SqueezeCenter 7.4 beta listening

Tyson · « **Reply #20 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 04:17 am »

Eh, I tried the FLAC disabled setting, and I did not like it, kinda made things sluggish. So I went back to the FLAC enabled settings. PRAT is back.

But, I stand by the initial statement that upgrading to 7.4 did improve the sound in the areas noted above.

Bob Wilcox · « **Reply #21 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 12:30 pm »

Quote from: ted_b on 29 Jan 2009, 12:20 pm

I used DBPoweramp's Music Converter (once installed it's a selection when you right click a music file..."convert it"), on very high quality setting. I'd first listen to some redbook FlAC files to hear if the quality improvements in 7.4 are worth doing the Wavpack 24/96 work. Yes, I converted all my 24/96 files. Took 20 minutes.

A neat utility encoder is the Multi-Codec. This allows the converter write files to multiple formats from a single user-initiated operation. This could be handy for listening comparisons or for maintaining a parallel mp3 library.

Bob

zybar · « **Reply #22 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 01:33 pm »

I upgraded to 7.4 last night and I also thought it was an improvement over 7.3.2.

Now I am asking myself did I hear a difference because it is really there or am I hearing a difference because others have posted that they hear a difference?

I didn't have time to test to see if I can hear a difference between server side and client side decoding - that will happen this weekend.

George

rajacat · « **Reply #23 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 04:26 pm »

I upgraded too!

I also believe that the 7.4 produces better sound quality with a more analog texture and slightly better imaging. Of course, I'm not impervious to the power of suggestion and wishful thinking but that will always be the case when implementing small tweaks.

--Roy

Gaara · « **Reply #24 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 05:24 pm »

Anyone notice any improvements in functionality?

I know sound quality is king, but I was REALLY impressed with the new fast forward in the 7.3.2 firmware. Instead of doing 2x or 4x or 8x etc. you can skip in 5s intervals or if you hold it down it goes much quicker.

IMO fast forwarding was the one place I preferred CDPs, now I feel the Squeezebox beats them in this department. Great when you want to get to a certain spot for longer songs, like the hidden tracks w/ 8+ mins of silence.

lcrim · « **Reply #25 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 06:28 pm »

The more I listen the more pleased I am with the upgrade to 7.4. The playback is more realistic and fuller. I've become cautious like others here to wait and see how it sounds over a few days. Well, it still sounds good after a few days. Recommended.
It didn't even cost me anything.

arthurs · « **Reply #26 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 06:44 pm »

anyone running out of iTunes notice any difference?

ted_b · « **Reply #27 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 06:53 pm »

Quote from: arthurs on 30 Jan 2009, 06:44 pm

anyone running out of iTunes notice any difference?

??
Art, how does one run Squeeze Center out of iTunes? The changes we're discussing are in the SC 7.4 release. No iTunes involved (except maybe reading files from your iTunes libraries)

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #28 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 07:03 pm »

So allow me to catch up. 7.4 using existing FLAC files sounds better?

ted_b · « **Reply #29 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 07:14 pm »

My take, and Chris's (the OP) is that the PCM decoder (used to be called wav decoder) sounds quite a bit better in 7,4. Therefore I decode FLAC to PCM in the server and send it along the wire, whereas before I used FLAC all the way to the Transporter (and it decoded there). However.....others are chiming in that native FLAC (my old way) also sounds better. ...although I'm not sure why; nothing in the FLAC decoder, etc was changed from previous versions.

