My Touch has finally arrived!

[magiccarpetride]

Many thanks to the brethren on this forum who were egging me to get the Touch. I've finally followed the advice, and boy am I one happy puppy right now!

Replacing my Squeezebox Duet with Touch was indeed one of the best upgrades to my system ever. I simply cannot believe that a change in digital transport alone can make such a staggering difference in the sound quality (lot of friends and acquaintances were swearing that I won't be able to hear any difference whatsoever).

My Touch arrived last Friday, and i've had the entire weekend to set it up and do a lot of critical listening. The results -- I'm blown away!

Basically, even though I've only spent $329.00 on the Touch, the overall improvement in the sound reproduction feels more like I've spent $2,500.00 (which is the improvement I got when I purchased my DPA 200s separates).

There are two things that immediately hit you when you do comparative listening:

1. Touch is way smoother and less grainy than any other transport I have in the house and in the cloud (e.g. Duet, PS3, Oppo player, Netflix streaming, all of those fed into the Beresford Caiman DAC)
2. Touch is noticeably less noisy than all the above transports

Not only is the sound coming out of Touch unbelievable silky, smooth, warm and very agreeable to the ear (gone are the cringe moments when the flute hits those harsh notes, or the cymbals that sound like someone is breaking through a glass door), there is just an unbelievable amount of never before heard details that are buried in the mix and are completely masked by the noise coming out of less advanced players.

Caiman really truly loves this new transport. When connected to the Touch, Caiman now spits out the sound that is amazingly analog-like. Last night I was listening to Sade's first CD, and the amount of never-before-heard details and nuances knocked me off my chair. Not to mention the breathtaking soundstage depth.

Thanks again to all the guys here who pointed me in the right direction -- I am indebted to you.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Good news Alex, glad to hear you have had another overwhelmingly successful upgrade!

[colinB]

Nice one Alex , good to hear.
Im interested in the Touch as a future purchase. Am i right in thinking you can link a media storage box by USB and it seamlessly sends the files to the dac? Im new to computer audio but im making an effort to understand it with a view to converting my cd collection to good quality audio files.

[magiccarpetride]

Nice one Alex , good to hear.
Im interested in the Touch as a future purchase. Am i right in thinking you can link a media storage box by USB and it seamlessly sends the files to the dac? Im new to computer audio but im making an effort to understand it with a view to converting my cd collection to good quality audio files.

Yes, you're correct, Colin. The jury seems still to be out on the sound quality of the USB vs streaming it via the Ethernet/wireless. Apparently the way to go about the USB solution is to only use the media storage that has its own power supply (and a good quality one at that).

One thing that seems to be worth thinking about is avoiding the temptation to turn the Touch into the 'Jack of all trades and master of none' type of a device. Yes, it can indeed do many things (it comes with Linux pre-installed, fer chrissakes), but by configuring it to just do everything, we may be compromising the pristine purity of the sound signal. So while the Touch can run its own internal squeezebox server and can thus manage the playlists, browsing, searching, etc., it is perhaps better to leave those chores to your PC.

As always, in the end it's all a matter of compromise. Everyone's mileage may vary.

[colinB]

I was contemplating the original Apple TV. I liked the idea it had its own storage and could be remotely controlled with a ipod touch and stream rented movies but i dont want to be tied into itunes.

[magiccarpetride]

I was contemplating the original Apple TV. I liked the idea it had its own storage and could be remotely controlled with a ipod touch and stream rented movies but i dont want to be tied into itunes.

No, don't go there. I'd recommend you get Playstation 3 Slim. Then subscribe to Netflix ($7.99 here in Canada, unlimited usage;). You can also stream music from PS3, but the audio quality is nowhere near the Touch.

[Beechwoods]

I was contemplating the original Apple TV. I liked the idea it had its own storage and could be remotely controlled with a ipod touch and stream rented movies but i dont want to be tied into itunes.

Colin - I'll keep it brief because this is Alex's Squeezebox thread, but you should check out the XBox Media Centre (http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Mac_on_Apple_TV) ports, and Boxee (http://support.boxee.tv/entries/171765-apple-tv-installation) - they're both actively developed alternative firmwares that run on the original Apple TV hardware. I've not tried them myself, but I've been reading really good stuff about them.

[Rare Bird]

For some reason these have never attracted me, i've always been draw to the Sonos 'ZP90' Zone player & I-Pad controller..Have you tried Sonos Alex?

[magiccarpetride]

For some reason these have never attracted me, i've always been draw to the Sonos 'ZP90' Zone player & I-Pad controller..Have you tried Sonos Alex?

Yes, I gave Sonos a try last year. It seemed like an easier entry into the world of digital streaming. It had a sufficiently pleasant overall sound (actually, sounded better than my Oppo player, which got me very excited); however, I've decided to give it a pass at that time, mostly on account of the fact that it did not support high definition files (i.e. 24-bit resolution).

I am a big fan of the 24-bit format, and my enthusiasm has recently been fortified and solidified with the marvelous sound I'm now getting from the Beatles 24-bit remasters. These remastered tracks play beautifully on my Touch. Not sure if I'd be able to enjoy those on Sonos (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't). The lack of the ability to play high definition format is a definite deal breaker for me.

[colinB]

Colin - I'll keep it brief because this is Alex's Squeezebox thread, but you should check out the XBox Media Centre (http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=XBMC_for_Mac_on_Apple_TV) ports, and Boxee (http://support.boxee.tv/entries/171765-apple-tv-installation) - they're both actively developed alternative firmwares that run on the original Apple TV hardware. I've not tried them myself, but I've been reading really good stuff about them.

These look like good options. I will look into them further and make sure they run on Windows 7. I may have to start a new thread once i get rid of the cd player. Thanks Nick.

[Ali Tait]

Colin,the Touch can be controlled from any smartphone too- ipeng for thr iphone,and squeezecommander for android,which is what I use

[colinB]

That would make things easier. Can you use the touch with good audio results without an external DAC. I do mean to get a Caiman one day but its not top priority at the moment, to many changes to my system at the moment i have to make careful choices.

[Ali Tait]

The Touch sounds great on it's own,you will be quite happy with it. It does improve with the addition of a good dac, but you will not find it lacking initially.

[colinB]

I like the sound of that. Is there any particular media storage boxes that people go for with a good power supply. I only need a small capacity.

[Ali Tait]

Well I use a Drobo,but not the cheapest. Most external drives with their own power supply should be fine. A common issue seems to be drives that go to sleep after a short interval, look for one that doesn't do this or can be set not to.