Tír Na HiFi

Up to recently, the phrase computer audio conjured up an image of two off white or black ‘speaker’ boxes positioned either side of a computer monitor. Not encouraging. However some exposure to upmarket systems such as the [very expensive] Meridian Sooloos and [more affordable] Sonos systems suggested that there might be something going on here. The clincher for me happened during a visit to AndyS’s house. There Andy played music through his hi-fi, music that was stored on his laptop computer. And it sounded very good, way better than I expected.

Nothing for it as the old saying goes, if you can’t beat it – join it.

My CD player has a digital input so to use the DAC, the model chosen required a digital output. The Squeezebox Duet had such an output so I bought one. Fran had given me some advice on compiling a musical library on my computer, which is how I came to choose Exact Audio Copy [EAC] to rip my CDs as .FLAC files.

Remarkable how nothing ever seems to be as easy to do as it ought to be. This is especially true when it comes to computers. My main problem was insufficient knowledge, not having the faintest idea of what I was trying to achieve. EAC is easy to operate [when you know how that is] but a novice guide is urgently needed. I had assumed that CD info, such as genre, cover art etc. was stored on the CD. In actual fact EAC gets that info and more from online databases and so on. Fran helped a lot and it was mainly due to his steady stream of txt messages that I finally got underway.

Having got the ripping sorted, setting up the Squeezebox was a bit easier but I still needed help from Fran. Again the computer thing, Squeezebox is a rapidly developing system – so much so that what is current today will be out of date this day week. So the very basic get you started manual has internet sites mentioned where you can get online help and tips. A difficulty with such sites is information overload! Page after page of users trying to do this or that or get this bit working but I am glad to report that Fran is worth more than all those sites, the system worked and music filled the room.

Sound quality is amazingly good, almost as good as the CD player. I would describe the sound as very slightly brighter, with a wider soundstage and similar depth illusion [when there is depth or space on the recording]. To be honest I am more than surprised and delighted by the quality of the sound. Especially so as I had no digital cable to hand and made up one from a pair of Maplin gold plated phono plugs and a short length of co-ax cable of unknown origin. In fact I have used the Squeezebox ever since it was installed apart from a few comparisons between the hard disk and the CD.

The Squeezebox has a pair of phono analogue outputs, I did not test these as I have no way of controlling the volume [the CD player has the volume control in my system]. There are a number of features on Squeezebox such as playlists, random selection that I have to get my head around but that will come. The Internet radio is an unexpected bonus, pretty good sound from stations such as Lyric FM, Sunshine 106 and a country station from Los Angles.

So a big thumbs up to the Squeezebox Duet and Fran.

Congratulations and well done Tom....I admire your perseverance!

Fran put me onto the Squeezebox. I heard a few brief tracks from his pc upstairs played wirelessly thru his quads.Bleedin great sound from such a cheap device. Had to take a chance on one. Its great when you are feeling lazy or wanting to listen to radio. I got rid of my cyrus dab tuner as it was no longer required

tony wrote:Fran put me onto the Squeezebox. I heard a few brief tracks from his pc upstairs played wirelessly thru his quads.Bleedin great sound from such a cheap device. Had to take a chance on one. Its great when you are feeling lazy or wanting to listen to radio. I got rid of my cyrus dab tuner as it was no longer required

I concur on the "feeling lazy bit".

I am going to set up a second system in the front room by running 2nd speakers on long cables and access my Sonos player via the iPhone App. Pure lazy !
But I know that it will never replace the enjoyment of rummaging through my vinyl and CD collections and escaping into the better presented sounds from my trusty Hi Fi.

Well done Tom, enjoy. You have roused my curiousity now, should I indulge too, I wonder?

FWIW, I cannot detect any difference (sonically) between the SB classic and the duet.....

I found an old digital cable that came with a s/h Meridian 200 and 263 I bought about a dozen years ago. This cable is a lot shorter than the cable I made up and in use it shows that the self built cable was holding back the sound a bit. A fair bit in fact as I now cannot tell if the CD player or the Squeezebox is providing the digits.

Interesting to note that a Transparent Audio digital cable that I bought from Noel Cloney proved to be considerably better than the cable that came with the Meridian transport and DAC, just goes to show that it is slightly more than (simply) ones and zeros that the transport/Squeezebox send to the DAC. I have since sold this Transparent Audio digital cable to a fellow forimite.

I placed the Squeezebox on a cushion of bubblewrap which slighly improved the sound, but you knew I was going to say that anyway......

Now for the step that will have you hooked - if you have an iPad, iPhone or Android, you can turn them into sophisticated remote controls. If you download the iPeng app for iPhone/iPad (I'm not sure what the offering on Android is), you will have a database of all your music on your iPhone with Album art, etc & you can search, set up playlists, skip to next track, etc - all from the comfort of your own rocking chair via WiFi :)

Squeezer is the Android app.

You need to be working wirelessly for them to work.


Now tom next up is for you to try a rf attenuator:...

Fran wrote:Squeezer is the Android app.

You need to be working wirelessly for them to work....

or Remote Droid to use your Android phone as a remote mouse to control a laptop/PC from your armchair.