Experiences with SlimDevices Squeezebox.

Yes...i forgot to mention this. The squeezebox also could not play streaming radio from Sirius because they have their own "player" interface...and the squeezbox server couldn't pick it up.

With the Xitel, I'm able to play the Sirius streams through my stereo. Incidentally, the streaming algorithms are improving and internet radio is becoming very tolerable from a sonic standpoint.

This stuff is going to get better and better!!!

Harry

I'm currently looking for something like that, but I'm really concerned with the quality of the unit: it's role is to receive, to buffer, and then to clock the signal into SPDIF out. But in order to do it with acceptable level of jitter it must have audiophile-grade circuitry: power supply, crystall, etc. - why people modify digital sections of their DACs and CDPs? I just don't get how this $200 device can produce anything good?

Dmitrydr: You really should try a squeezebox. From a sonic perspective, it is truly outstanding. The only modification I have done is that I am running mine from the 5V output of a B&K Linear power supply instead of from the one supplied. I also am running the output through a Genesis Digtial Lens and an Apogee Big Ben.

My problems with the Big Ben have been two fold. First, it eats a fair amount of bandwidth, so my home network gets much slower while it is in use. Second, as with all new products there have been some bugs that can lead to occasional dropouts, channel reversal etc.

For this reason I've also been using a wired solution. So far, I tried a Xitel Pro Hi Fi Link. This also sounds pretty darn good, but the cheap chipset upconverts everything to 48k instead of leaving it in native 44.1k. I have a problem with this because it can add artifact above the noise floor and I think it has.

Soooo....yesterday I ordered a Wavetermina U24 which is, according to many sources, bit-accurate and sonically outstanding. Of course, this is a USB wired solution as opposed to wireless.

I'll report on this here.

harry

Dmitrydr: Have a look at the squeezebox site. The squeezebox was apparently developed in consultation with an audiophile club of some sort.

Harry is right that you can get good sound out of it if hard wired. The latest software and firmware upgrade has helped eliminate the bugs. I have it working now at a level of quality and reliability so that my modified TEAC VRDS transport doesn't get any use, and just gathers dust.

You need to add a decent DAC. Replacing the cheap switch-mode power supply with a stiffly regulated one is good. But better is opening it up and putting Black Gate caps wherever possible.

The main thing is, if you are a music lover you will love being liberated from having to waste time on those silly bits of aluminium and plastic, not to mention their horrible little cases, and just sit back and select the music you want with a push of a button. I am as anal an audiophile as most, but the functionality of the squeezebox has yielded the biggest boost to my music enjoyment of any purchase for many years.

Redkiwi:
i agree with everything you have said regarding the freedom of using ones computer as a soundserver. It just makes listening so much easier. Is the sound as good as my modified Wadia 270se?? No. But the convenience makes listening to tunes incredibly easy and enjoyable.

While I think the squeezebox is an excellent product, i think the wired USB solution with the Ego Systems Waveterminal U24 is better for me. The wireless aspect is unimportant to me, and I love the reliability, lack of dropouts or other problems, and the ability to use iTunes as my interface instead of the Slimdevices server.

I think both the Squeezebox and the Waveterminal will see a fair amount of action in my system.

I do have a question for you Redkiwi. When you speak of modifying the squeezebox with Black Gates...is this primarily for people using the analog outputs....or do you think this will have an impact for those of us who are using the digital output to a dac?

harry