[mikecole]

If you have a separate transport and a separate DAC, how do you connect the transport and a PC to the DAC? My stereo is separated from my PC by quite a bit. If the DAC is situated next to the stereo (and transport) then I would need a 15 ft USB cable to connect the PC to the DAC.  I have read that running a 15 ft. USB cable is probably not such a good idea though. Would a 15 ft. S/PDIF be any better - of course then I need a USB to S/PDIF converter. If I put the DAC next to the PC, then I would have to move the transport next to the PC. With all the crap I have connected to my PC, that is something I would rather not attempt. In addition, I would still need a 15 ft. RCA cable to reach the stereo. For those of you that are in this situation, what do you do? Just as FYI, my CD player broke and I was deciding whether to get a separate transport and DAC or a CD player with digital input when this problem suddenly occurred to me.

[richidoo]

I use a Sonos at the stereo, which brings in digital files from my networked servers and internet streams via wireless network. Many people use Logitech products in similar way. Others install a music server of some sort near their stereo. The dedicated computer is the most flexible and powerful option, while Logitech is probably the cheapest and Sonos is the easiest. 

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

[mcgsxr]

I use a Bolder modded Logitech SB3 at my stereo.  I run it ethernet connected from my server.  My SB3 is used via the analog outputs, but since you own a DAC, you could leverage the digital outs at the SB3 into your DAC and be all set.

I think the stock units are going for around $300 these days.

[eclein]

I just got a fifteen footer(USB) yesterday from WyWires (Alex- screenname: WyWires) although he might not be making anything longer than 4 meters now, not sure. Mine is incredible, I definitely do not hear any signal loss-not that I could probably tell anyway-and its very clean, clear....so I don't think 15 feet is a problem...I have the same kind of setup as you do..stereo gear is all in one place and latop/USB drive that is the server is about 15 feet away, I have an HDMI cable coming also thats 15 or so feet and I intend on using this laptop as a PC/music server with my 46" HDTV as monitor.
 I also have a Logitech Squeezebox DUET thats near my gear and it also goes to the same DAC this time with COAX cable...I control the SB with an app Ipeng on my ipod touch, the folks who wrote ipeng just did "Playback" as an add on to ipeng that lets you stream your music collection to an ipod touch, any phone I think oon with wifi...i walk around my apartment and outside nearby with earbuds in and listening to everything I have in my collection through an Ipod, no moreHD size issues unless leaving my apartment then the ipod is an ipod..check out these links...the Sq...B.. touch is the way to go now..its new and sounds excellent.
  Logitech:
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/speakers-audio/wireless-music-systems
  ipeng:
 http://penguinlovesmusic.de/

[Watson]

If the DAC is situated next to the stereo (and transport) then I would need a 15 ft USB cable to connect the PC to the DAC.  I have read that running a 15 ft. USB cable is probably not such a good idea though. Would a 15 ft. S/PDIF be any better - of course then I need a USB to S/PDIF converter.

You can run a 15 foot USB cable, though it is close to the specified maximum cable limit (16.4 feet), just as long you get a DAC/converter that can clean up jitter. (There are people who sell longer USB cables, but they may not be satisfactory.)

15 feet is nothing for an S/PDIF cable. Very doable.

[mikecole]

I had not thought about wireless. Let me see if I have this right. There is software that goes on my PC that allows me to stream music over my wireless network. The squeezebox receives the music via the wireless network. The sqeezebox is connected to my integrated amp via RCA cables or it can be connected via digital out to another DAC of my choice. Is this how it goes? If so, it sounds like a good solution. I would just buy an inexpensive CD player and a Squeezbox and I would be set. How good is the DAC on the SB?

[MaxCast]

I had not thought about wireless. Let me see if I have this right. There is software that goes on my PC that allows me to stream music over my wireless network. The squeezebox receives the music via the wireless network. The sqeezebox is connected to my integrated amp via RCA cables or it can be connected via digital out to another DAC of my choice. Is this how it goes? If so, it sounds like a good solution. I would just buy an inexpensive CD player and a Squeezbox and I would be set. How good is the DAC on the SB?

yep, that is pretty much how it goes.  The Squeeze box can modded (for digital and/or analogue out), used with the dac of your choice or straight up.

[lcrim]

Why would you need a cd player if you had all your music on a hard drive?

[srb]

15 feet is nothing for an S/PDIF cable. Very doable.

For the same reason that many have gained audible improvements by using attenuators on coaxial S/PDIF (to reduce signal reflection), at least one manufacturer only produced a a 5m (16.4 ft) length cable.
 
