Squeezebox Touch ??'s [Archive] - The Art of Sound Forum

Tim

13-08-2012, 19:20

Guys, been thinking about trying out a Touch and I know quite a few here really rate them. Before I do I have a couple of questions which hopefully folk have answers for?

I want to control the Touch from an iPad and have read about iPeng and Squeezepad apps, but I was wondering about controlling Spotify on the Touch from an iPad - do these apps do this?
I have a large collection of albums on a NAS and have concerns about the Touch handling this with Logitech Media Server and also how does it handle the covert art?
How easy is it to update or add your own cover art?
Has anyone experienced dropouts when streaming wirelessly?
Any idea about the wireless range in a real time environment?
Any pitfalls or minuses you can think of?
Digital or optical output?

Thanks.

Stratmangler

13-08-2012, 21:21

Gazjam

13-08-2012, 22:29

Hi Tim,
lemme throw my £0.02 worth in.

Guys, been thinking about trying out a Touch and I know quite a few here really rate them. Before I do I have a couple of questions which hopefully folk have answers for?

I want to control the Touch from an iPad and have read about iPeng and Squeezepad apps, but I was wondering about controlling Spotify on the Touch from an iPad - do these apps do this?
Theres a 3rd party Spotify App you can install which accesses your Spotify account via the Touch and therefore Ipeng.
Another option is to add Spotify as a "music source" in MySqueezebox.com (the online music source side of Squeezebox as opposed to your locally stored library)
This can then be accessed via Ipeng on your Ipad.
.

I have a large collection of albums on a NAS and have concerns about the Touch handling this with Logitech Media Server and also how does it handle the covert art?
When I was running a Touch in my main system I had over 3500+ albums in my library stored on an external server.
No performance problems at all.
Big libraries are not a concern if you run from an external server.
The only problem if you had to directly connect a, say, USB drive directly to the Touch USB, as then the Touch itself would control/manage your library and it has limited CPU/memory resource compared to an external server.
.

How easy is it to update or add your own cover art?
Very Easy - just put whatever album cover in the same folder as your music files, call it "folder.xxx" and the Touch will automatically pick it up.
Want to change it? Just put a different image in.
The program MP3Tag lets you access online sites like Amazon to automatically attach cover art to your music files, so its a do once forget about it kind of operation.
I'll never get those Months of my life back, but its well worth it!

Has anyone experienced dropouts when streaming wirelessly?
Only ever used wired ethernet, cant help here.
.

Any idea about the wireless range in a real time environment?
I tried wireless but my house has very thick stone walls and the wireless was guff. Ended up using spare modem as wireless access point int eh lounge just so I could use my Ipod to control the Touch using wifi.
Many reports over on squeezebox forums of guys successfully using wireless over a large area - not really a concern I'd say?
.

Any pitfalls or minuses you can think of?
Sometimes the server software can be a bit flakey when the right(wrong) conditions arise and if your not very computer savvy it can get in a bit of a pickle.
Software better than it used to be and most problems tend to be simple networking issues, most of which (I'm not kidding) can be fixed with a reboot!
As you know your way round PCs Tim shouldn't be a concern.
The Squeezebox forum guys are FANTASTIC in offering help and theres a huge support network on there.
.

Digital or optical output?
DIGITAL!
Tried them both and the SPDIF is better, more so now with digital output mods available.

Speaking of which, another option you may have with the Touch is USB output into your Dac!
Yup, theres a software mod now which lets the Touch do 192k output via the digital outs.
I remember ages go reading a review of the Touch on Stereophile I think it was, where the guy said that he had tried a (then) work in progress mod to allow USB output into a Dac.
He said the Touch used this way was one of the best digital sources he had ever heard.

I can vouch for this mod, did it for someone on here and he said his Touch now sounds like a 5K digital source in his opinion.

Hope this helps mate.

Thanks.

Stratmangler

14-08-2012, 08:38

Hi Tim,
lemme throw my £20.00 worth in.

Wot he said :)

morris_minor

14-08-2012, 09:57

Have to echo all of above, plus:

I have 6 devices around the house, 4 wireless, two wired via homeplug ethernet. I get the occasional wireless drop out (this with two access points), but the homeplug is faultless.

Very occasionally (once a quarter on average?), I need to kick the server, but this may be a WHS issue rather than LMS issue.

I've had Squeeze devices now for about eight years and couldn't imagine being without them . . .

Tim

14-08-2012, 10:50

Thanks guys, just ordered one from Amazon - I had some Nectar card vouchers and some Amazon MasterCard points to spend, so as they are only £167.00 at Amazon right now, I have not spent much money to get one :)

Your post tipped me over the edge Gary and made my mind up. It will be interesting to see how it sounds compared to my 'wee' server ;)

WAD62

14-08-2012, 11:15

Again as above...

A couple more points I use a QNAP TS-119 NAS, only a single core 1.2 ghz arm cpu, I've recently upgraded to LMS 7.2.2 and it works a treat...

5 SB devices running very happily, with 2 Squeezecommander android phone controlers, and another couple of PC's that share the same FLAC library via Winamp

I was stuck back at 7.3.3 of the server due to scare stories of the inefficiency of later releases. This may have been true at 7.4 or so, but is most definitely not the case now.

