Your link is about a 1000 VA UPS. How does this relate to the Squeezebox Touch, which consumes just a few Watt?
I was thinking something like this:
If you use this device to plug in not only the touch but also the DAC, the amplifier, the switch perhaps and even the NAS, can it have an impact on the sound quality?
I am not that technical but some have battery powered power supplies for the touch and a dac (and state it is the best for sound quality)
Is a UPS like this one the same?
In the IT it is used as a power backup, if the wall socket power fails, the battery takes over (far a while).
Normally the wall socket power is on and is the UPS then giving power trough the battery or just passing trough the mains?
Squeezebox set up for audiophiles
After researching a bit and reading up on the forum, I would like to set up my squeezebox touch as follows and any input, criticism, guidance, etc to help all of us get on the right path would help. I will post back my experience so others can learn as well:
Current Setup:
1) Do not have an option to run wired ethernet as NAS is in another room and wiring is not convenient. Besides I would like to keep the fan noise out of my listening room
2) Running Squeezecenter on a Readynas NV+ and will upgrade to Netgear Pro very soon. Have a dedicated router that is only used for streaming using WLAN to the touch, duet and SB3 in 3 different rooms. Router is a Cisco Linksys 610N. Have around 2 TB of music and using a laptop with a hiface and a itunes / hard disk / Mac, just does not cut it for me due to my LARGE music library
3) Touch analog outputs are not used and the SPDIF out put goes into the Audio Research Dac 8. Sound is OK but not on par with my Ayre C5XE MP CD Player even using good cables: stereovox xv ultra coax digital cable, kimber palladian power cord and kimber 1120 balanced interconnects on the Audio Research dac 8
4) All the equipment including the Touch is plugged into a Shunyata Hydra 8
Planned Setup:
1) Perform Soundcheck mods as posted on his tutorial
2) Plug the NAS and the router into a conditioner / filter. Thinking of Shunyata Hydra 2. If I use a UPS, the hydra will go into the APC 1000 on line UPS. Use an audiophile cable from the outlet to the Hydra 2. Not decided on the UPS as yet as I usually put the NAS off when not using it.
3) Change the power cable on the NAS to a decent audiophile cable like the KIMBER PK 10 gold
4) Change the power supply on the router and the touch to a linear power supply
5) Buy a bridge like WET 610N (linksys) or use another router as a bridge (use ddwrt: www.dd-wrt.com | Unleash Your Router) and change the power supply to linear as well. Connect the touch to the Ethernet port of the bridge
6) Stream using wlan from the router connected to the NAS to the router connected to the touch
Audiophiles may like the setup as it theoretically should isolate all the noise and result in a good / hopefully bit perfect output on the SPDIF output of the touch. The NAS will be in another room and the fan noise will not interrupt with the sound but we need the technically adept members of the forum to give us their input to see if the above will result in a better / bit perfect signal on the touch SPDIF output. Computer Audiophile in its review of the touch claims that the SPDIF output of the touch is bit perfect but I have my doubts as my ears are not HAPPY!
Do not want to be in a situation where I go and buy the power supplies, etc only to find out that its of no use as my ears will still not be happy.
Request everyone that is interested in getting a good sound using WLAN to study the above and give input. Or is there no way to get good sound using WLAN? This is a mystery to me!
Thanks
After researching a bit and reading up on the forum, I would like to set up my squeezebox touch as follows and any input, criticism, guidance, etc to help all of us get on the right path would help. I will post back my experience so others can learn as well:
Current Setup:
1) Do not have an option to run wired ethernet as NAS is in another room and wiring is not convenient. Besides I would like to keep the fan noise out of my listening room
2) Running Squeezecenter on a Readynas NV+ and will upgrade to Netgear Pro very soon. Have a dedicated router that is only used for streaming using WLAN to the touch, duet and SB3 in 3 different rooms. Router is a Cisco Linksys 610N. Have around 2 TB of music and using a laptop with a hiface and a itunes / hard disk / Mac, just does not cut it for me due to my LARGE music library
3) Touch analog outputs are not used and the SPDIF out put goes into the Audio Research Dac 8. Sound is OK but not on par with my Ayre C5XE MP CD Player even using good cables: stereovox xv ultra coax digital cable, kimber palladian power cord and kimber 1120 balanced interconnects on the Audio Research dac 8
4) All the equipment including the Touch is plugged into a Shunyata Hydra 8
Planned Setup:
1) Perform Soundcheck mods as posted on his tutorial
2) Plug the NAS and the router into a conditioner / filter. Thinking of Shunyata Hydra 2. If I use a UPS, the hydra will go into the APC 1000 on line UPS. Use an audiophile cable from the outlet to the Hydra 2. Not decided on the UPS as yet as I usually put the NAS off when not using it.
