anybody using slimdevices squeezebox2 with UCD amp

[onixuser]

i just ordered a squeezebox2 and expecting to receive it by the end of this week. i want to know if anybody else here has tried to use it directly to the UCD amp w/o a preamp and use the digital volume control of the SB2.

here's the spec of the analog out of the SB2:

Analog RCA outputs

- High fidelity Burr-Brown™ 24-bit DAC
- Two dedicated linear power regulators for DAC and line-out stages
- Full 6.0Vpp line-level signals
- Signal-to-noise ratio: over 100dB
- Total harmonic distortion: less than 0.003%

i know a modder that recommends plugging the SB2 directly to an amp but his mod involves lowering the live-level output signal to 3Vpp.

thanks,

onixuser

 

[ackcheng]

I am using this confid but i have the UCD400 gain reduced to 20dB

 

[onixuser]

how can i reduce the gain?

i also have UCD400.

onixuser

 

[ackcheng]

I think you have to change the R3 which is 560ohms to a different value. Let me do some searching on the UCD400 thread first. I forgot which value.

 

[ackcheng]

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=614074&highlight=#post614074

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=506067&highlight=#post506067

change 560 ohms to 1500 ohms will give you 20db

 

[onixuser]

thanks a lot,

how does the SB2 compare to a CD player in your setup, was it a big improvement in sound quality?

i'm also trying to figure out how to rip my cds (~150 of them) to FLAC, it seems kinda tricky using DAE and flac, i want to make sure i get the best rip possible.

onixuser

 

[ackcheng]

I think you can only get the best performance if you use digital out of the SB2 and an external DAC. The analog out is not bad though.

I was told that using EAC and flac will give the best reults.

 

[inguz]

Chipamp, not UCD

Not a UCD, but I built a chipamp specifically to run from the Squeezebox analog output (http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65024 ). Original gain was ~18dB, since upped to ~21db -- 18 isn't loud enough at the top end, and 21 seems fine so far although I haven't pushed it much.

The latest builds of SlimServer now have a logarithmic volume control and digital "preamp-gain" setting (http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=16209), which means you should be OK to use with a regular power-amp, by adjusting the pre-gain down a bit.

SB2 sounds just excellent to me (with the stock power supply, although that's probably next on my mods list). EAC and FLAC recommended (I can't easily distinguish FLAC from MP3/320kbps).

 

[Yves Smolders]

Maybe a "Dumb" question but...

Can you run this device without the slimserver software? Can it access a regular network "share" over the network?

I like media players like this, but don't like to be "bound" to some kind of "server" software that needs to run all the time.

Thanks!

 

[onixuser]

Yves,

i don't think the SB2 will work w/o slimserver, the SB2 looks for the server for it to function.



inguz,

can you please explain how to update the firmware of the SB2, i tried to go to www.slimdevices.com/dev_nightly.html but once i click 6.2 the page just goes blank.

my current firmware version is 15, what's the latest?

thanks for the info,

onixuser

 

[inguz]

The SlimServer install contains the firmware; then when SqueezeBox powers up next, the server tells it that a new firmware version is available, and the display says "Press and hold the 'brightness' button to update".

I think the latest firmware is #23. But downloads seem to be broken temporarily: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=16861

Logarithmic volume control is a great improvement, btw.