2k+ albums, complete re-index now takes 45 mins (used to be 3hrs)
Rescan for changed music takes 3 to 4 mins (formerly 25 mins)
Squeezecommander on android DB sync is now less than a minute (previously 10 or so)
Under normal circumstances CPU load is about 5 to 10%
Via a standard Sky router no dropouts, all at 70% reception, in a large 3 b'room house...except when the cat decides to sleep beside my SB3!!!

My assumption is that the use of an embedded SQLite DB instead of an external called MySQL db greatly improves efficiency, in fact I believe that my library rebuild speed is now only constrained by the fact that it resides on the same drive as the data being indexed (and is therefore I/O bound, not CPU bound)...as my CPU hovers around 70% on a full rebuild...happy days :) :cool:

P.S. I'll be trying out the Touch USB option into my M-DAC when my USB hub arrives, I've tried it natively (after EDO of course) and it does drop out occasionally, apparently the hub sorts this out!!!

Tim

14-08-2012, 12:50

That's interesting Will, sounds like it should all be OK for me. I am moving away from a NAS imminently and building a dedicated file server based on a dual core 1.8GHz Atom CPU running Win7 64bit, so it should run very smoothly.

I am going to go down the Android route too, I did consider an iPad but they are too locked down and won't easily allow me to do all the other things I want from a tablet controller.

WAD62

14-08-2012, 13:11

brian2957

14-08-2012, 14:37

HRT music streamers !! Squeezeboxes !! Android controllers !! You havin a mid-life crisis Tim :eyebrows:

Tim

14-08-2012, 15:06

HRT music streamers !! Squeezeboxes !! Android controllers !! You havin a mid-life crisis Tim :eyebrows:
Could be Brian - just bought one of the new Samsung 2 10.1" tablets too, they are selling like hot cakes on Amazon. Once I have all my digital side sorted it will be a turntable at some point, so it will be streamed music and vinyl only for me :)

brian2957

14-08-2012, 15:16

Makes for interesting reading mate . I hope the Squeezebox works out for you. Do you still have your vynil . Sometimes I wish I hadn't sold mine 20 odd years ago However still enjoying the server so not too bad :)

slate

14-08-2012, 17:03

Been running squeezeboxes against my atom based server since 2009.
With WOL (Wake On LAN) enabled it works as a charm.

To find artwork I use http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/album-art/index.php?title=Main_Page#Album_Art_Downloader_XUI

It checks several sources to find covers; you can filter on resolution etc...

MartinT

14-08-2012, 17:17

I want to control the Touch from an iPad and have read about iPeng and Squeezepad apps, but I was wondering about controlling Spotify on the Touch from an iPad - do these apps do this?
I have a large collection of albums on a NAS and have concerns about the Touch handling this with Logitech Media Server and also how does it handle the covert art?
How easy is it to update or add your own cover art?
Has anyone experienced dropouts when streaming wirelessly?
Any idea about the wireless range in a real time environment?
Any pitfalls or minuses you can think of?
Digital or optical output?

Gaz has answered very thoroughly. All I can add are:

1. The Logitech freebie app for the iPad works well and you can try that first before spending money on iPeng etc. You can also control Spotify from it. There is a freebie app for Windows Phone 7 and I'm fairly sure for Android phones too.
2. LMS runs well on a 'server' machine and you can control how regularly it scans for updated music. It pretty much runs without the need for manual intervention.
4. I'd strongly recommend cabled ethernet for better quality sound and zero dropouts.
7. Both seem fine, perhaps co-ax with a good cable (e.g. the Blue Jeans) sounds a little more detailed and refined.

The Touch is a great purchase (and excellent toy). I thoroughly recommend it :)

Stratmangler

14-08-2012, 17:24

The Touch is also quite happy using the HiFace II plugged into the USB port.
It becomes visible in the digital output options.
And it is quite happy outputting 24/192 :)

Gazjam

14-08-2012, 17:34

Could be Brian - just bought one of the new Samsung 2 10.1" tablets too, they are selling like hot cakes on Amazon. Once I have all my digital side sorted it will be a turntable at some point, so it will be streamed music and vinyl only for me :)

Same here..
further down the line there's a (non Tecchie) turntable waiting for me...
Probably an RP6 or a Gyro.

Not for a while though! :)

Tim

14-08-2012, 17:54

Probably an RP6
That's rather spooky Gary, as that's what I fancy ;)

My long term plan is to archive my CD collection much like André and Alex have done in high quality vinyl slipcovers and recycle the plastic jewel cases. I will also scan all the artwork/booklets as high resolution images that I can view on a tablet PC - they will be in a library on the file server. I can then flip through my collection visually, play the music and read the sleeve notes as well :)

I will buy vinyl for bands that I see and try to replace all the vinyl I let go for around 50p an album some years ago :doh: That may prove to be an impossible task.

I don't intend to ever buy a CDP again, but I will continue to buy CD's as long as they remain affordable, I probably buy 60-70% of my albums from Amazon marketplace, but eventually that source will dry up or not be as attractive as it is right now - who can say no to a CD for £1.27? That's cheaper than my local charity shops who now want £1.50 to £2.00 for a CD!

