Hello, is there anyone with first hand experience of comparing the sound quality of a PC with DAC to a Squeezebox with DAC?
Hopefully someone has run nice playback software like CMP +Cplay or XXxhighend or something like that and compared to a Squeezebox.
I'm interested to hear anyone's impressions on the matter.
Thanks.
Hopefully someone has run nice playback software like CMP +Cplay or XXxhighend or something like that and compared to a Squeezebox.
I'm interested to hear anyone's impressions on the matter.
Thanks.
Hi Erin,
You didn't tell us what kind of DAC you compare.
Anyway Squeezebox can be good after some mods.
Separate DAC boxs can be used with other components and there are few
cheaper DAC that not bad sounding. (Audio Alchemy DAC in the Box, Musical Fidelity V-dac, Micromega dac duo, Cambridge Audio,etc)
There are some dac chips that worth to try:
Buffalo Sabre32
Wolfson WM8740, WM8776,
Cirrus-Logic CS4398
Burr-Brown BB1702
PCM1792
AD1860, 1865
TDA1541
TDA1543 very easy to build a dac from this chip.
TDA1549
If you wanna use your pc you need a good sound card anyway to get decent digital out.
For your PC I recommend ASUS Xonar DS, its cheap and almost as good as the Xonar Essence ST.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Multimedia- ASUS Xonar DS
Forget about Creative sound blaster they are junk.
Or go for DIY, there are many good DACs around.
I hope I could give you some idea.
You didn't tell us what kind of DAC you compare.
Anyway Squeezebox can be good after some mods.
Separate DAC boxs can be used with other components and there are few
cheaper DAC that not bad sounding. (Audio Alchemy DAC in the Box, Musical Fidelity V-dac, Micromega dac duo, Cambridge Audio,etc)
There are some dac chips that worth to try:
Buffalo Sabre32
Wolfson WM8740, WM8776,
Cirrus-Logic CS4398
Burr-Brown BB1702
PCM1792
AD1860, 1865
TDA1541
TDA1543 very easy to build a dac from this chip.
TDA1549
If you wanna use your pc you need a good sound card anyway to get decent digital out.
For your PC I recommend ASUS Xonar DS, its cheap and almost as good as the Xonar Essence ST.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Multimedia- ASUS Xonar DS
Forget about Creative sound blaster they are junk.
Or go for DIY, there are many good DACs around.
I hope I could give you some idea.
Attachments
Thank you danico, I am very familiar with DACs.
I am really wondering what is a better source.
1)The PC > soundcard > SPDIF > DAC
2)PC > USB SPDIF converter > DAC
OR
PC or NAS > Squeezebox > SPDIF output > DAC?
I am hoping there is someone who has compared the above and can say with some informed certainty that one is better than the other, or perhaps they are all as good as one another?
I am really wondering what is a better source.
1)The PC > soundcard > SPDIF > DAC
2)PC > USB SPDIF converter > DAC
OR
PC or NAS > Squeezebox > SPDIF output > DAC?
I am hoping there is someone who has compared the above and can say with some informed certainty that one is better than the other, or perhaps they are all as good as one another?
I use a Netgear Stora NAS feeding Squeezebox Touch with coax output to a Hlly DMK IV preamp/DAC for most of my listening and I occasionally feed the USB output from my Dell laptop running JRiver Jukebox to the Hlly. The basic sound quality of these two sources is comparable but I find that low level hash finds its way through from the PC when the switchmode power supply is plugged in. When the PC is running on battery it is much improved but still not as black a background as the Touch.
don't over look the Behringer Ucontrol UCA 202. External USB, self-Powered with RCA in and out and headphone jack and control. Not fancy, but good sounding and $30 USD everywhere. I have a couple of them and love them.
I use one for my soundcard oscilloscope. I believe the chip is a Burr-Brown.
I use one for my soundcard oscilloscope. I believe the chip is a Burr-Brown.
here are some more specs and photo on the U-CONTROL.
