CD transport vs streamer?

I am using apple lossless.

That could be one factor. ALAC is not native to the Squeezebox so has to be transcoded by the Squeezecenter software and streamed to the Squeezebox in a different format.

Check your settings to see which format is being used to stream from Squeezecenter to the box. That could explain the situation, particularly if a setting is off.

And, for an experiment, take a CD where you've noticed a quality difference between your CD player and the Squeezebox and rip that CD to either wave or FLAC format. Both of those are natively decoded. It would be interesting to see if that makes a difference for you.

Hi Mlsstl,

I'm not sure what you mean by Apple Lossless is not a native format to the Squeezebox. Logitech lists it as a supported format in their spec sheet, right along with FLAC, and WMA Lossless.

For what it's worth I'm getting phenomenal sound from the Transporter and terrible sound from the Squeezebox, while both were using Apple Lossless. So possibly it's a processing thing, a jitter thing or a clocking thingy.

Jglim,

In my humble opinion, you will never get the sound that you are looking for through the Squeezebox. I think you should Demo a Transporter. Have fun with it for 30 days and then ship it back if you don't agree with me.

Rich

I'm not sure what you mean by Apple Lossless is not a native format to the Squeezebox.

Check the Slimserver website:
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/CodecComparison

From the ALAC entry a shade over halfway down the page:
"- Must be transcoded (automatically) to play on SlimServer"

I had to install the Apple codec on my Squeezecenter in order to play any AAC/ALAC tracks.

I understand your enthusiasm for the Transporter. If I had spare cash to throw at my system I'd probably do the same. I did try it under their 30 day home trial. Sure, they took it back without trouble when I returned it but it is still a hassle to bring it in, return it and tie your credit card up for a couple of months.

OTOH, of the two things I suggested, one he should be doing anyway (double checking file streaming settings) no matter which machine he ends up with and the other might take an hour of time to settle the issue one way or the other.

Thanks for the link.

WAV and FLAC list similar transcoding statements as ALAC does, so I don't think it's an issue. Technically all of these Codec's have to be transcoded. I have heard that larger lossless files that are streamed wirelessly can further tax the streaming buffer, but that's about it.

I'm hoping that he wont want to return it; unless he either wants to buy a used one, or I fell off my rocker.

Mlsstl, what file streaming settings are you referring to?

Rich

...WAV and FLAC list similar transcoding statements as ALAC does,

No, that is a very different statement. It applies only to the original SliMP3 and the first generation Squeezebox 1. No one is talking about those models in this conversation.

Here's the WAV/FLAC statement: "- Must be transcoded (automatically) to play on SlimServer with older (SB1/SLIMP3) hardware"

Decoding for WAV/FLAC in all later Squeezeboxes (version 2 & 3/Classic; Duet and Transporter) takes place natively in the unit.

As to file streaming settings, there is a settings link at the bottom right of the Squeezecenter web page. Locate the "file types" settings for the server. The "convert.conf" file can also be directly edited.

There are a number of important settings in Squeezecenter that impact sound quality. As true open-source software, they give you as much rope as you need to fine tune things or really screw them up. ;-)