MartinT

14-08-2012, 18:09

Once I have all my digital side sorted it will be a turntable at some point

I just noticed this - brilliant!

:mex:

Tim

14-08-2012, 18:44

The games up for me :eyebrows: but it does mean I get to keep what vinyl I have left Martin I'm afraid, so no first dibs anymore.

Looking at the way the music industry is going, to get the best you will need a TT and a good file based system. Just my opinion, but one that is supported not only by the iToons yoof, but also the equipment manufacturers and I really cannot see CD's staying at their current price point for much longer. 10 years ago you would never have seen an LP on sale at a gig, now virtually every one I go to has vinyl on the merch stand, the signs are all there. I think the best of both worlds is a well sorted file system for convenience and a TT for the feel good factor. I also still love album sleeves and have been buying LP's lately just for the artwork, without any possibility of playing them! They are also much better for an artist to sign after the gig ;)

MartinT

14-08-2012, 19:00

Tim - I'll be over the moon if you keep your vinyl. More enthusiasts means more demand - a very GOOD THING :)

WAD62

14-08-2012, 20:00

I will buy vinyl for bands that I see and try to replace all the vinyl I let go for around 50p an album some years ago :doh: That may prove to be an impossible task.

Tim Nooooooooo!!!!

I remember selling a few old shit heavy metal albums back in '79, and even though I'd probably never listen to them ever again, I regret it...I still have 99.9% of my vinyl, which get the occasional airing on my Linn Axis...now I should get my coat :doh:

brian2957

14-08-2012, 20:08

I think I got the princely sum of £1 each for most of mine .Thought I'd never need them again . :mental:

Tim

14-08-2012, 20:18

Tim Nooooooooo!!!!
I know :( one of the biggest mistakes of my life (and there have been a few) I took hundreds down to Wimborne Market in the mid 80's and got pennies for them, they were all pristine too as I'm a bit anal. I cannot believe it now and I only have a hundred or so left, I really don't know what got into me now, guess I got swept along on the digital gravy train :mental:

Its also a bit of a consequence of my itinerant life - services family and ex-services myself so I have moved a lot...... 36 times at the last count. But now I am more settled and about to become permanently settled (maybe), so I'm regretfully looking back at all the things I have lost track of or let go.

Ho hum, shit happens and its history now, but if I ever get a ticket to a time machine I'm going back to Wimborne Market to stop the bloody idiot with a car full of LP's and send him home with a flea in his ear.

bobbasrah

14-08-2012, 20:20

I think I got the princely sum of £1 each for most of mine .Thought I'd never need them again . :mental:

You are not alone there Brian many have done the same.... Yet I know one guy who has a shedload of old 8-tracks and a working betamax..... Go figure :eyebrows:
I was too stubborn to let the vinyl collection go despite travelling overseas, and they were uncrated in 2006 only to sit in archive boxes. Still safely stored in boxes after 3 house moves waiting on the final flourish on the old Thorens bouncy..... Just hope the Decca does not need a rebuild after all this.....:scratch:

brian2957

14-08-2012, 20:29

I'd love to back to the old turntable Bob , maybe when I get my big retirement payment ( dream on ) . :rolleyes:

Tim

17-08-2012, 13:07

Well my new Touch has just arrived, so I'm looking forward to getting it home and having a play. What has surprised me is the unit itself - I was expecting a plastic and slightly tacky looking black box, but in fact its a small, very well formed and solidly built piece of hardware.

Very nice indeed :)

MartinT

17-08-2012, 13:48

Wait until you fire it up :)

Tim

17-08-2012, 14:08

Looks like I'll be ordering a Blue Jeans cable Martin ;)

What do you use for a PSU?

MartinT

17-08-2012, 14:16

I built a 5V PSU for it from a Paul Hynes PR3i module. If you're into DIY, that's your best bet, otherwise I think the Mains Cables R Us PSU would be the best choice. Note that a good external PSU makes quite a difference to SQ.

Oh, and the Blue Jeans cable is an excellent purchase for not a lot of money.

P.S. and if you're going to use the digital output exclusively, load up the EDO (Enhanced Digital Output) module as it works to optimise the Touch for digital output.

electric beach

17-08-2012, 16:01

the Mains Cables R Us PSU would be the best choice. Note that a good external PSU makes quite a difference to SQ.

P.S. and if you're going to use the digital output exclusively, load up the EDO (Enhanced Digital Output) module as it works to optimise the Touch for digital output.

+1 Tim ;)

Two of the best musical essentials. I don't know about other PSU or the cable but volume control locked to max is still a refinement I can't go back from, even though I really value the remote volume correction. The MCRU PSU also regulates the internal Dac to be quite impressive.

Tim

17-08-2012, 17:06

Not bad straight out of the box, not bad at all, Playing via coax into the Rega DAC at the moment. Having some difficulties with USB however, the first stick I plugged in, it didn't recognise and after scanning, it came up with an error message saying it needed to be formatted with either FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS, despite it being formatted FAT32 and working in every other thing I have ever plugged it into. I then tried two differing makes of USB sticks (FAT16 & FAT32) and this time it didn't even register them as being plugged in. Not the best start.

