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.
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.