I need help.

Tom

no offence,all you have said is you are getting performance equal but not better than you had before,so I have to agree with Mr Parry,it seems you are have upgraditus for the sake of it,

whats the point of a squeezebox if it doesn't improve anything?

 

Saab

1) Cash :- Squeezebox + Decent DAC < CDS2+XPS
2) Convenience, everything at the touch of a button
3) More shelf space - CDs can be stored away

Whether you like it or not this kind of technology is the future

Mr Perceptive

 

I used to have a CDS2/XPS. IMO The Squeezebox is equal to (the lesser) CDX but I haven't finished the upgrade because I have yet to buy a DAC. My feeling is that when I add a DAC to the Squeezebox it will take the performance to the CDS3 level. That will be a major improvement and at no monetary cost.

 

Mr Perceptive

I don't know whether I would like it or not,but I wouldn't bother if it was only equal not better to what I have,unless I wanted the convenience of it.Also,my missus would never allow a PC in the lounge,not in a million years,and to be honest,i don't blame her.Sounds intriguing though,but i am still astonished it can match a CDS3

 

Saab

The PC does not have to be in the lounge with wireless or a network cable the PC can be located anywhere in the house. This is one of the big plusses of the squeezebox.

It is definitely preferable to locate it elsewhere due the amount of noise that most modern PCs generate, mines going in my home office along with other machines it won't be noticed.

I reckon that I will definitely be purchasing another squeezebox for a kitchen system, just need to add a cheapo amp + skrs and off we go, all my CDs available at the touch of a button!

Hope that helps

Mr Perceptive

 

Saab

I, too, am astonished. If you'd asked me a two months ago I'd have laughed at you if you'd suggested that a PC/Squeezebox could equal a CDX. Now I'm certain and being conservative in my estimation. That is why I'm convinced the DAC will takes things beyond the CDS3 level and at no additional cost.

As to domestic arrangements, there is no infringement on them. My PC is in the study and is connected to the hI-fi via a single run of discretely hidden CAT-5.

I'm not asking you to throw your CDP out, I'm merely reporting progress on a project that was started by the response to a question I asked here at the beginning of December. It just so happens that as time goes by I'm increasingly suprised at how good it sounds rather than starting to weary of it.

 

blimey,and here's me thinking i was state of the art with a wireless connection on my lappy

it does indeed sound like a future,whether ist for me or not is another matter.If a squeezebox,dac and laptop can sound as good as a top Naim,it may catch on

but then again Naim cdps don't get viruses,spyware or blue death screens

 

Nor should my server as it's not going to be on a network. :MILD:

Naim have been rumoured to be working on their own HDD for a couple of years now. I suspect that most companies are looking at it. Probably there will be a rash of highend boxes in the next couple of years, all with off board PSUs, special circuitry, sprung mounted PCBs etc. But for the time being a PC and Squeezebox does very nicely

 

is this the sort of thing Michael dumped his dac64 for?

 

No, he dumped his DAC64 for a different make of DAC. What I've done is replace the transport part of the CD player

It goes something like this. The traditional CDP has a transport that reads a disk, extracts the data, makes error correction and passes it to a DAC

With a PC based system the data from the CD is read, error corrected and then stored until it's needed. At that point the data then is passed to the Squeezebox which unpacks the file & passes it to the DAC.

 

No that Saab is the world beating all conquering NOS dac, with sublime digital reproduction & superlitive solidity.Plus it beats the 64 hands down.(all depts, even made Mr watts chuckle)
Worth a punt my boy, its pretty fair and brings a smile to you face

 

ok,and you have the cds stored in the hard drive?

 

Yes Saab, I have a 3 way system now, a 3/4 of terrbyte storage, using the dac section of wadia, also the dv79, and the internal transport all using matching cables and same power system.
And they all sound Identical to each other
Its a great wab of having back ground music thats at a fingers touch, and sounds pretty fair too, worth a serious look. Wm

 

bloody hell,at 39 I feel old

to be clear,you both believe these things are a match for several thousand pounds of decicated cdp?

 

Yes

 

eventually the HDD will replace the optical transport for playback - about time too!

 

Hi Wm, Tom, and all,

I'm completely new to this. My only experience involving a computer and music has been occasionally listening to radio on the web. I've never used an Mp3 player or downloaded even one song. I normally just look at posts here regarding more analogue matters, but I've been blowin' my mind today reading about the Squeezebox and HDDs.

So I figure I better jump in and get my feet wet with a few questions if you'd be so kind:

Approximately how many CDs worth of material can you store on 3/4 terabyte? Do HDDs stand apart from your regular computer? How do they connect? How do you go about choosing these sort of hard drives? What's the most efficient way to rip all that data? Are you using WAV or FLAC?

Thanks for your help!

Best, Dex

 

Sorry, I miss posted.
The dv790 and the HDD aren't too far apart, but still a long way behind the unit itself, but it makes pleasant background music and no getting up to chage a disc, though serious listening has to be the wadia.

 

so Tom thinks this metod is as good if not better than his old Naim,you think the Wadia is better

hmmmm,food for thought

 

I'm still finding my way with all this but I'll try to answer best I can.

I reckon to get 900 disks onto a 400gb HDD.
To do this I will be converting the WAV files to FLAC.
I rip the CDs using EAC which is configured to convert to FLAC
FLAC stands for "Free Lossless Audio File.
It is Lossless i.e. No data is lost. I don't want to use MP3 or anything removes data.
I'm using a 400gb HDD in an ordainary PC.
I connect the PC to the Squeezebox with CAT5 cable.
Eventually I will buy a new PC and leave my current one to act as a stand alone "server"
You don't need to have a large processor or modern spec PC. I use P4/2.6mhz/1024 DDR Ram
For the HDD it is advisable to get a reliable make. I bought Seagate.

Hope that helps.