedly less jitter prone than an CD player. But it could not beat even my humble Philips 963sa. So this is where I started getting into the mod route. My SB3 was given a digital mods by BolderCables. I then run it thru my Panny using a Zu Ash digital cable. The modded SB3 really beat my CD player. I was quite happy. Recently, I bought a Behringer SRC2496 for listening to headphones with my computer. On a whim, I connected this with the SB3. It seemed to reduce the jitter further and took the perforamance up another notch.
So I am really happy with my system. But once in a while, I feel my system does not have the microdynamics that I hear with a tube system. This is where I feel Dan might have hit the sweetspot - to me Transporter is equal to - modded SB3 (to improve jitter) + DAC + Tubes.  So this one piece is much more elegant and manageable. It will surely appeal to many an audiophile.

Meanwhile some tricks, tweak and beliefs   - I use EAC to rip. EAC has to be setup really well. It makes a difference. You need to have confidence in your rip with AccurateRip. I do not stream flac as such. It is converted to WAV. I do notice a difference with my SB3. Not sure what is the case with the Transporter. I also switch off the display in the SB3 when playing. BTW, I am into software architecture/development, am not sure how people who are not that computer savvy can deal with the 'computer music server'  paradigm.

[Srajan Ebaen]

On an earlier question: I'm not planning a primer on the "PC music" concept since I'm way too green behind the ears on the subject yet. Once I feel solid, I might but at present, I'm a "reluctant late not-quite-yet adopter" so I'm far more liable to spread rumors, misconceptions and plain bad intel than anything useful. We have many overseas readers who rely on our writing. If they extrapolate from my areas of competence where I do have experience to this where I don't, they'd be misguided by taking my word for it. I wouldn't do that to them. That's why my MO always is, be honest about what you don't know. That doesn't mean you can't write about it - after all, you gotta get your feet wet at some point to learn something new. Simply present the facts (I'm new, this is what I suspect, this is what I'm worried about it, this is what I don't understand). Readers in my shoes can accompany me on my discoveries, readers well ahead can hit "next" or be amused by why what I don't know. And, quite often, the nice ones will e-mail me and share their knowledge to help me along.

It's been working well thus far and this thread is intentioned along the same line. What I will do as it stands right now is this:

I have on-hand things like the Raysonic CD-168, AMR CD-77, Ancient Audio Lektor Prime, Zanden 5000 combo and RWA-modified Olive Symphony. That gives me a variety of one- and two-box RedBook machines that also all work as transports, with the Olive even wireless. Neal is sending his MusicVault which will stand in as a hard-drive server to do the wireless HD tango.

There's a variety of permutations to assess raw performance in the listening seat. How close does the Transporter come as a raw DAC when fed from a traditional spinner with a good digital interconnect (Stealth Sextet) to my traditional CDPs? Then, how does the Transport compare when streaming files from an Olive server, NAS server or laptop sending wireless FLAC or WAV files?

That should establish a ranking of audio quality.

In parallel, I'll have to investigate the "data acquisition" part. How does how you import the data to hard-drive effect the final outcome, and does what file format you send to the transporter make a difference and if so, which format sounds best. So there's the grabbing part and the streaming part and the spinning part.

Then there's the whole convenience angle.

If you've got 2000 CDs but only listen to 100 of them and streaming/serving suddenly has you rediscover all 2000 of 'em, isn't that worth far more than a potential 3% reduction of "raw resolution"?

As further feedback arrives on this thread, I might get more ideas on what else to write about. Some of it might require a separate article to not make this review too endless. Intel is good but too much of it in one article becomes overload city. 

[lcrim]

I am one of theose early adopters of PC based playback.  In the last year and a half I moved entirely to SqueezeBox based playback because of the factor of galvanic isolation inherent in an ethernet based transfer format.  PC's are terribly noisy environments.  My initial motivation for moving to PC based playback was cost, at least early on the bang for buck quotient was extraordinary as opposed to a CDP, that particular advantage is fast disappearing.  It is still possible through DIY mods of the SB but the expertise necessary has grown.
As to what format sounds best, that question has been answered many times.  Since this enquiry is posted in the Modwright forum some suggestions and answers must of necessity be glosssed over.
There is some conjecture that the use of wireless ethernet (WiFi) in the Logitech products adds some amount of interferance from the power required to run the ethernet card which slightly degrades performance.  At any event, the conveience factor of having all your Redbook music in one spot was not an advantage that I saw until becoming a full time convert years back.  The recent rumblings from the RIAA regarding music ripped to a HDD is a bit worrisome however.