I am playing from an SD card plugged into the side right now. I like what I'm hearing sound-wise and the Squeezebox app is great on my Samsung tablet, but the USB issue will have to be resolved. The sound is a little harsh at the moment compared to my server, but for £167.00 its very impressive and has not shamed itself at all :)

Tim

17-08-2012, 18:12

Spotify sounds very rough through the Touch compared to my audio server :(

MartinT

17-08-2012, 19:09

Oh? It sounds - well - according to the bitrate, which is usually fairly high. It doesn't usually sound rough, though, just lacking in resolution. Have you got EDO installed?

Tim

17-08-2012, 20:29

Have you got EDO installed?
Not yet Martin, still running it straight from the box but only from SD card - USB has a problem since it failed to verify that first drive and now stubbornly refuses to mount anything - I will have to try a factory reset if that's possible?

Tomorrow I will network it to a fresh install of Win 7 on a hard drive with a FLAC library and LMS installed to see how it performs, I'll update with EDO too. FLAC playback is good so far, but Spotify sounds very rudimentary compared to playing it back on my server, which is odd to say the least. I have checked it is streaming at 320kbps and the Touch confirms it is, so in theory it should sound comparable to the server as FLAC files certainly do, if a little lean and a tad rough around the edges. I suspect as suggested the PSU will change this a lot as should EDO and your Blue Jeans cable. In fairness I have not played much on Spotify yet, so must do more comparisons, but I played a Ruby Jane album that I am very familiar with on Spotify and its clearly inferior via the Touch :scratch:

Stratmangler

17-08-2012, 21:00

Not yet Martin, still running it straight from the box but only from SD card - USB has a problem since it failed to verify that first drive and now stubbornly refuses to mount anything - I will have to try a factory reset if that's possible?

Tomorrow I will network it to a fresh install of Win 7 on a hard drive with a FLAC library and LMS installed to see how it performs, I'll update with EDO too. FLAC playback is good so far, but Spotify sounds very rudimentary compared to playing it back on my server, which is odd to say the least. I have checked it is streaming at 320kbps and the Touch confirms it is, so in theory it should sound comparable to the server as FLAC files certainly do, if a little lean and a tad rough around the edges. I suspect as suggested the PSU will change this a lot as should EDO and your Blue Jeans cable. In fairness I have not played much on Spotify yet, so must do more comparisons, but I played a Ruby Jane album that I am very familiar with on Spotify and its clearly inferior via the Touch :scratch:

If you're running on TinySC then the sound from Spotify will be poor, as it connects through www.mysqueezebox.com , and comes in at a lowly bitrate.
As you've managed to connect this way you can count yourself lucky, as the server at www.mysqueezebox.com is flaky, to say the least.
Just ask Craig (icehockeyboy) ;)

Tim

17-08-2012, 22:53

If you're running on TinySC then the sound from Spotify will be poor, as it connects through www.mysqueezebox.com , and comes in at a lowly bitrate.
Ah, that makes sense then I was surprised at how poor it was - thanks Chris. I just need to solve the USB issue now. I must admit it is enjoyable scrolling through the Internet Radio Stations on a tablet controlling the Touch. I might have to try Squeeze Commander next.

Stratmangler

17-08-2012, 23:18

Ah, that makes sense then I was surprised at how poor it was - thanks Chris. I just need to solve the USB issue now. I must admit it is enjoyable scrolling through the Internet Radio Stations on a tablet controlling the Touch. I might have to try Squeeze Commander next.

What capacity USB memory stick?
I have no problems with the lower end of things (4GB).
I also had no problems using a 1TB powered USB HDD - well I did, as it was painfully slow (to me), as I'd been running LMS on a Win7 machine, but, barring the slow response it worked.

MartinT

17-08-2012, 23:40

Tim

17-08-2012, 23:40

What capacity USB memory stick?
The first one was a CN Memory stick 64GB, the second a 2GB OCZ Rallye and the final one a 16GB Corsair. The first was recognised and it took some time scanning the stick, before reporting it couldn't read it, stating it wasn't FAT16/32 or NTFS. It is in fact FAT32 and working fine in other devices. The other two sticks when I plugged them in had no response at all and the Touch reported there were no devices connected, despite the activity LED's on both flickering. Both these were formatted and only contained 1 FLAC album. The SD card worked first time without issue.

I will factory reset it tomorrow and update the firmware (I did this at first boot), if that fails its back to Amazon for a replacement.

Stratmangler

17-08-2012, 23:51

Chris - in the Logitech My Apps settings, I have Spotify set to high bitrate. Are you saying that TinySC screws that up? I ask because Spotify sounds as good from the Touch as it does on my PC (accepting that it's not as good as a non-compressed file).

When I trialled Spotify Premium (for testing LMS access) I didn't have a go from TinySC, so I can't answer that for definite.
I do know that the BBC iPlayer stuff accessed from www.mysqueezebox.com (ie. from TinySC) has much lower bitrates, and I wouldn't be surprised to find Spotify similarly hamstrung.

