Recommended Modern Sources

HELLO!

With the Squeezebox touch hooked up to my Marantz receiver, will I be able to control the volume with the remote that comes with the Squeezebox?

I use their remote app on my 'droid tablet to control the SB. Kinda klunky interface compared to MOG's, though. I prefer to just run MOG on the tablet via bluetooth to the Luxman's Aux-2 input.

Once android gains support for USB digital audio, will the SB become outdated? :scratch2: 7" tablets are cheap...
 
Tascam DP24, tc electronic Nova System, Sony XDRF1-HD, schiit bifrost (80% of the rest of my stuff is vintage audio, 10% PA/pro audio, 10% BPC)
 
I use an Infocast with 7" screen for streaming internet radio. It's nice cuz you can login to Pandora, and it shows the album covers as it plays. It also plays MP3s off of CF or USB cards.
 
I recently picked up a cambridge audio 740C CD player. Got it in an aluminum finish and it pairs well with my vintage tuner and amp. So far I love this thing. Best CD player I have ever had.
 
The Rega Saturn and the Rega DAC are both phenomenal. Especially the DAC, with it's generous full bass and smooth yet dynamic analog sound, it will enhance your enjoyment of all but the most well recorded albums. Naim, also makes a mean CD player.
 
I'm really enjoying my Sonos connect now that I have it running through the NAD MDC Integrated DAC. Some aspects of the iPad app interface I find better than the Spotify app but in other important ways it is not as good, searching for music specifically, could be made more intuitive.

The NAD MDC DAC is a bit of a pain because I have the phono stage as well on my NAD375BEE which runs through the DAC. This means that every single thing I have running into the amp is under Disc/Phono input option and the only way to switch between DAC inputs (USB/Optical/Phono) is via a switch on the back.

Sounds great though.
 
What are the thoughts around here about the Pro-Ject Essential and Debut III/Carbon? I want to buy one of them by Christmas and don't want to spend much over $400....
 
Assuming they are in good working order, I think they will be fine as long as you mate them with a good and like minded cart and cables with a good amp and speakers. Proper set up and speaker placement is always a plus.
 
NUforce Air Dac wireless system

I am getting great sound from this product. You can play anything audio from your computer to your HiFi anywhere in your house. Unless you live in a mansion.
 
For those of you who like me play most of your audio off of your PC, I cannot recommend the EMU 1212m sound card enough. It decodes 24bit/192 as well as encodes to that resolution as well (whereas most cards will only do 24/96.) I also plan on using this to rip vinyl; its somewhat of a standard in the ripping community. I think it was selling around $150-$175 two or three years ago but was starting to become somewhat obscure. If you can find one for that price though you should definitely get it.
 
As a college student, I am on an insanely low budget, so I can't quite afford too much of that modern gear out there... but I was able to afford a $40 sound card. I know a lot of people spend big money on fancy external DACs, but the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 makes that kind of spending unnecessary. It just requires a desktop computer with a free PCI slot, and it works with just about any version of Windows.

These cards go for about $65 to $80 new, or around $40 used. It has gold-plated analog RCA inputs and outputs. Inputs are excellent for recording a line-level source like the output from a turntable hooked to an external pre-amp. The card is compatible with any popular recording programs like the free Audacity or the expensive Adobe Audition. Combined with a free program to play FLAC files, such as Foobar2000, this card makes for an excellent stereo DAC.

It can even decode 24 bit, 96 kHz audio. Some people may say that internal cards like this produce unwanted noise because of interference picked up within the computer case, but I have never been able to notice any such unwanted noise. It has an extremely clean sound and offers an excellent solution for stereo recording and playback from a computer. It also has a digital input/output over coaxial attachment, but I have never found this useful.

Considering the price, this modern sound card serves as an outstanding DAC and analog-to-digital recorder. I use it for converting vinyl to 24 bit, 96 kHz FLAC files, and I hook the RCA outputs to an amplifier for headphone use.

+1!!! I have the M-Audio 2496 and 192 Audiophile sound cards and they are fantastic. You will have to spend quite a bit more to get an external DAC that will better them. They are very quiet (quieter than an external usb DAC I once tried) and very musical.
 