3) Change the power cable on the NAS to a decent audiophile cable like the KIMBER PK 10 gold
4) Change the power supply on the router and the touch to a linear power supply
5) Buy a bridge like WET 610N (linksys) or use another router as a bridge (use ddwrt: www.dd-wrt.com | Unleash Your Router) and change the power supply to linear as well. Connect the touch to the Ethernet port of the bridge
6) Stream using wlan from the router connected to the NAS to the router connected to the touch
Audiophiles may like the setup as it theoretically should isolate all the noise and result in a good / hopefully bit perfect output on the SPDIF output of the touch. The NAS will be in another room and the fan noise will not interrupt with the sound but we need the technically adept members of the forum to give us their input to see if the above will result in a better / bit perfect signal on the touch SPDIF output. Computer Audiophile in its review of the touch claims that the SPDIF output of the touch is bit perfect but I have my doubts as my ears are not HAPPY!
Do not want to be in a situation where I go and buy the power supplies, etc only to find out that its of no use as my ears will still not be happy.
Request everyone that is interested in getting a good sound using WLAN to study the above and give input. Or is there no way to get good sound using WLAN? This is a mystery to me!
Thanks
Recently I added a second broadband router to my home network. Previously I had Linksys WRT160N V3 nearby (roughly 6') my Touch in my livingroom. I had flashed this router w/ third party firmware from DD-WRT.
The laptop that serves as my SBS is on the second floor of my condo and also a Touch in my bedroom system. I put a 2nd Linksys WRT160N V3 again reflashed
with the DD-WRT firmware and the two routers were able to establish a link, utililyzing Wireless Distribution System between them. This allowed me to remove the unsightly CAT6a cables between upstairs and down. There is in effect, a wireless backbone. There is only about a 6' run from each Touch to the wireless router. An unanticipated benefit was an increase in sound quality at both Touch which I think was due to the proximity in both cases to the router.
The WDS is not a standard but it works in this case because the two routers are identical (same chipset) and the third party firmware, DD-WRT is big step up from stock. Those who are having trouble setting up a wired connection to their Touch could benefit from this architecture as well.
The wlan card is a huge detriment to sound quality and must be turned off.
The laptop that serves as my SBS is on the second floor of my condo and also a Touch in my bedroom system. I put a 2nd Linksys WRT160N V3 again reflashed
with the DD-WRT firmware and the two routers were able to establish a link, utililyzing Wireless Distribution System between them. This allowed me to remove the unsightly CAT6a cables between upstairs and down. There is in effect, a wireless backbone. There is only about a 6' run from each Touch to the wireless router. An unanticipated benefit was an increase in sound quality at both Touch which I think was due to the proximity in both cases to the router.
The WDS is not a standard but it works in this case because the two routers are identical (same chipset) and the third party firmware, DD-WRT is big step up from stock. Those who are having trouble setting up a wired connection to their Touch could benefit from this architecture as well.
The wlan card is a huge detriment to sound quality and must be turned off.
WDS is not a standard but it will usually work in the case of same chipsets, the linksys use broadcom for the most part. Linksys has been selling that particular model (WRT160N V3) refurbished for a good price recently.
The DD-WRT web site was helpful in setting up the WDS. Apparently dissimular chipsets are about impossible to get this to work. This setup was the first time I've gotten it to work but I've only just begun using the DD-WRT firmware,
router / ddwrt
thanks larry....
At least I know now that the wireless backbone will improve the sound. Need to research if I can use the Linksys 610N that I have on hand or buy 2 x 160n.
Another option is to use the bridge that Linksys has come out its the 610n WET.
Will post results when I know which direction I take. Hopefully it will help others.....
thanks larry....
At least I know now that the wireless backbone will improve the sound. Need to research if I can use the Linksys 610N that I have on hand or buy 2 x 160n.
Another option is to use the bridge that Linksys has come out its the 610n WET.
Will post results when I know which direction I take. Hopefully it will help others.....
Hi folks.
I now implemented some HW mods "inside".
1. SPDIF cable directly connected to "mainboard".
2. Additional piggyback-style OSCON capacitor add-ons on all exisiting ELCOs.
3. EMI/RFI protection
4. Mounting the board on a piece wood
5. No more Touch-Screen (runs headless now)
All that took me 2 hours of work. You really need to be careful not to break anything - which is most time consuming.
Result:
What should I say to avoid making those of you without those mods in place more than jealous...
Have a good one.
Cheers
I now implemented some HW mods "inside".
1. SPDIF cable directly connected to "mainboard".
2. Additional piggyback-style OSCON capacitor add-ons on all exisiting ELCOs.
3. EMI/RFI protection
4. Mounting the board on a piece wood
5. No more Touch-Screen (runs headless now)
All that took me 2 hours of work. You really need to be careful not to break anything - which is most time consuming.
