Squeeze Box Love'n'hate


I tellya, had I known this thing would be such a pain in the backside.....but yet I love it....when it works!!! Perhaps it's because I'm a MAC guy and my computers just work. This 'interactivity' with the SQ3 goes beyond my extent of how much I want to be involved with digital. I'm also a vinyl guy and I have no trouble with the interactiveness of playing records....in fact I savour it!

So what is it with the SQ3? Well sometimes it's busy 'buffering' when I want to listen to music. Other times it just shuts itself off. And then there's the times when it won't shut off.....unless you unplug it. And at times it loses it's network......whatever, it's just plain frustrating!!!!

Anyone else have this experience?
Robert
rbatsch
Ecruz- For less money than the boldercables digital mod and PSU, I can get a new Vista laptop and a Trends USB to SPDIF converter. Heard this combo at a friend's home, and it blows away a wireless or wired SB3 with or without a linear PSU.
I think the key is the DAC. People on the SB forum give mixed reports on a power supply upgrade. From great to no difference at all. The only guy I read who actually did a single blind test couldn't tell any difference. I built a very nice 3A linear supply, if it helped it wasn't obvious. I haven't tried a blind test.

I just read about a study done in the UK on people who claim to be made sick by cell phone tower radiation. They were right, sort of. The researchers found that if these people thought they were being subjected to trasnmissions they became sick. It didn't make any difference if the tower was transmitting or not. They just had to be told it was. Additionally, in a double blind test they couldn't tell if the transmitter was on or not. I think a big part of high end audiophile cult follows this same pattern. But then, hey if you are enjoying it more, good for you.
I run my SB3 with a Pace-Car reclocker:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/frPace-Car.html

With this device, it is not necessary to improve the output from the SB3, or the power supply. There is very little room inside to mod the SB3 anyway. No way to fit a Superclock4 inside for sure.

Steve N.
Steve- very interesting, but like the boldercables mods, it a lot money to invest in a SB3.
I agree with Cytocycle. If you are Mac person and/or want Mac like simplicity in sound streaming device, then Sonos is a good solution.

It is so simple. I had the Sonos connected to my network and playing music in about 5 minutes.

For those that want better sound, you can still add a DAC for ~$1000 which will compete well with the Transporter.

The SQ3, Sonos, and Transporter are all nice, but the Sonos is sooo simple. It even looks like a Mac and it's interface is similar to an IPOD.

Darrell