Hi. I just purchased a Squeezebox 3 last month and I love it. What a great piece of gear. I have been using its analog output connected to my preamp, and I noticed it didnt sound quite as good as my CD player, so I began investigating the possibility of using an external DAC. My local audio store was kind enough to loan me a Mark Levinson 36s for a couple of days. Since there have been several postings inquiring about the improvements of using an external DAC, I thought my experience would provide a useful data point. Here is a summary of what I heard:
Setup 1 (my original system) Rega Apollo CD player --> VTL 2.5 preamp --> Classe CA-100 100 W/Chan Amp --> Thiel CS 2.4 speakers. Rich, warm sound with lots of detail and pinpoint sound staging. (Score 95) Setup 2 Flac files on PC --> Wired Ethernet to Squeezebox --> Analog out of SB to VTL preamp etc. Compared with Setup 1: Instruments and vocalists didnt pop out at me; Didnt seem 3-dimensional (video term: fewer shades of gray); Notes seemed to decay a bit faster didnt ring as much; Slightly narrower soundstage on some recordings; Some tunes had a slightly gritty sound. Otherwise, good detail and surprisingly good sound for a $300 device. (Score 85) Setup 3 - Flac files on PC --> Ethernet to Squeezebox --> Digital out of SB to Mark Levinson 36s DAC --> VTL preamp, etc. Compared with Setup 1: Different tonality made it difficult to compare; Upper bass and lower mid-range (~250 500 Hz) not as pronounced (i.e. sounded leaner, not as warm); it had a crisp, clean sound rather than a warm, full bodied sound. Bass was quicker and had more detail; My first impression was it seemed pale and washed out compared to the Rega. As I played it more I got used to the sound and it became more natural sounding. (Score 92 because I prefer (or have gotten used to) the warmer sound of the Rega) Setup 4 Digital out of Squeezebox --> Rotel 1056 receiver (using Rotel D/A & preamp) --> Classe amp --> Thiel speakers About the same as setup 2, maybe a shade less detailed. Good FM quality. (Score 82) Setup 5 Low end Denon DVD player digital out --> Rotel 1056 --> Classe amp --> Thiel speakers Could not tell any difference between this and Setup 4. (Score 82) Setup 6 Denon DVD digital out --> Mark Levinson DAC --> VTL preamp Seemed to be a bit more detailed than Setup 3. Technically, I dont understand why it should be any different. (Score 93) Setup 7 Same as Setup 3 except now playing 128 Kb/sec streaming files from the internet (Rhapsody) instead of lossless Flac files. This was erratic. On some tunes it was great, approaching the quality of Setup 3. On other tunes it had noticeable sibilance and harsher highs. Very dependent on the music that was playing. (Score 75 - 90) _______________ Overall Impressions: Without question, the best sound came from Setups 1, 3 and 6. These all sounded very good. Lots of detail. The music was often holographic. The Rega sounded definitely warmer with more emphasis on the upper bass & lower mid-range. The Mark Levinson had a quicker and more detailed bass. On some tunes I liked the Rega better (e.g. vocalists & pianos); on other tunes I liked the Mark Levinson better (e.g. percussion & acoustic guitars). The next best sound came from Setups 2, 4 and 5. These were about the same as a good quality FM station. If you werent listening carefully or were listening from another room, you probably wouldnt notice any degradation. Setup 7 with the compressed Rhapsody files the sound ranged from excellent to fair. On occasion you would hear some harsh, gritty highs or sibilance. On other tunes the bass seemed heavier than with Flac files. These characteristics were very music dependent. -- duke43j ------------------------------------------------------------------------ duke43j's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15911 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=46533
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