Tim

18-08-2012, 12:20

Its not playing at all :( Have now completed two factory resets and a Firmware update, but the device does not recognise any USB drive I plug into it (tried a couple more as well as powered USB hard drives). Whatever happened when the first USB stick went in, which it reported as being incompatible, seems to have taken out its ability to recognise any USB drives, despite the drive LED's activating to signify they are receiving power.

Nowt in the manual about this and and not much on the Slimdevices forum, so it doesn't seem a common problem, but I did find a HiFi Choice review which quoted this amongst the units known issues;

Getting the software to recognise the device (via wi-fi) was a chore. Not all the FAT32-formatted USB devices I tried proved to be compatible, and there’s no support for DRM content either.

Guess I have been unlucky, but its not even reporting this incompatibility now, which it should be.

Do any of you guys know about power saving as well? It has very impressive consumption figures whilst playing of only 10W, but this remains virtually unchanged when in standby. Is there a way of reducing this, apart from pulling the plug, as I cannot find anything about power saving?

Stratmangler

18-08-2012, 12:25

This any use?
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/USB_Compatibility

Tim

18-08-2012, 12:26

This any use?
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/USB_Compatibility
I will check now Chris ;)

MartinT

18-08-2012, 12:38

Sounds like you may have to exchange it, Tim. Luckily Amazon have an excellent warranty exchange process.

Tim

18-08-2012, 12:43

The only device I have on that list Chris is a SanDisk | USB Stick | Cruzer Micro 1GB, which I have just tested with no response from the Touch - looks like its USB functionality is U/S, which is a pity. Perhaps that first drive has somehow fried something, but I would have expected a factory reset to have solved it. Plugging in the first USB stick I used also gets no response either, whereas previously it was read before the Touch stated it was incompatible. Seems I've fooked it somehow :scratch:

I expect most folk who use these stream from a network, so not really a problem, but I guess its got to go back as I want USB functionality.

Stratmangler

18-08-2012, 12:47

MartinT

18-08-2012, 12:51

Yep - all ethernet streaming for me. I've never even plugged a USB or SD card into it :rolleyes:

Tim

18-08-2012, 12:51

I'll try that Chris, but in the Advanced settings menu the Touch isn't reporting any drives as being connected. But I will try this now with the SanDisk Cruzer first to see if it picks it up - thanks again.

Tim

18-08-2012, 12:55

Yep - all ethernet streaming for me. I've never even plugged a USB or SD card into it :rolleyes:
:lol:, indeed and that's how I will use it ultimately, my only concern is that I planned to use the MOD that allows the USB port to output to a DAC, if it's not functioning correctly now I suspect that this mod won't work either. Anyway, off to load a My Music folder on all the sticks I have to see if it makes a difference?

Tim

19-08-2012, 11:00

Well the Touch USB is definitely kaput, so it will have to go back. I was initially thinking about a refund, but the little fella has rather impressed me TBH. Spent all day yesterday tinkering with it and tried out VortexBox 2.1 which has LMS built in, as well as other stuff. What I hadn't realised at the time of purchase is that it is very configurable, with 3rd party Linux kernels out there too. So in essence you can turn it into a headless, low power Linux box running not much else than the music player. Now I understand why Chris (Stratmangler) champions them so much ;)

It could even possibly replace my custom music server, depending on how I can configure it and how it sounds fed by a linear PSU - its a bit more than the toy I thought it would be when I bought it.

(you can say told you so now Chris....!)

Stratmangler

19-08-2012, 12:29

Something I did to make the drive readable was to make a folder called My Music, and then put the files in there.
It wouldn't read the files prior to doing this.

Forget this.
I cut & pasted the contents of a SansDisk 4GB USB stick elsewhere, formatted it, then copied a couple of Artist folders onto it.
I didn't create a "My Music" folder.

After the Touch had scanned the drive the material was available for playback.

If your Touch isn't seeing the drive then the USB does look to be kaput.

As a side note - I never managed to get either of the Touch players here to read the SD cards available to me, so I bought another one this morning, copied some files over to it and put it into the slot on the Touch, and it worked perfectly.

Stratmangler

19-08-2012, 13:21

Following the plug & play experiment earlier I am now playing the Eagles "Hotel California" in 24/192, ripped from the DVD-A disc, and playing from the SD card.

I'll probably use the card for library storage as and when I take the Touch out and about to use on other people's systems.

TinySC is fine with small libraries, and is incapable of transcoding files to a different sample rate.
The fact that my DAC has LED indication to notify me of the sample rate is neither here nor there...

I've also had a look at the Squeeze Commander app on my Android smartphone, and that's quite happily showing the players on the network, and the fact that one of them is playing on a different server.

MartinT

19-08-2012, 13:24

Eagles "Hotel California" in 24/192, ripped from the DVD-A disc

That's one I wish I had bought when I could have. At least the 180g vinyl sounds exceptional.

Stratmangler

19-08-2012, 13:26

That's one I wish I had bought when I could have. At least the 180g vinyl sounds exceptional.

