Free your PC music - Good new poduct

gobble

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Gobble, as far as I can make out, this is the original Squeezebox with a new interface. If they have maintained the same internals, this will be a killer product. The original Squeezebox was supposed to be the de-facto industry standard for wireless transmission of music. Was even praised, albeit reluctantly, by Stereophile. You can use it with any wireless hub.

Cheers
 
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Gobble, as far as I can make out, this is the original Squeezebox with a new interface. If they have maintained the same internals, this will be a killer product. The original Squeezebox was supposed to be the de-facto industry standard for wireless transmission of music. Was even praised, albeit reluctantly, by Stereophile. You can use it with any wireless hub.

Cheers


This link implies it uses a different DAC from the Wolfson WM8750 - the AKM4420

HardwareComparison - SqueezeboxWiki

so its probably only good as a freedom from wires device.

Cheers
 
The AKM seems to be as good or even slightly better than the Wolfson. I was not able to get the resolution of Wolfson, but here are the comparison.

Wolfson WM8750

DAC SNR 98dB (A weighted), THD -95B at 48kHz, 3.3V
THD @80dB at 20mW, SNR 90dB with 16W load
Audio sample rates: 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz generated internally from master clock

AKM 4420

SNR: 105dB
THD+N: -92dB
Resolution: 24-bits
Sampling Rate Ranging from 8kHz to 192kHz
Dynamic Range: 105dB

The Squeezebox Touch may actually be limiting it to 96kHz. We will have to wait and see the reviews, but this looks like a good product to add to your buy list.

Cheers
 
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At $300 this is competing with quality DACs. At around $100 more you get the acclaimed Peter Daniel NOS DAC.

Considering that is this still a good deal?

I guess the biggest advantage here is the remote and the custom interface that the squeezebox offers. But is not sound quality of the biggest importance when it comes to a stereo system?
 
At $300 this is competing with quality DACs. At around $100 more you get the acclaimed Peter Daniel NOS DAC. But is not sound quality of the biggest importance when it comes to a stereo system?

Bala, this not a DAC, though a DAC is part of it. It is essentially a wireless music server that picks up files from your PC or HD, and then transmits it to a pre-amplifier or integrated amplifier for amplification. In short, you can centralise your music data bank, and listen to it from anywhere in your house. The DAC is an additional frill and you can receive the data in full digital form to do what you want with it at the receiving end. At the end of the day, the DAC in the original Squeezebox was no slouch either.

Read John Atkinson's review of the original Squeezebox at Stereophile: Slim Devices Squeezebox WiFi D/A processor

In a way it was the SB that made John say, "physical discs seem so 20th century!".

Cheers
 
People are getting too lazy!!

For me music has to be there in three rooms spread across two floors. Otherwise, I am missing a major portion of the day listening to music. Like John say's in his article, bulk of the time when I am doing something else, it will be damn good to listen music you like. For that, the Squeezebox will be a perfect fit. The Sonos is too expensive, and other systems need cracking the wall and rewiring. No way can I get approval from my wife for that. It has to be wireless.

If I need to listen seriously in a second room, I can later look at a inexpensive DAC.

Cheers
 
Bala, this not a DAC, though a DAC is part of it. It is essentially a wireless music server that picks up files from your PC or HD, and then transmits it to a pre-amplifier or integrated amplifier for amplification. In short, you can centralise your music data bank, and listen to it from anywhere in your house. The DAC is an additional frill and you can receive the data in full digital form to do what you want with it at the receiving end. At the end of the day, the DAC in the original Squeezebox was no slouch either.

Read John Atkinson's review of the original Squeezebox at Stereophile: Slim Devices Squeezebox WiFi D/A processor

In a way it was the SB that made John say, "physical discs seem so 20th century!".

Cheers

True. And I see how it can be very very useful. Just in my case, as you know, my PC (the source) is sitting beside the amplifier.:) So, wireless does not have too much meaning for me.
 
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