Result:
What should I say to avoid making those of you without those mods in place more than jealous...
Have a good one.
Cheers
SoundCheck,
Interesting developments you are working on!! Looking forward to hearing from what you find these HW mods does.
Just wondering, why did you decide to start working on the HW mods? are there no more software improvements to be made, thus, needs to go down the HW mod route?
I was having a discussion with a friend with some mod ideas - which #1 (soldering the BNC digital cable on to the board) and #5 (killing the screen) came up too. Would killing be screen be redundant since your software mod had already disabled it?
Best,
Edwin
Interesting developments you are working on!! Looking forward to hearing from what you find these HW mods does.
Just wondering, why did you decide to start working on the HW mods? are there no more software improvements to be made, thus, needs to go down the HW mod route?
I was having a discussion with a friend with some mod ideas - which #1 (soldering the BNC digital cable on to the board) and #5 (killing the screen) came up too. Would killing be screen be redundant since your software mod had already disabled it?
Best,
Edwin
Some people might have the impression that I'm a hacker only (Those of course missed the HW and network section of my blog).
To be honest. I needed a 2hour break. My neck got stiff from all this PC work. I thought it would be a good idea to switch to the workbench.
Those HW mods I had in mind for quite some time. Those or similar mods have been discussed elsewhere and are even provided by those commercial modification companies (I skipped the Bybee mod) .
The logic is usually the same: You run after better power, better decoupling, better connections, better clocks, less distortions.
...I should have done those HW mods earlier.
Next: With the Touch open, it'd be a no-brainer to tap-off I2S. Though I'd loose the isolation.
I know I'm gonna try it - probably during my next 2 hour HW mod slot.
Ah. No. What comes next is... ...building a Toslink interface into my Behringer DCX 2496. This way I can easily feed and crossover my subwoofers in the future.
The best connector is no connector. I thought the best idea would be to solder the coax to the mainboard passing by even the comb connector of the internal I/O unit.
My screen mod doesn't switch off the screen 100%. At least I'm not sure if the power is down afterwards. I rather doubt it. The screen gets switched off from a kernel driver perspective. The Touch surface is still working btw.
Cheers
Mods
Wow! you are going to have one awesome touch.....
BTW, I am thinking of changing the spdif coax output to BNC so can run BNC on both ends. Currently running COAX on one end and BNC on the other end with the stereovox ultra. Having bnc on both sides will definitely help. Any particular brand of BNC output that you like: CANARE perhaps
Starting to work on a linear power supply. Looked at many: teddy pardo, boulder, wellborne, etc. but none available in my area so getting someone to build one for me using electrolytic capacitors: BLACKGATE (new old stock )
Can not wait to get it done. Will post results and specs when done so can help others
Since I can not run a wired connection the touch. The solution that I have come up with:
1) use the 5GHZ band with a N Router that I have: Linksys WRT 610N
2) Connect it to another N Router with DDWRT or try and get the Buffalo wlae ag 300n or the netgear N adapter using these as a bridge
3) Connect the ethernet on the touch to this bridge
So I get a wireless N backbone in 5 GHZ. Less noise! Unfortunately these are not available in Singapore or Indonesia. Ordering them and will post results when done.
Wow! you are going to have one awesome touch.....
BTW, I am thinking of changing the spdif coax output to BNC so can run BNC on both ends. Currently running COAX on one end and BNC on the other end with the stereovox ultra. Having bnc on both sides will definitely help. Any particular brand of BNC output that you like: CANARE perhaps
Starting to work on a linear power supply. Looked at many: teddy pardo, boulder, wellborne, etc. but none available in my area so getting someone to build one for me using electrolytic capacitors: BLACKGATE (new old stock
)Can not wait to get it done. Will post results and specs when done so can help others
Since I can not run a wired connection the touch. The solution that I have come up with:
1) use the 5GHZ band with a N Router that I have: Linksys WRT 610N
2) Connect it to another N Router with DDWRT or try and get the Buffalo wlae ag 300n or the netgear N adapter using these as a bridge
3) Connect the ethernet on the touch to this bridge
So I get a wireless N backbone in 5 GHZ. Less noise! Unfortunately these are not available in Singapore or Indonesia. Ordering them and will post results when done.
Soundcheck,
Can this mod be separated in two mods?
Pleeeease?
Why the Alsa plugin output mode tweak, had to go together with activating/deactivating spdif/analog outputs and USB?
I would like to have only spdif output active,
but at the same time,
I would also like to be able to listen to some of my favorite internet radio stations, which are now suffering from the chipmunk effect.
.
Wireless Bridge to a modified SBT - it works!
Hello there,
I can confirm that this idea proved to be a good one in my system. I have the same problem, no way I can do an Ethernet run to my router, so I built a bridge out of a TP Link router, and a TP Link Access point which is connected via Ethernet to the Squeezebox.
