Squeezebox Touch vs Laptop

[Cordovox]

Hey all,

 

I've been playing my FLAC files with an Acer Aspire laptop connected to a ARCAM rDac.

 

I've been wondering (and part of this is because my wife needs the laptop for work once in a while), If I would improve using a Squeezebox Touch instead.

All the files are stored in a 2 tb LAcie HD, so, I wonder if I can use it the same way as with the laptop.

 

Also, will be any difference in the SQ? or will it be the same, once I'm using the rDAc.

 

Any advices / suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Best regards

 

Cordovox

 

[realhifi]

I have found the Touch to be a superb little product especially if it is run into a good dac. The nice thing is that if you have files on your work computer or another desktop somewhere in your home you can also wirelessly play them through the Squeezebox and control it all (if you want) from an iPad or iPhone, iPod Touch, etc and have everything right there at your fingertips.

 

By the way, the Squeezebox can handle a VERY good dac at the other end if you ever want to start climbing up the ladder in performance. I have used one into dacs all the way up to the Audio Research Dac8 and it was not embarrassed.

 

 

[bikemig]

I'm a logitech fan as well. I would think that there would be no difference in SQ when played through your dac but them your mileage may vary. But the SB Touch sounds pretty good through the RCA outputs as well; it has a very good internal dac. You could try both and see which set-up you like better.

 

[pwhartman]

I also have a Touch and am generally very happy with it. I would not, however, use the built-in server on the Touch to access a large hard drive, it will not operate well and at best very sluggishly. The built-in server (I believe) is more for the spur of the moment when a friend comes over and wants you to listen to some new music that he has on a USB thumb drive. The Touch really shines when the server software resides on a computer or NAS.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Paul

 

[hjfischer]

I am using a notebook PC with a 500GB external HD as my server. Are you saying that this is better when using the Touch in a remote system than hooking up the HD directly to the Touch and using it as the server?

 

[pwhartman]

Using your laptop as the sever is the most robust option. The Touch has a "mini" version of the server software and does not handle large collections of music very well.

 

[firedog]

Experiences with the Touch as an independent server with a USB drive attached vary. Apparently it works well with some drives and not with others.

 

I've used the Touch with an iOmega USB drive and it worked fine. Other users with other drives have reported all sorts of non desireable performance issues when using the Touch with their USB HDs.

 

However, I generally use the Touch with a dedicated music server over ethernet. The performance of the Touch is snappier this way. Using an actual music server and full fledged SBS also gives you access to some features such as use of plugins that you don't have when you use the internal server on the Touch.

 

I totally agree that the Touch sounds very good when used as a transport and connected to an external DAC. I think you'll be happy with the sound of it connected to your DAC. I wouldn't be surprised if it sounds better than what you are used to with the laptop.