[Srajan Ebaen]

Page 2 of the Transporter Preview is live now.

[AB]

Hi Srajan,
Thanks for the detailed answer to my question regarding a "primer".

Sounds like you plan to write a great "toe in the water" piece from an audiophile perspective - that's sure to be a winner with your readers - including me.

There are probably a million threads out there on the interwebs regarding all this but here's one active one from Audiogon with some entertainingly passionate posts.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ddgtl&1186053836&read&3&4&

[ted_b]

Page 2 of the Transporter Preview is live now.

Thanks.  And thanks for the exposure.   

A point of interest:  the attenuators are removed in Dan's TP mod.  You can't alter the analog out gain.

[Philistine]

With your target audience I would envisage that its split between those that understand and accept that PC/Mac based storage and delivery can give you great sound, and those that are unsure/unconvinced.  The former category are primarily interested in the TP's relative performance, for the second category could the TP be the cross over device that allows you to play your existing CD's (through its internal DAC's) and, at the same time, explore PC/Mac delivery?  As you intend to AB the Transporter this should cover the relative performance issues.

I'm not sure how about the 'data acquisition' part of the report - the computer savvy typically use a combination of the EAC/Accurate Rip/FLAC suite, and those that don't have the time/knowledge can either use a third party ripping service or buy something like a Music Vault etc.  Is data acquisition a large enough issue to become a separate topic and would it's inclusion detract from the TP review, or is it a non-issue?  I believe most of us have worked on the understanding that lossless compression programs (such as FLAC) generate what they claim - no loss of music data.  On this basis I have not compared different acquisition processes, and would take a guess that very few have.

Convenience factor:
This is what I find to be the hidden benefit - in the past I had the habit to turn over an LP every 20mins, then replace a CD every 45mins and now my TP streams all day without the need to have to do anything.  Also my random choice of music was never random and human nature kicked in with a tendency to settle on a handful of CD's in current circulation. The Slim Devices software allows true random choice, or filtered random choice.  So for me the TP/SB has been a discovery of long forgotten music - both good and bad!
The other convenience is internet radio as background listening - both free to air and subscriber based, another source for new music.
At the end of the day it's all about the musical enjoyment, these devices allow the capability to remove the shackles of physical media and the modded TP has the potential to give you this with audiophile quality.
                   

[bhobba]

The recent rumblings from the RIAA regarding music ripped to a HDD is a bit worrisome however.

My understanding is the issue is exactly the same as making tape copies for your own personnel use - perfectly legal.  The old models of music distribution are changing - the highest quality is now downloads direct from the master tapes.  Those with vested interests in the status quo will as always try to stem the tide - but will fail.  IMHO the futire is not recording companies distributing the music but artists puttin music on their own sites that people directly download from.

Thanks
Bill

[lcrim]

bhobba:
The issue of music ripped to a HDD has become more muddled than that. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49023.0

[bhobba]

The issue of music ripped to a HDD has become more muddled than that. http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49023.0

Now I am confused.  Form the link you gave the RIAA's position is:
'burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as: -The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own, - The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying."

What am I missing?

Thanks
Bill

[Jon L]

One *very* common mistake audiophiles make when venturing into PC Audio is that they subconsciously don't treat PC audio gear as carefully as do "normal" audio gear.  Then they ask, "why doesn't my PC audio sound better than my CDP?" 

I'm talking about:

1)  Good-sounding footers, shelf, stands for PC audio gear, even under the main PC itself.  I see people plopping their computer with the stock plastic foot right on the carpet all the time.

2)  Good power cords and power conditioner for your PC audio gear.  Computers benefit greatly from a real power cord instead of the usual stock 16 awg "computer cord."  Another huge mistake is to plug in your PC Audio gear into garden-variety power strip or crappy, cheap "UPS."  You wouldn't do that to your expensive audio gear and expect great sound. 

3)  Digital and analogue cabling.  You must avoid the stock breakout cables that often come with PC Audio gear, not to mention the flimsy digital cables, etc.  Use at least something like Stereovox XV2 digital cable.  The combination of XV2 with my Lynx 2B spdif output into my outboard DAC is awfully nice.  Same goes for analogue cables.  If you're using Stealth Indra for your expensive CDP, why not extend the same to your PC audio gear?