Tyson · « **Reply #30 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 08:26 pm »

I've changed my mind after some more A-B listening. I like the FLAC set to "disabled" better, it's less noise and hash in the signal this way, with blacker background and more tonal separation between instruments and voices. Similar to what upgrading to a better Power Cord normally gets me. The "PRAT" issue was probably due to leading transients being emphasized with the noisier FLAC enabled setting.

lcrim · « **Reply #31 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 09:45 pm »

After more listening, especially through headphones, the flac enabled settings do have a sharper leading edge type of quality. The setting that has flac disabled and PCM set to Flac decoder does have a warmer , less jangly feel and is probably more suited to long term listening.
I spent time over on the Slim Devices forum trying to discern exactly what these settings mean. I found nothing to convince me that a certain setting expands the flac files to wav at the server while another setting sends them as flacs to the player where they are natively played. Perhaps someone can enlighten on this point.
I do agree with Tyson that the music sounds more relaxed when the flac is disabled and PCM is set to flac. What exactly is happening to the stream I'm not sure.

ted_b · « **Reply #32 on:** 30 Jan 2009, 10:02 pm »

Quote from: lcrim on 30 Jan 2009, 09:45 pm

I spent time over on the Slim Devices forum trying to discern exactly what these settings mean. I found nothing to convince me that a certain setting expands the flac files to wav at the server while another setting sends them as flacs to the player where they are natively played. Perhaps someone can enlighten on this point.

The file type setting menu does exactly that (allow for server-side or player-side decoding). There are three headings (file format, stream format, and decoder). if you have a file type (FLAC) and chose the stream format to be the same , then the decoding is occuring at the player. If you choose that the stream type is different (PCM) than the file type, you are saying "take my FLAC files, decode them to PCM, then send (stream) them to the player.

rajacat · « **Reply #33 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 12:53 am »

The more I listen to the 7.4 beta, the more I think that it's a very nice upgrade.

The sound quality seems to have a more organic quality perhaps like it's an upgrade in resolution enabled by an increase in bitrate. Hmmm.... it would be interesting if more of these "upgrades" will be forthcoming.

-Roy

Tyson · « **Reply #34 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 01:02 am »

It's also very nice that it's free

mizzuno · « **Reply #35 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 03:21 am »

I was thumbing through the Perl source and it seems like the change to PCM was made to "restore" the ability to seek while streaming WAV.

<li>#10026 - PCM != WAV
Add (restore) WAV seek capability</br></li>

http://bugs.slimdevices.com/show_bug.cgi?id=10026

Its always interesting to see the developers dialog.

dthoms · « **Reply #36 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 06:20 pm »

Only downside for me is that my 24/96 files uses to play at 24/48. Now they don't play at all. I wish there was someway to prioritize the redbook files should be sent pcm and everything else gets decoded at the box. Anyway, I'm sure nothing fits everyone.

darthkringle · « **Reply #37 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 06:39 pm »

So first time poster but long time lurker and this thread caught my attention. I have been very happy with the sound quality of 7.1 but want to move onto some of the better features. I had heard that there were lots of issues and debates on SQ with 7.3, so I'd like to move to 7.4 to test. With that said, me entire music collection is in either WAV or MP3. What should the settings be for files that are native WAV? I want to get the sound that is being described as the bit more "analog" sound as my room can be a bit bright and fatiguing for long listening sessions. So my question is do I stream WAV natively? I am confused with the PCM aspects as that is not an option in 7.1. Apologies if this was covered earlier, but it seemed like most folks are in the FLAC realm.

Thanks in advance for any feedback on proper settings.

duff138 · « **Reply #38 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 06:48 pm »

I'm still using SlimServer Version: 6.2.1, with firmware 15. I've stuck with this since I had my SB2 modded from Bolder. Using the firmware 15 was always suggested because it didn't invert phase or something. Should I still be hesitate to upgrade to the SqueezeCenter?

ted_b · « **Reply #39 on:** 31 Jan 2009, 07:53 pm »

Quote from: dthoms on 31 Jan 2009, 06:20 pm

Only downside for me is that my 24/96 files uses to play at 24/48. Now they don't play at all. I wish there was someway to prioritize the redbook files should be sent pcm and everything else gets decoded at the box. Anyway, I'm sure nothing fits everyone.

Put your 24/96 files into another format (I posted earlier that I had the same problem and now use Wavpack, perfectly), then use the PCM setting for THAT format too.