Squezebox touch and Airport Express

[ossy]

I have a touch AND a cd player (acting as a transport) playing into the same dac, they both sound different, why is this?

 

The touch is streamed from my mac and does not sound as good as the cd transport - same cable, etc, apple lossless, etc. I expected them to sound exactly the same.

 

The touch is streamed through an apple express could this be affecting the sound quality?

 

I want to move over to the touch but am having trouble accepting the loss of sound quality. Any help much appreciated.

 

It's the same DAC with two digital sources that should be the same, but sound different. Plus, the dac is non-oversampling and non-filtering.

 

[soundsolutions11]

I am somewhat confused by your set up at least how you posted it! The Touch is a streamer using the proprietary SB Server software and does not need to go through the AE at all. The Touch as 2 outputs, one is using RCA which means the Touch is using it's own built in DAC and the other output is SPDIF, which can be hooked directly to your DAC. I am not getting how the AE enters into the equation. Please clarify!

 

I use my SB Touch with SPDIF right into my Krell pre pro DAC and it sounds just a good as my High end CD player.

 

[ossy]

Thks for the reply.

 

I don't have a wireless modem but have an airport express set up in the kitchen to stream itunes to a smaller system.

 

The mac therefore streams via the airport express and then onto the touch (as i understand it). Would a decent wireless modem improve things?

 

The touch does not sound quite as good as the cd player and I am a little frustrated!!

 

[soundsolutions11]

The Mac is streaming Itunes to AE, the touch is streamed using their proprietary software called Squeezebox server. If you are using the same computer as the source and unless the computer is old and does not have enough RAM, or if it has an older version wireless adapter, it should be able to stream both without a problem, they are not using the same software to do the streaming.

 

So in order to understand, is your SBT hooked to the same sound system as the AE in the same room? You say you do not have a wireless router correct? In paragraph 2 in your comment you say that the MAC streams to the AE then onto the Touch, are you saying that the AE is your only router? If this is the case you may want to check the configuration of the AE here is a link to AE FAQ. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1515?viewlocale=en_US#2.5 I do not use my AE as a router just as a streamer so I am not sure how you have configured your AE, but it sounds like you need to adjust the settings in the AE.

 

One thing to try out is to hook up an external USB drive or thumb drive directly to the Touch and run mini squeezebox server which is an option on the SBT for use with a USB drive and see if the sound does not improve by eliminating the streaming aspect altogether. I have a 1TB Western Digital hooked to mine and use it all of the time and it sounds great.

 

I can assure you the SBT is a great sounding device, while it is not the holy grail of audio, for the price it cannot be beat. The digital out of the SBT to my Krell DAC sounds just as good as my $4,000 CD player which I never use anymore.

 

[Paul R]

And not using the wireless modem in the touch.

 

Using the AEX networking instead, which should be fine.

 

-Paul

 

 

[ossy]

Thks for the reply.

 

I have now bought a wireless router so the airport express problem is redundant.

 

However, the cd player played into the same dac sounds better. Is there anything else to check? Maybe the itunes or touch server settings?

 

[soundsolutions11]

What is your CD Player? I would assume but would ask you anyway; are you using digital output on the CD player to the DAC, in other words toslink or spdif? Are you using the same output on the Touch?

 

 

 

[ossy]

Yep, exactly the same.

 

In fact I'm just swapping the cable from the dac between the cd player and the touch to check for differences.

 

[Audio_ELF]

You could try converting some files from Apple Lossless, which isn't natively played on the Squeezebox Touch (its transcoded by the server) to FLAC or another format which is supported.

 

Other than that, the problem is possibly the different in jitter levels between the Squeezebox and CD Player. You could also try an upgraded PSU for the Squeezebox.

 

Eloise

 

[soundsolutions11]

Hello Elosie!

 

There is a setting in SB Server under server settings>advanced>file types to stream ALAC to either FLAC or PCM, would it not sound better to stream PCM to his DAC to get better sound? If so he would check "Disable" for native FLAC, maybe worth experimenting.

 

[ossy]

Sorted !!!!!

 

I was previously ripping using Apple lossless

 

I have now ripped a few test cd's instead using AIFF / 48.000khz / 16 bit

 

Now I can't tell the difference, a definate improvement, i'm happy now.

 

[Audio_ELF]

Surely you should be ripping as AIFF at 16bit 44100Hz. Otherwise you're file isn't the same as whats on the CD.

 

[ossy]

Thks, you are right. Will do!