U-CONTROL UCA202
Ultra-Low Latency 2 In/2 Out USB/Audio Interface with Digital Output
Ultra-flexible audio interface connects your instruments, mixer, etc. with your computer for recording and playback
High-resolution 48 kHz converters for high-end audio quality
Works with your PC or Mac computer—no setup or drivers required. Free audio recording and editing software downloadable at BEHRINGER: Home
Stereo Headphone output with dedicated Level control lets you monitor both input and output
Additional S/PDIF optical output for direct digital conversion
Powered via USB—no external power supply needed
U-CONTROL UCA202
Ultra-Low Latency 2 In/2 Out USB/Audio Interface with Digital Output
Ultra-flexible audio interface connects your instruments, mixer, etc. with your computer for recording and playback
High-resolution 48 kHz converters for high-end audio quality
Works with your PC or Mac computer—no setup or drivers required. Free audio recording and editing software downloadable at BEHRINGER: Home
Stereo Headphone output with dedicated Level control lets you monitor both input and output
Additional S/PDIF optical output for direct digital conversion
Powered via USB—no external power supply needed
Attachments
The major advantage of the SB is that it does isolate the signal from noise pollution, ground-bourne & otherwise, from the pc power supply. SB is better still when you get rid of it's crappy SMPS supply in favor of a linear supply or battery. At least in the Duet, there is no dc-dc switching conversion, just linear regs, so the external supply is only SMPS crap going on. Of course, the wifi signal is a potential contaminant of signal, but I saw no modulation from it on the scope when checking a Duet I upgraded.
I have read the threads on tweaking SB Touch and the negative impact of wireless networking but I use mine WIFI & it sounds fine to me.
Hi Piero,
OK, so it seems you have compared both as a source.
Could you elaborate upon why you say PC + hiface beats the Squeezbox?
What playback software are you running?
thanks
Time to revive this thread.
I had to know the answer to my question. So I bought the Squeezebox touch.
My previous setup was PC running CMP with cPlay > upgraded modified teralink X USB SPDIF converter with battery power supply > DAC.
New setup is PC > Billion router > Squeezebox touch using linear power supply with JLH "ripple eater" (regulator) > DAC.
With this setup, and particularly the JLH Ripple eater John Linsley Hood ripple Eater - Rock Grotto Charity Edition the sound is really incredible. It beats any CD player I ever heard, and it beats my previous PC with USB SPDIF converter also by a long way.
With the Touch, most noticable is the absense of sibilance, compeletly smooth unfatiguing high frequencies and incredible soundstage. Apart from the different power supply, I have also applied soundchecks software (mods) to the Touch, which do make a noticable worthwhile improvement. I think there is still room to improve the sound further, but at the moment, as far as transports go, the touch is going to be hard to beat.
I had to know the answer to my question. So I bought the Squeezebox touch.
My previous setup was PC running CMP with cPlay > upgraded modified teralink X USB SPDIF converter with battery power supply > DAC.
New setup is PC > Billion router > Squeezebox touch using linear power supply with JLH "ripple eater" (regulator) > DAC.
With this setup, and particularly the JLH Ripple eater John Linsley Hood ripple Eater - Rock Grotto Charity Edition the sound is really incredible. It beats any CD player I ever heard, and it beats my previous PC with USB SPDIF converter also by a long way.
With the Touch, most noticable is the absense of sibilance, compeletly smooth unfatiguing high frequencies and incredible soundstage. Apart from the different power supply, I have also applied soundchecks software (mods) to the Touch, which do make a noticable worthwhile improvement. I think there is still room to improve the sound further, but at the moment, as far as transports go, the touch is going to be hard to beat.
What's the hardware complement inside the touch? DAC, CPU and the like? Also what's the power draw?
<edit> silly me, I see you're using SPDIF out so forget the 'DAC' bit 😀
<edit> silly me, I see you're using SPDIF out so forget the 'DAC' bit 😀
You may want to check out this link.
Opened up the Squeezebox Touch | diyparadise.com
You will notice that the gentleman on that link suggests the SPDIF output of the touch "leaves a lot to be desired." IMO its not the SPDIF output that has major issues, but the stock SMPS. A better quality power supply such as the one I'm using makes a world of difference.
Power draw when using it over the network (no usb stick plugged into it) is less than 1A
Opened up the Squeezebox Touch | diyparadise.com
You will notice that the gentleman on that link suggests the SPDIF output of the touch "leaves a lot to be desired." IMO its not the SPDIF output that has major issues, but the stock SMPS. A better quality power supply such as the one I'm using makes a world of difference.
Power draw when using it over the network (no usb stick plugged into it) is less than 1A
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Thanks! The pics are a bit too small for me to work out what CPU they're using. But John Swenson's linked post is a goldmine of info - he points out there are some switching regs on the board to supply 1.2/1.4V to the processor.
Yeah I'd expect a linear supply to greatly reduce the CM noise you'll be coupling into the DAC - that's one big advantage of a lower powered device. The < 1A is from a 5V supply?
Yeah I'd expect a linear supply to greatly reduce the CM noise you'll be coupling into the DAC - that's one big advantage of a lower powered device. The < 1A is from a 5V supply?
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