A loan of the DVD-A can be arranged if you fancy :eyebrows:

Tim

19-08-2012, 13:26

I tried putting folders on Chris, but as the USB's didn't even register, nothing was ever seen - funny you had an SD card problem? What I didn't do is check everything before the firmware update, which was silly really. The next one will be put into action in stages, before I go messing :eyebrows:

Squeeze Commander is very good indeed, much better than the Logitech app . . . Hotel California, good call on a sunny Sunday afternoon ;)

MartinT

19-08-2012, 14:22

A loan of the DVD-A can be arranged if you fancy :eyebrows:

Thanks, Chris, much appreciated. If I didn't have the vinyl I'd accept, but the latter really is very good :)

MCRU

19-08-2012, 14:30

Thanks, Chris, much appreciated. If I didn't have the vinyl I'd accept, but the latter really is very good :)

just post him a memory stick with it on to "borrow" then send back, I am sure no one would mind!

MartinT

19-08-2012, 14:38

I only rip music I've purchased, Dave. That DVD-A would be an exception as it's totally unavailable now, but as I said the vinyl is fab and the Touch cannot . . .erm . . . touch it for absolute quality.

Tim

19-08-2012, 15:20

I'm quite interested in one of Nick's PSU's David - are they in stock and what would an estimated delivery time be. Do you have a returns period as well?

Thanks.

lurcher

20-08-2012, 07:11

are they in stock

Should be, I just delivered a box of them to David on Saturday.

MCRU

20-08-2012, 07:18

Should be, I just delivered a box of them to David on Saturday.

30 day money back guarantee on everything I sell, in stock as Nick has kindly advised. :)

Alex_UK

20-08-2012, 07:33

Canetoad

20-08-2012, 08:04

I'm quite interested in one of Nick's PSU's David - are they in stock and what would an estimated delivery time be. Do you have a returns period as well?

Thanks.

Definitely made a difference to the sound quality of my Touch! It replaced a DIY PSU in my case. :)

James_Woods

20-08-2012, 09:50

I am currently listening to an AirPort Express / Beresford Bushmaster DAC (with Stock PSUs) combination. I am thinking of trying a Squeezebox, as the sound of the AirPort doesn't sound as "smooth" as I would like it to be.

Did anyone compare the AirPort Express with the Squeezebox Touch?

Canetoad

20-08-2012, 10:16

Stratmangler

20-08-2012, 10:28

Hi Chris,

What do you use to rip from DVD-A? I have A Night at the Opera - Queen I'd like to rip and put on my server. :eyebrows:

There are a few programs you can use.
Foobar does the job just fine, you just need to install the relevant plugin.
I use DVD Audio Extractor - I bought it to rip music from standard music DVDs, but it can also handle the MLP files of DVD-Audio.
There's also a program called DVDExplorer, if you can find it. I remember having to do a lot of digging around to find it.

DVD Audio Extractor can be downloaded for trial, and the program is fully featured for the duration of the trial period.

One thing you will need to do is amend the tagging after extracting the files - the tags with the files are hopeless, and tell you nothing of the content.
Correction - if you use DVD Audio Extractor you can at least start the tagging by entering artist, album, year and genre tags, leaving just the track titles to enter :)

Canetoad

20-08-2012, 10:38

Thanks Chris. I'll try the Foobar plugin first. :)

Stratmangler

20-08-2012, 10:43

Thanks Chris. I'll try the Foobar plugin first. :)

In Foobar a DVD drive will not display the contents of a DVD-A disc - you'll need to load files in order to do anything.

Tim

20-08-2012, 18:16

Unlucky with the Touch Tim, some interesting info in the thread and does make me wonder if I should give one a go... But then OMG - the revelation that you're considering another vinyl set-up - I never saw that one coming! :eek:

:lol:
It might be worth giving it a go, it's certainly very easy to use. I have found some niggles with the Media Server software and it stopped scrobbling today as it cannot connect to mysqueezebox.com. Didn't realise everything went through there. Scrobbling is a deal breaker for me, if that proves to be flakey I won't stick with the Touch - its sounding pretty good right now, but after a long session last night I did start to disconnect from the music a bit, which I don't normally do - its sound doesn't seem as engaging over a long period. Hard to put my finger on it really as its not that perceptible, but its lacking extended listenability compared to my server. Spotify doesn't sound as good through the Touch either, which has got me a bit foxed TBH :scratch: I'm a little intolerant to things not working 100% and if I have to rely on mysqueezebox.com that could prove annoying, just read some speculation on the forums that Logitech could be pulling the plug on it too - which may explain the huge price drop. How true that is I have no idea, could be just some keyboard warriors, but that would be an issue for me and the way I use it if they do. It also annoys me that there is no physical On/Off switch as it still uses around 9w when it goes to sleep. I want to be able to power it down completely without having to pull the power lead out, I guess its not designed to be switched off?

Having said all that, for the money it produces astonishingly good sound once you mod it, so its brilliant if you don't expect too much from it and its perfect to add another playing source if you have CD and Vinyl, but would like the ability to stream music simply. Squeeze Commander as a controller app is excellent, I really like it a lot and much better than Gizmo for JRiver.