Digital PC v CD

Changed from cd source to IMac server running PureMusic into V-Link spidf converter taking XLR cable to benchmark dac1.

And never managed to get same enjoyment out of my music. Tried files ripped in various formats and now only use WAV which is best.

Recently added an old Onkyo CD transport and lo and behold the same CD played using coaxial digital output from CD into dac sound sweeter and more detailed than the same thing ripped as a WAV.

Blows all the talk of all digital being 0 and 1's!

Tried various Upsampling rates but even Upsampling to 192 seems less detailed than CD which is less!

I use high quality audio cables and there was a distinct improvement when I moved to XLR from optical (never go optical it stinks).

So I reckon I have two choices, either spend even more on a better spidf or upgrade the benchmark to a new USB model (though I can't see how that will help), or use computer for less serious listening and keep cd's out for serious listening. Have bought an old Theta transport and had new laser installed so looks like CDs are here to stay a whole.

Just like the old vinyl over those new fanged CD's discussion!

Also got to decide whether to keep valve monoblocks or SS amp...
 
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I am more than happy with the clarity of my Yamaha CD player with burr-brown DAC (CD-S300).
I learned of the clarity of the burr brown chip from my car's setup which includes a Pioneer DEX-P99RS preamp head unit with (4) burr brown modules handling processing duties.
It will wring out every last bit of your CDs detail from bottom to top and not be the weakest link in your audio chain. All for 300 bucks.
 
I've done a but of messing around with computer sources.

I have and do not use my Squeezebox 2. It never sounded as good as going directly from a computer. I had the same experience using the WiFi in my Mac and PC to share music. I therefore eliminated the option of wireless connections for my tastes.

I then tried listening to music from my Dell Inspiron or from an iMac. At first I played around with the iMac using the SPDIF out to a Schiit Bifrost DAC. Curiously, I could hear significant differences in the sound coming from the computer based on which program played the files. I tried three or four, they were all different sounding and I liked Amara best of all and straight iTunes worst of all.

When I switched to the Dell, instantly, levels of clarity were born out of the music that I hadn't heard coming out from the iMac. I was using JRiver. Was this because I was outputting the music to a USB>SPDIF dongle? Idk, but I concluded the iMac was better suited to office use and the PC was better for tunes.

However, this wasn't the end of the comparisons, because I am convinced different software may affect the music. I didn't like the hugeness of a PC in my set up. So, I bought a tiny netbook. Playing JRiver off it versus the Dell was no different, so the Dell went elsewhere and the netbook stayed in the system. However, the netbook doesn't run very smoothly on Windows, so I loaded up a minimal Unix OS on it (AntiX) and I don't miss JRiver. It seems like every software I've tried under Unix sounds equally good, making me feel there's no messing around anymore. So I use a very minimal playback program called Deadbeef.

It's stable, simple, cheap and sounds fantastic. If you want remote control, I believe there are programs that integrate that capacity, such as from your bluetooth phone or what not. Anyhow, I am sure that once you've got your music server going, you'll never look back at a CDP again.
 
I use the Behringer 222 USB DAC / external sound card for computer to amplifier connection. Works great and only around $30.

I also use the Grace Digital tuner that can handle wi/fi, Ethernet and FM, for about $200. I have two of them in different systems and 90 percent of my listening is with them.
 
The network audio player has been the best investment I have made towards my audio system. You have over 20,000 channels at your disposal. You can search by Genre or Location. You not only get music, but you can choose between news, sports, talk radio, and a whole lot more. The network audio player is AirPlay compatible, which allows you to stream your music from your computer or external hard drive. You can also access Rhapsody, Spotify, Pandora subscription channels.

Forget the laptop, forget the Squeezebox, the network audio player will become the most important component to add to any audio system. :music:
 
It's well documented around here what I think about my Squeezebox Touch. The best audio purchase I have ever made. The fact that it allows me to discover new music on a daily basis makes it priceless. For a couple hundred bucks I can't understand why everyone doesn't own one.

cubdog
What is a squeezebox touch..I'm an old guy but not a technophile, would like to learn.. I only have old tech vintage stuff..good stuff tho lol
 
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