Beatles USB via Squeezebox Touch

Hmm, I have no clue but I hope someone can help.

Sounds like we've reached the day where a computer science degree may be required just to be able to play the music we buy in the store.

Hey Pettyofficer, where are you?

Maybe PO is right?

Personally, music sold on USB is too new and risky a thing to dive into yet at this point. You have to be brave to be an early adapter.

At least if you buy the CDs and rip to computer file yourself using your favorite tool you have many format options to chose or try to get your files to play.

Apparently with the Beatles USB boxset, your choice is FLAC, which is not a well established standard yet I believe or .mp3 which is a lesser format in regards to sound quality, though easier to work with.

My understanding was that you could plug the USB apple into the back of the Touch and it would play that way. I've been scanning forums all day and it seems that some people are copying the files to iTunes (or whatever) and then streaming them that way. But it seems to me that it would be much more direct, less connections, to go right into the Touch USB port. And that way it would play flac directly without needing to convert (I use an iMac and iTunes which won't play flacs without first converting them, but plan to switch to Pure Music soon).

Is there a way to play the USB apple directly through the USB input on the back of the Touch? You'd think that would be possible.

Help -- I need somebody?

Probably a good idea to copy the files to disk and play from there, similar to ripping a CD, but should be much faster than ripping.

That will save wear and tear on the source usb device. Better to store that away in a safe place.

I've been able do that, but it seems to me that the sounds should be better going directly into the back of the Touch via the usb port, because that bypasses iTunes, my router, wireless, etc. With my iMac and iTunes, I had to convert to wav, which I think would also not be as good as going directly with the flac into the back of the Touch. But I'm just guessing.

Can anyone with more knowledge with in on this?

I use lossless .wav. The sound quality is top notch. I would not worry about that. That's assuming the conversion software works properly as one would expect.

The location of the source music files on the computer is also not a factor in sound quality, The only issue occurs if the file can not be streamed fast enough to play without delays. That should not be a problem on most newer home computers and wireless G or better home networks that are operating normally and not doing too many other things concurrently.

The reason that the location of the computer files does not affect the sound quality is that these are source data files. THE DAC process onboard the Squeezebox is where the bits are input into the DAC processes and sound is created.

This is directly analogous to what occurs with my Roku Soundbridge and music server in my system, so I have highest confidence that the results will be very good.

One way to improve it further if needed is to use a very high quality outboard DAC device with the Squeezebox Touch ratrher than the Squeezebox's internal DAC, which I have read is not bad to start with.

Using any drive directly into the SBT's USB input means that you are forced to use the tiny server software in the SBT rather than the one on the host computer. Interaction is sluggish and 24/192, fwiw, is not possible.

Kal

Mapman and Kal -- So you're both saying that I will get better sound by copying the Beatles USB files to me computer (iTunes) and then stream it to the Touch -- rather than run it directly into the back of the Touch? That's good to know. I had assume that the more direct connection to the Touch would be better. I'm new at this but starting to get the hang of computer audio and liking it alot. Many thanks for your help -- I suspect there are lots of other folks learning the ropes of this new world through these forums.

Just out of curiosity, is it possible to feed as USB drive (like hte Beatles set) directly to the Touch through its USB port? That didn't work for me, and I'm convinced that copying the files is the way to go. But I'm just wondering.

Did you check to see if the USB stick is formatted in Fat 32?

I run a USB stick of Beatles FLAC in my Touch all the time.

The Touch requires that you have some available space on the thumb drive in order to operate properly. The drive probably doesn't have enough available space to write temporary files. Check your USB drive and Logitech support.

Interesting. From a quick search, Fat 32 seems to be a more efficient space saving file format. Stevenstone, ae you saying that it should be Fat 32? Is yours Fat 32? I'm not really a computer person, so any clarification would help. Did you have to do anything to the Beatles USB or Touch to get it to run?

So far, I copied the files to my iTunes and streamed them into my Touch, with then goes through a PSB DAC III. I compared the USB-Touch to CD on my Linn Genki, and then my Linn Akkurate CD player (using a few tracks from Pepper -- She's Leaving Home, W/in you W/o you, and A Day in the Life.

The high rez Touch sounded better on each track than the Genki (smoother, more detail, better soundstage), but the Akkurate topped the Touch in pretty much the same way, also had a bit more palpability, presence, and slam on Ringo's drums (esp on ADITL). I guess that's to be expected, given the price of he various units, but those are just initial reactions.

Thanks to all for your helpful comments.

By copying the files and playing them through Itunes are you getting true 24/96 ?

I also thought about buying the Beatles USB for the higher rez and playing it AS-IS through the Squeezebox touch but if that is not possible, I will pass.