Be aware, though, that a few things were crucial in making it work:
* The switching power supply that came with the Wireless Access Point was so noisy, it completely spoilt soundstage and treble balance once connected anywhere close to my system. Under these conditions, the internal wireless decoder of SBT was better than the bridge!
I replaced the stock supply of the Access Point with a switching supply, a medical grade and extremely low-noise 9V adapter from an electronics store (about 55 Euros). Tried other, cheaper ones, but none of those worked well. The only other solution I could live with was a linear power supply, but the one I tried was even more expensive with no additional sonic advantage, so I sent it back.
* I bought the high-quality Ethernet cable that soundcheck recommends (about 7 Euros for 2 meters) and removed a bit of the shielding close to my Squeezebox as he recommends. No other solution (cheaper cable, fully shielded cable, another Ethernet switchbox in between) worked well. The differences are there; apologies to the laws of physics and engineering.
* I also moved the Access Point and its power supply well away from my whole system; I have confirmed that this does make a difference, though a subtle one.
* It is of advantage to select Wireless N only on router and access point. If Wireless B and G are switched on, treble is a touch rougher around the edges.
My system sounds fantastic now; absolutely no comparison with the edgy, weak and inconsistent sound that the SBT produces when its own wireless receiver is switched on.
Hello there,
I can confirm that this idea proved to be a good one in my system. I have the same problem, no way I can do an Ethernet run to my router, so I built a bridge out of a TP Link router, and a TP Link Access point which is connected via Ethernet to the Squeezebox.
Be aware, though, that a few things were crucial in making it work:
* The switching power supply that came with the Wireless Access Point was so noisy, it completely spoilt soundstage and treble balance once connected anywhere close to my system. Under these conditions, the internal wireless decoder of SBT was better than the bridge!
I replaced the stock supply of the Access Point with a switching supply, a medical grade and extremely low-noise 9V adapter from an electronics store (about 55 Euros). Tried other, cheaper ones, but none of those worked well. The only other solution I could live with was a linear power supply, but the one I tried was even more expensive with no additional sonic advantage, so I sent it back.
* I bought the high-quality Ethernet cable that soundcheck recommends (about 7 Euros for 2 meters) and removed a bit of the shielding close to my Squeezebox as he recommends. No other solution (cheaper cable, fully shielded cable, another Ethernet switchbox in between) worked well. The differences are there; apologies to the laws of physics and engineering.
* I also moved the Access Point and its power supply well away from my whole system; I have confirmed that this does make a difference, though a subtle one.
* It is of advantage to select Wireless N only on router and access point. If Wireless B and G are switched on, treble is a touch rougher around the edges.
My system sounds fantastic now; absolutely no comparison with the edgy, weak and inconsistent sound that the SBT produces when its own wireless receiver is switched on.
Thanks for the input! I was also thinking of replacing the power supply on the bridge / wireless access point, but was not sure! With your input, I will head in the right direction! Thanks again!
BTW, the TP link router and access point that you are using, is the access point working in N Band? Did not know TP link had one. Or did you take a TP link router and mod it to be a bridge using DDWRT? Whats the distance between the router and the bridge? Is it more than 30 feet? Are you getting drop outs or a good / solid signal. It seems the distance drops considerably using the N band. Thought the TP link wireless access point only worked in the 2.4 GHZ band and not the 5 GHZ (N Band)
Please advise. I am thinking of the Netgear: WNHDB3004
I vote +1000 for this, too. I had to disable the output mod because my wife's favorite (not mine!!) radio station was taken over by Alvin and his friends.
I hated to have to choose the mod over marital peace and harmony, but......well, you know how it goes...
rgro
I hated to have to choose the mod over marital peace and harmony, but......well, you know how it goes...
rgro
Soundcheck,
Can this mod be separated in two mods?
Pleeeease?
Why the Alsa plugin output mode tweak, had to go together with activating/deactivating spdif/analog outputs and USB?
I would like to have only spdif output active,
but at the same time,
I would also like to be able to listen to some of my favorite internet radio stations, which are now suffering from the chipmunk effect.
.
Dhinesh,
I am using a plain old TL-WA701ND(UK) access point (got that one cheap), and my router is a TL-WR941N. These are both "n" routers, but I do not believe they run on 5 GHz but 2,4 GHz. ("n" is the protocol if I understand this correctly, not the band). There is a clear difference between the setting "use b/g/n" and just "use n". I don't know if the difference would be even bigger if you uses 5 GHz-only-routers.
Distance is bigger than 30 ft, yes, plus rather difficult conditions with a lot of steel in the walls. No drop-outs, not even when streaming 24/96. I had a few initial drop-outs when I streamed very large files such as symphony sets in 24/96 PCM, but a bit of fiddling with the antennas was all that was needed.
Good luck,
Thomas