Let's get digital

The DAC finally arrived on Monday but as we had friends staying I just plugged it in a let it be. Music was firmly in the background and I was unable to do any serious listening to make a judgement. My guests have now gone and I've spent the morning playing familiar tracks.

The Chibi Saru is small. It fits neatly in the palm of my hand. It is well built with a good finish. On the front is the Coax In and two LEDs (blue & red) on the back are the RCAs for the signals out & the socket for the PSU.





The Red LED lights when the signal is "pre emphisis" eq, the Blue when "normal" conditions pertain.

I had music playing through the Squeezebox when I first plugged in the CHibi Saru and the difference in sound quality was immediately noticeable. The bass came back, not quite as taught as the CDS2 but more of it with better high detail. And so it was left...Until last night....And today. After my friends left I cued up my usual test tracks, closed my eyes and set to listening. I won't give a blow by blow account of each track. Suffice it to say I was hearing stuff I hadn't heard before with the CDS2. New instruments, new emphasis on musicians. Bassically better clarity, deeper, more solid bass, increased detail but above all improved musicality. Oh, and a soundstage. Track after track I perceived noticeable improvements, none of which were trivial. The shrillness was removed from some recordings, distorted harmonics were filled in, weak bass lines became a solid foundation, the instruments played by people. You know the sort of thing. Basically the Squeezebox with the Chibi Saru DAC outperforms my CDS2 by some margin.

Now you might say that I have an over fertile imagination or am deluding myself. Now comes the difficult bit. You may remember 18 months ago my wife & I did a dem between a Rega P9, an LP12 & a CDS3. The turntables comfortably saw off the CDS3 and we bought the Rega, added a Dynavector XX-2 and P-75 phonostage. This combination happily saw off the CDS2. Well last night, after a comfortable meal we and our guests sat down with the music playing. We had the turntable playing some Talking Heads (77), I mentioned I'd just bought Rush "Moving Pictures" & was asked to play that. I switched from TT to HDD and the immediate reaction was "Oh, that's lifeless compare to the vinyl" What you'd expect really. This led to the next hour comparing vinyl & digital. We started with Talking Heads "Take me to the River" from "Stop Making Sense". I had this on the original vinyl and on a remastered CD so it was possible to cue the two up and switch. To make this slightly more reliable I blocked the view of the preamp and refused to tell them which source they were listening to. Everytime my wife and friends choose the Squeezebox as being the preferable source. There wasn't a lot in it but the SB offered better high detail and openess of sound. Hmmm, maybe the remastered CD was better than the original vinyl. I dug out DSotM. My CD version is the 20th anniversary remaster and my vinyl is the 30th anniversary 180gm pressing. So the turntable was given every opportunity to thrash the digital. Unfortunately my tone deaf friends and wife choose the Squeezebox everytime. One of my friends and my wife, being properly brought up, were firmly convinced that vinyl would win so were somewhat non plussed to find they had choosen the Squeezebox on each pass. As was I. As I was switching the sources I knew which was playing but my feelings are that the SB is the better source.

Now remember that I had bought the P9 because it was better than the CDS3 in a straight shootout. Where does that leave me and the Squeezebox. The Squeezebox & Chibi Saru DAC is better than the P9.

 

Thanks for that very interesting writeup Tom. Being in possession of a very similar DAC and having recently finished constructing a "proper" PSU for it I have a good idea of what you're hearing

No doubt some controversy will ensue.....

Michael.

 

Well Tom,

Glad to hear about your SB/DAC results but in no way was I expecting to read about such an outcome cf. your turntable! My NOS DAC is currently winging its way to me from Hong Kong, so I imagine sometime next week I'll get my first taste of what this little box of tricks can do in my system.

Still, if I find it sounds better than my LP12 I'll be very very very extraordinarily surprised.

Regards,

Stuart.

 

Back from the dead for one day only

I bought the SB2 to replace the SB1. Again there was an improvement. This time some of the brashness has been removed and the bass enhanced.

The thing that suprised me was the comparrison with the TT. If you remember I felt that the SB1/NOS DAC outperformed the Rega P9. Well the SB2 still does that but it appears to be closer to the P9 in presentation. I think the SB1 presented the treble.mid better than the P9 but lagged behind in bass weight. This isn't something that's too important for me and as the detail was far greater I was happy. I've been doing a fair amount of "back to back" listening between the P9 & the SB2/NOS DAC using original vinyl pressings vs remasterd CDs where ever possible. The scary thing is is how close they both are in presentation. Still more detail from the SB2 but the overall sound is far closer to good vinyl. And as most of my LPs are doggy reissues you don't need to be a genius to work out the SB2 is streets ahead most of the time.

So all in all I'm a happy bunny, I've reached Audio Nirvana. My solution obviously doesn't please everyone but I like what I hear and it sounds as good or better as anything I've heard elsewhere so I'm not worried.

 

Hi Tom,

Have you tried a valve phono stage?

I ask because I notice your DAC has a valve in. Perhaps you like valves

 

No, I've never been attracted to valves. In fact I use the Chibi Saru NOS DAC (top picture) which is solid state although it is based on the valve version Tube Dac

 

Tom

Thats very interesting, been thinking about an SB2 now for a frew weeks, currently running two SB1 systems:-

Main SB1->Meridian 568.2

Kitchen SB1->Meridian 203

If the SB2 is a worthwhile improvement, I must give it a go.

All the best

Mr Perceptive

 

Ah sorry.

I saw the picture with a valve in and presumed.

 

It's an old cliche but still true. My wife noticed the instant I swapped the old for the new and she was upstairs at the time.

 

Do you think this would be a worthwhile upgrade from the DAC in my Behringer DEQ2496? I was planning to save for a DAC64 or a DAX thing but money isn't too good right now so maybe this could still be a good upgrade.

 

im intresed if people are getting rid of the Squeezebox 1's at the right price.

 

Tom,

Good to see you back and glad the hear that you're still happy with the squeezebox setup. I'm still wrapt with mine. One of these days I'll get 'round to upgrading to a SB2 and putting a better power supply on the NOS DAC. No rush 'though as I'm still enjoying it so much!

Regards,

Stuart.

 

Good morning Tom, good to see you back sir
Wm has had a S/B for a while, only minorly modded sounds very enjoyable, I use it through the dac section of the Wadia.
How's life in the wilds sir? Wm

 

This is really a fleeting visit. Just to wrap up loose ends and finish the tale. Having avoid all hi-fi fora for a few months I've found that I'm far happier with my music now people aren't telling me that I am deaf or need to upgrade. I have reached my audio nirvana. Music comes to the fore and hi-fi can sink below the conscious level.

As for the SB I still think it benefits from having an decent external PSU & DAC are worthwhile to squeeze out the last dropof performance.

And as for wilds, well they are a lot quieter now G8 has finished and the riot police have left town

 

I suspect you have the right idea Tom.
anyway good to say hello T.

 

Good to see your Avatar gracing the forum once more. I hope that you and SWMBA are both well. We too have now moved so we can bring Seventh Veil closer to Bandor.

BTW, You're deaf and you need to upgrade.

 

You mean "You like my speakers and want to buy some"?

 

Tom, I knew you wouldn't be away from hifi forums for long - how are you? I'd love to pop by sometime, bring some tunes and hear how you've been.

John

 

John you have a pm