Steve

[richidoo]

Why would you need a cd player if you had all your music on a hard drive?

"Squeezebox server" software running on the PC must scan the library for new content before it is added to the library database and available for playing. I don't know if it is faster now, but a couple years ago it could take many hours to complete the scan for a large library. Sonos maintains its own internal database and scans a large library in about a minute. But sometimes I don't feel like ripping and correcting tags and scanning before I can listen to a new CD.

The audio quality of the streamers is just OK, they are value priced consumer electronics after all. Squeezebox has better analog and digital output quality than Sonos, imo. I suggest using a jitter reducing external DAC, then the digital jitter is not a factor and analog audio quality is determined by the DAC itself.

[avta]

I would suggest you consider the newest Squeezebox which is called the Touch. $300 new from Logitech, possibly cheaper other places but I haven't looked. The Touch will play 24/96 files over a wireless or wired ethernet connection. I have been using the Squeezebox's since the first model came out and have been very happy with them. The use of the software is provided by Logitech when you buy the unit. It also provides access to internet stations and a vast array of stations  around the world at no extra cost. You would connect the Touch to your DAC using a digital cable. I use one from Bolder Cable Co.

[Wayne1]

Rich,

It seems you might be operating from outmoded information.

Ripping and tagging a CD with dBPowerAmp takes between 2.5 and 3 minutes for most CDs.

In the SqueezeBox Server page, you can choose "Music Folder" which will list all the folders you have music in on the server. Using this, you can access your freshly ripped files immediately. There is no need to wait for a rescan of your hard drives.

Once you have played the new file, it becomes part of the database and there is no need to rescan.

For me, when I bring home a new CD, the first place I go is to the computer that holds my music files. I rip the CD with dBPowerAmp and in less than five minutes, I am sitting in in front of my music system listening to new music.

You may want to revisit the Squeezebox server software and the Touch hardware. Even in the stock state, it has many people selling off their Benchmark and Lavry DACs to listen straight from the Touch.

[mikecole]

Why would you need a cd player if you had all your music on a hard drive?

I am a procrastinator and too antsy to do a repetitive task for any length of time. I only have about 400 CDs, but it would still me a long while to transfer them to hard drive. But I see your point, once they are transferred I would not need a CD player. I guess I am also hedging my bets about the possibility that a CD player may still sound better than what I get from data streamed over a network. I don't have any first hand experience with that.

[eclein]

I've been using both, a SB DUET and a CD player over the past year or so....keeping a digital library is very easy once you have it in your mind how the flow of the process goes. I rip a CD with Media Monkey to WAV-the process starts automatically when I insert the disk. The files are saved in a folder named funny enough "My Music" on my laptops hard drive and the process is done. When you setup your Squeezeserver on your PC you just do as Wayne said, tell the serer to look at the folder "My Music"....I can now access that file and play it via the following: Any Squeezebox player you have anywhere in your home. The file now can be accessed on and played on my ipod touch (ipeng app now has added this functionality) while I move around the house and everyone is asleep or whatever, I can sit in my chair and with my ipod using the ipeng app I can control and play anything in my collection and also select internet radio stations, I can also with a mere touch of my finger change my mind and have a totally new playlist going before I could get up out of my chair to change CD's....if that not convenient then I'm a pretty dumb guy!!!
 Anybody who would steer you away from computer music server type setup obviously never used one or knew how to use it correctly. The app I mentioned above will also be expanding soon to let you access your music library from any internet connected phone and stream it to your phone so you could hear your favorite song thats buried somewhere in a pile of disks while you stand in line at airport check in, sit on a bench in a park....etc...

[mikecole]

Well, the more I read about it, the more I like it. I think I will probably end up getting a Squeezebox Touch first. I'll convert some of my CDs to FLAC via Media Monkey and see how they sound. If it sounds better than I think it will, I may not buy a CD spinner after all. I'll just do the work and go discless. Although knowing me, I will probably buy a CD player anyway, so I don't have to do too much work all at once

[eclein]

hahahaha....I have a CD player that sounds so good I'll never let it go, my Virtue Audio Piano M1 is truly awesome and right now I'm at the point where they both sound superb and I have the luxury of choosing which one to use, I love options....send me a PM Mike when you get going or if you have any questions and I'll be glad to help you out. If I don't know the answer to a question I bet I'll know twelve people on here that can help us...I'm Ed...enjoy the music!!!