As to vinyl - just thinking of the future Alex to be honest. I will never play CD's again and as an 'affordable' medium their longevity is under threat and that's not my opinion, its the industries. Vinyl is in ascendancy right now for sure, nearly every gig I go to now has vinyl for sale and Tesco & Asda are apparently going to be selling TT's this Christmas. I will always be file based as my main source, but I still like to have a 'physical' thing attached to the music, even if its archived. It's the artwork and sleevenotes really and an LP and a digital download would do the trick (lots of LP's at gigs seem to come with the ability to download the album too). I still have a few LP's and I have bought a few recently, even though I cannot play them, so at some point a turntable makes sense - probably go for a Rega.

They look nice too, kind of comforting :eyebrows:

Stratmangler

21-08-2012, 09:49

Tim

None of the Squeezebox family have had an off button, just a standby.
There are alarm clock functions that some people use, hence the lack of an off switch.

Despite what the naysayers on the Squeezebox forum say, the Touch does respond well to having improved power supply.
I use the Touch as a transport, and improving the power supply had a large impact for me, so improvements extend beyond the scope of using the Touch analog outputs.
SBooster works well, as does the MCRU LDA PSU.

I'd suggest asking Mark Grant to send you a SBooster - I've got a fair old collection myself (four to date), and use them on both SMPS and linear supplies.

As to the rumours that Logitech are dropping Squeezebox - rumour on the employment front is that they are taking on Squeezebox developers, which is not a guarantee that they're keeping the line alive, but it is a sign that they still see a future for the product.
Who knows, there could even be a new product announcement in the pipeline, although Logitech always play things close to their chest.

Tim

21-08-2012, 10:06

Thanks Chris, I am exploring an alternative power supply ;)

It would be a shame if Logitech dropped Squeezebox as it is as you rightly say a great product. Hopefully there is no truth to the rumours which could be put to bed quickly if they released a new product. Lets face it, streaming is going to be a main source for the vast majority of the public.

I think even if I don't adopt it in my main system, it is still worthy of a place around the home.

morris_minor

21-08-2012, 11:34

I hope Logitech keep the Squeezebox system and it's open source nature going. This was always the greatest strength in the Slim Devices era, and it allowed them to develop the products quickly, and keep improving them with firmware upgrades over the years.

I'd like to see a modernised "Boom" desktop radio. My Boom is the most played of the 6 devices we have, and sounds really good for what it is (which is not hi-fi). I plugged my sub into it for a laugh (the headphone socket can turn into a DSP sub-out) and boy did it rock!

WAD62

21-08-2012, 18:04

I'd like to see a modernised "Boom" desktop radio. My Boom is the most played of the 6 devices we have, and sounds really good for what it is (which is not hi-fi). I plugged my sub into it for a laugh (the headphone socket can turn into a DSP sub-out) and boy did it rock!

My boom is in the spare room and is probably the least used, I had it in the kitchen, and whilst as you say it's good for what it is...a great quality boom box, with access to your entire catalogue...I eventually replaced it with an SBreceiver and mini-T combo, with a pair of mission 780SEs I picked up off ebay for £24. With some old cables and stuff it probably worked out at the same cost. Apart from the speakers it's an even smaller 'footprint', and sits nicely on the windowsill. I'd say it's 'Hi-Fi'...well getting there, and considerably better than the boom (even with a sub) IMHO :)

morris_minor

22-08-2012, 09:06

I'm sure you're right, Will! But for a one box streaming device it does the job for us (in the kitchen) with a minimum of fuss. The SB Radio (we have 2) sounds rather polite in comparison, but of course does have a Touch-like display . . .

Edit: Actually, thinking about it, the Touch I have in my office system is probably the most played SB device I have, but the Boom has a weekday alarm set for breakfast time.

Stratmangler

22-08-2012, 10:06

Sounds like there's a niche in the market for a Squeezebox FBR (f*****g big radio) to replace the now defunct Boom and the Radio :eyebrows:

icehockeyboy

22-08-2012, 10:53

SBooster works well, as does the MCRU LDA PSU.

I'd suggest asking Mark Grant to send you a SBooster - I've got a fair old collection myself (four to date), and use them on both SMPS and linear supplies.
.

Funds are tight at the minute, and I've tried an MCRU PSU, which didn't up the SQ IMO, but I would like to try an S Booster, but at the moment can only go for the cheaper bit.
Anyone else tried just that bit, and what were your thoughts on it?

Russell Turner

22-08-2012, 11:15

I found the MCRU power supply made a significant improvement on the overall sound quality of the Touch, I was sceptical at first but I went and made the commitment and did not have a requirement to send it back...

As for the output, I use the Coaxial SPDIF with a lead made by this forum member:-

http://theartofsound.net/forum/member.php?u=113

It is excellent and ups the ante again, I use the EDO plugin with the buffers set to large, I do agree with the OP as well in that after prolonged listening to the device it does get "tiring" and this is something I have mentioned on other threads on this device.

Problem is, is that I think it is just the way the unit sounds.

DaveK

22-08-2012, 11:34

IAs for the output, I use the Coaxial SPDIF with a lead made by this forum member:-

http://theartofsound.net/forum/member.php?u=113

It is excellent and ups the ante again, I use the EDO plugin with the buffers set to large, I do agree with the OP as well in that after prolonged listening to the device it does get "tiring" and this is something I have mentioned on other threads on this device.

