Home Souce = Squeezebox?

[n_maher]

So I've been giving a lot of thought to my home rig recently and given my problems with CD/DVD players I'm thinking that the Squeezebox might be the answer to my prayers. My rig is never going to be anything other than upper Mid-Fi (at best) so I'm not shooting for the ultimate sound but would like it to be as good as possible while fitting into the constraints of my situation. So my questions are as follows:

1. Tell me about your setup with it: advantages/disadvantages? likes/dislikes?

2. Is the internal DAC half-decent or should I keep my Monica2 to use with it.

3. Are there other alternatives worth looking at? I love the idea of the Olive Music stuff but they just don't fit into the budget and I question how legible the display would be from more than a couple feet away. The Cambridge Audio piece has also gotten some pretty bad press so I'm not considering it either.

Thanks in advance,

Nate

[philodox]

Mine is for sale if you are interested... it is a great piece of kit, but I am too lazy to rip all my music and find I have been using the E5 more often.

I have the wireless version, but got it at the $250 USD price for buying two. I'll give you 10% off that, paypal included, plus actual shipping costs.

It is in near mint condition... just a slight scuff on the front, nothing major, I can take pictures if you'd like. Also, I heard that if you send Slim Devices an email saying that your aluminum front plate isn't staying on properly they will send you a brand new one anyways.

[tkam]

I think the Squeezebox is great to use as a transport and while I'm not familiar with your Monica2 dac it's a good bet that it'd be better than using the squeezebox as a dac.

[n_maher]

Jay,

Did you use the internal DAC or an external one? How was the SQ in either case?

And yes, I'd be interested in purchasing your used 'box. I'll look into the face replacement and it'd be great if you could shoot a couple of pictures.

it's a good bet that it'd be better than using the squeezebox as a dac.

That's sort of what I was thinking but the $$ allure of selling the dac and further simplifying the setup made me ask.

[philodox]

I mainly used it with the Lavry, but the analog outs are pretty good. They could hardly be considered 'burned in' though if you believe in DAC/output stage burnin.

I have heard from a few people that think the analog outs of the squeezebox sound as good as the Benchmark DAC1. Not sure how the monica would stand up as I have never heard it.

Considering that you are a DIY type of guy, you could build a linear PSU or a battery powered setup as well as some other mods. A bunch are documented on the slimdevices forums, and you can get some ideas by checking what some of the mod companies [boulder cables and red wine audio] are doing with theirs.

I will try to take some pictures tonight.

[thrice]

I wish I had spent a little time with this at the National meet, I'm intriqued by the various wireless digital boxes on the market, but I wonder about SQ and of course compatibility with iTunes Music Store tracks (which none of them have).

But you can always burn and rerip to overide the DRM. The gadget geek in me really wants a source like this, especially since you can do wireless streaming and hook an external DAC to the thing as well.

[Gabe Logan]

Will that PSU upgrade benefit the analog along with digital?

[philodox]

Will that PSU upgrade benefit the analog along with digital?

I don't see why not... though I would imagine it would depend largely on the implementation you went with. I know that some are just creating a linear PSU that plugs into the pre-existing jack, which is fine... but some of the PSU is in the actual unit. It is much better to replace everything and have seperate supplies for key areas I would think.

[philodox]

Hey Nate...

Been busy and forgot to take those pictures. Will try to remember tonight.

- JAy

[n_maher]

I posted my reply in the wrong thread but no worries, get to it when you can. I'm not going anywhere.

[philodox]

I took the pics last night... brought my camera to work. When things slow down later I will try to get them up on my FTP share.

[philodox]

Here are the pictures. I tried to take a close up shot of the flaw, but it didn't really show up. Just goes to show you how minor it is I suppose. When my Wife saw me taking the picture she asked why I was even bothering since it is hard to see unless you look at it from a particular angle. I like to be as accurate as possible when selling something though.

So, as I said before, if you are interested I will sell it to you for $225 plus the actual cost of shipping. Shipping method, insurance, etc is all up to you. I doubt we need to worry about double boxing it or anything, the stock box should suffice. You can pay me the total after I send it.

[n_maher]

Well. I've been using the SB3 in my home rig for the last weeks or so now. I have to say, I'm hooked. Even using semi-lossy files (-aps MP3s) running through my Monica DAC I'm pretty impressed. And there is no getting past the fact that having 400 cds at the touch of a button is fantastic. I guess it's time to start the lossless re-ripping and planning for the modding of the Squeezebox.

[philodox]

Nice!

Can't wait to hear about the mods.

PS. Just realized you can see my Wife in the reflection of the screen.

[Aliacha]

Sooo you still selling the SB3? I've been thinking of getting a SB3, but I'm poor(cheap) and the two SB3 deal is over with.

[TheSloth]

The red brick battery pack from HeadRoom does wonders for the SB3! 10 hours of battery life, and you can't use rechargeables because the voltage is too low, but that's a great 10 hours you get!

[philodox]

Aliacha - I sold my Squeezebox to n_maher, sorry.