Pushing MP3s into analog audio.

crazy dern science

However, for the same $250 ($199 refurbished), you could get a network DVD player that will play movies, music, and photos over a network (it will need a TV for a display-unlike the Squeezebox). The IO Data Linkplayer also has a a USB2 port for playback off of an external hard drive if you do not have a network.

That's pretty cool... That's how I like engineering -- smart. USB2 is a great feature. I'm assuming that unit also has the newer Burr-Brown DAC's?
 
That's pretty cool... That's how I like engineering -- smart. USB2 is a great feature. I'm assuming that unit also has the newer Burr-Brown DAC's?
It uses a Sigma 8620L chip for audio and video. According to Sigma, it has 192 kHz 24-bit audio DACs. The machine is much more than a typical music player. I use it just as much to play movies ripped to my computer/hard drives. It also has the ablity to upscale video to 720P or 1080i over its component outputs and can handle HD programming (if you have it). The LInkplayer currently only supports Fat16/32 over the USB, so that means files on your USB2 drive will have to be under 4GB each.

It will also play back all photos in a folder as a slide show over the USB2 (without music). I wrote a review for it a while back if you are interested. The company updates the product quite a bit, so I have a lot of "extras" at the end of the article. They supplied a new update on the 27th, but I have not loaded it yet.

It does not have the ability to play FLAC, which may be important to you. It will play wav files, though.
 
I went a cheaper route with my computer setup. Cheaper but it still sounds great. I used the chaintec av710 soundcard. It has the envy 24 chip (24 bit 192Khz) that is found on cards costing more $$. Also has a Wolfson WM8728 capable of that 24/192.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=292003

All for $25 -- great deal

I use a 1/8" to rca cable into my sa-9800. I use foobar as my player.

Trick with the sound card is to make sure you select the channel that is using the wolfson dac and set it to hirez mode. By default I think the wolfson is on the rear channels. The other channels have a shitty via dac.
 
von.ah said:
As I mentioned in the Santa thread, I just love mixing new techno-gadetry with 30+ year old equipment. :music:

You mean, like this? :music:

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I totally agree - the Squeezebox 3 is the best thing since sliced bread - for audio at least. The amount and variety of music I listen to has greatly increased since I bought it in early November. And now, since most of my CDs are converted to FLAC, I have most of my music library a literal push-button away. And the other great thing - it's a nice way to add remote control convienience to your old analog gear.

The built-in DAC is high quality - and sounds better, to my ears, than that of Squeezebox 1 - however, you can also use an outboard DAC of your choosing via the SB3's TOSlink and Coax digital outputs.
 
A different approach

I've been thinking about this same thing quite alot lately, and everything I've come up with says it's better to do the D/A conversion at the stereo end, leaving the signal in digital format until then. A PC is a very electrically noisy environment. So...does your soundcard have an SPDIF out, and does something at the other end have a digital in? Or you could look at something like the Soundbridge by Roku for an all inclusive approach, which is what I'm waiting for. Just my 2 pfennig
 
Just got my hands on my Roku SoundBridge M500 last night.... it is pretty cool.

Reviews to follow once I give it a bit of a shakedown, but it fun to play with. Listening to Virgin Radio UK right now, and it sounds OK.
 
hpsenicka said:
Just got my hands on my Roku SoundBridge M500 last night.... it is pretty cool.

Reviews to follow once I give it a bit of a shakedown, but it fun to play with. Listening to Virgin Radio UK right now, and it sounds OK.

Does the Roku handle lossless compression like FLAC? I heard there were "issues" with Roku and FLAC.
 
Cleve said:
Does the Roku handle lossless compression like FLAC? I heard there were "issues" with Roku and FLAC.

The Roku doesn't natively process FLAC files, but depends on a data stream originating from a streaming server like iTunes, or SlimServer to provide source material.

So the real question appears to be whether or not the streaming server will handle your preferred file type..... and perhaps more importantly... how does this processing affect audio quality.
 
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