Squeze Box Question

You'll never get a consensus in regard to which setup sounds best, so the basic decision you have to make is how you want to listen to music. If you like the perceived convenience of a hard drive based system, then there are computer/DAC options that can sound very good and arguably equal to comparably priced CDP's. Otherwise, a good CDP is the simplest and most direct method to top quality sound. I use a bit of a hybrid approach. I have 20-30 "desert island" discs on my hard drive. For everything else I rely on the CDP.

Assuming you use uncompressed or lossless audio files and you use error correction (built into iTunes or other software) you will probably get as good if not better results out of the Squeezebox than most CD transports. I found it to be a suitable replacement for a $6,000 Goldmund. It is not a PERFECT solution because the power supply and circuitry could stand to be improved, but it is a fantastic entry level solution that is comparable to a very good CD transport.

I've got to say we are loving the squeezebox.. it, with a DAC, sounds as good as either of our CD players and the "fun" factor is right up there. Add the internet radio for learning about new genres of music and it's downright hard to leave the listening chair!

Grab the remote and access each song from a multitude of artists as you think of them, one leads to another and another and another...bored with that, access the internet radio systems and listen to something you've never heard before at pretty good quality, not as great as the cd but good enough to know if you want to purchase it....Sunday I went from my own favourites to String quartets, jazz fusion, alternate country and back again.....really puts the fun of discovery back into the music.

Am getting tired of ripping those cd's though...almost done - ripping to apple lossless with error correction this time!

Get one, hook up a DAC, and enjoy!

I have a Roku Soundbridge, which is similar to Squueze Box and an external DAC. I currently have about 3800 tracks in multiple genres ripped to my laptop as a wireless music server.

The sound is very good but the most enjoyable feature is to put the Roku in random track play mode and let it queue up the tunes like a jukebox. Its a great way to listen to tunes in a different way and to learn to appreciate tracks that might get overlooked otherwise.

Roku also provides a web site and the Roku a web page that can be accessed by browser to select playlists, adjust volume, skip tracks, etc from a laptop anywhere in the house.

Its just a totally different way to listen to music that also happens to sound excellent.

HIGHLY recommend you use .aiff and not apple lossless, by the way.