Problem is, is that I think it is just the way the unit sounds.

Seconded, in spades!!! :).
Product excellent but delivery can be a bit dependant on other commitments like earnin' a livin' ;) but well worth waiting for.
Dave.

icehockeyboy

23-08-2012, 10:47

Funds are tight at the minute, and I've tried an MCRU PSU, which didn't up the SQ IMO, but I would like to try an S Booster, but at the moment can only go for the cheaper bit.
Anyone else tried just that bit, and what were your thoughts on it?

Anybody? :scratch:

Tim

23-08-2012, 20:54

Well I have just packed my Touch up for return to Amazon. It's a good bit of kit, but its just not for me when it comes to sound quality. Shame really, as I thought my quest and tinkering was at an end - seems not.

. . . and these arrived today :eyebrows:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w63/greatgig/intel.jpg

Stratmangler

24-08-2012, 10:37

Anybody? :scratch:

If you don't like what the MCRU LDA PSU brings to the party then you might not like what the SBooster does.
The only way to find out is try one.

You can always send it back if it doesn't work for you.

MCRU

24-08-2012, 10:48

[QUOTE=Tim;355103]Well I have just packed my Touch up for return to Amazon. It's a good bit of kit, but its just not for me when it comes to sound quality. Shame really, as I thought my quest and tinkering was at an end - seems not.

what sort of sound quality do you like? :)

the touch when used with a linear psu (I can only report on mine) sounds very good using its own internal DAC, a recent bake off I attended we used 6 different DAC's and 2 of them sounded no better than the touch's internal DAC with my PSU, if used with a decent digital cable and dac and hi-res files the touch will compete with CD players costing £1000+ and even higher.

It's faffy to set up at first but when done it's easy peasy. I have a 64gb sd card with flacs on currently and the sound is to die for.

Of course there are all the mods you can do as well which is not for everyone but the enhanced digital output is very good indeed.

A chap wrote into HiFi Choice last month, M. Olney was his name, he asked simply what all the fuss was about concerning the Touch as he was having issues with it, they recommended a PSU and other tweaks, I did not realize but afterwards he ordered a PSU off me which I sent. Earlier this week he phoned me to say he was astounded at the sound quality improvement and would be writing back to HiFi Choice to thank them for their advice.

Sorry if I am going on a bit but I really like the Touch and think it's a stonking piece of kit.

icehockeyboy

24-08-2012, 21:27

If you don't like what the MCRU LDA PSU brings to the party then you might not like what the SBooster does.
The only way to find out is try one.

You can always send it back if it doesn't work for you.

Got one on the way, assuming Mark got my e mail! :)

Never said I didn't like what he MCRU PSU did, it just...erm.........apparently did nothing, at least for me in my set up, but as said a number of times, I know I'm not deaf, as both the Bushmaster, and the Tellurium cables were more than apparent ups in sq!

Tim

25-08-2012, 15:04

what sort of sound quality do you like? :)

Hi David, only just caught your post today, I have been missing some of your posts lately for some reason.

I can understand the liking for the Touch as its a very good product which can, as you point out, have its sound improved from stock form with software mods and a good PSU - the EDO mod especially. However, with a standard PSU up against my current server (with a standard PSU) it is lacking in some areas, the main being it's tiring to listen to for extended periods and I doubt this would change with a different PSU. I am going to build myself a Paul Hynes based PSU and a new server, which will lift my current servers performance to another level - I very much doubt this will be bettered by the Touch - in fact I'm 100% confident it won't. If my current setup without a PSU beats the Touch then the two systems with a good PSU will both have their performance levels stepped up equally IMO.

These findings are also backed up by two people who have custom built servers that were staunch Touch fans previously, but report a well built server outperforms it sonically - one of these users had an MCRU PSU. He loved it, but couldn't ignore there was a difference. John (Welder) who wanted the Touch to do what I wanted also reports the same, so my experiences are not mine alone and I have a lot of confidence in John's findings.

When you couple this with its 'rumoured' longevity concerns, slightly flaky server software (I would have to run it from a file server with a 2,500+ album library), Spotify not sounding as good via mysqueezebox.com and reliability issues with Last.fm, I cannot for my use justify it in the long term as a viable replacement for what I already have. I also want to move away from having a file server running constantly, so my new player will have a 2TB USB drive attached, which will lower my power consumption considerably (very important to me). I also don't like the fact its not designed to be turned off and still consumes 10W whether its playing music or in standby mode. I will be running a system that only consumes around 12~14W in total whilst running, compared to the Touch which would be using around 70W with the server streaming audio files to it. When you add all these factors up, combined with its inferior sound quality compared to a custom built SSD file server, the Touch loses out in my system.

Not to take anything away from it, as it is an excellent player that as you rightly say can outperform 1K CDP's when set-up right, which for most people will be exactly what they want from a file streamer, especially if it's an addition to a CD/Vinyl system. But I have very specific performance criteria and as I only intend running one front end at present , the Touch doesn't meet my system requirements - even if you added a bespoke PSU it would still fall well short of what I needed it to do.