stop-spinning;609175 Wrote: > Wow - that's some statement I am keen to follow up! When you say modded > Touch are you talking about software wise or both software and hardware > wise? How does the stock Touch perform before modification - will it > still give the Arcam a good hiding before being supercharged? And > because I started this thread concerned about the quality of the > digital outs - I am more concerned about just using the Reciever as a > transport then slapping an appropriate DAC on the end of it (such as a > Rega DAC) which "should" subsequently blow a modded Touch of the water > (if it takes that amount to torpedo it). > > I never planned to ever use any SB without external DAC as a true > audiophile source - I would have throught the priority of the unit > alone would have been convenience and looks to accommodate the mass > market - rather than top notch tuned audiophile sound quality. Perhaps > very good sound quality but not, in stock form at least, 'hi-end' for > want of a better phrase.
If you follow the steps I'm going to outline below, you will easily achieve high end audiophile performance on a shoestring budget: 1. Order Beresford Caiman DAC (http://www.beresford.me/PP/Caiman__DAC.html); it will cost you £179.99 (only $290.00). But before you do that, call Stan Beresford (the genius behind this amazing DAC, and ask him to Gatorize it for ya (he'll know what you mean). For additional $50.00, it will be well worth the effort, because Gatorized Caiman is a ferocious DAC that can compete shoulder to shoulder with many $2,000+ DACs I've listened to. 2. Order Logitech Squeezebox Touch ($300.00). 3. Connect your Touch to the Caiman DAC. 4. Follow the instructions on this page to the letter: http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/01/soundchecks-squeezebox-touch-toolbox-20.html 5. Lastly, follow the instructions on this page: http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/01/soundchecks-tt-beta-blog.html Voila! For approximately $700.00, and some additional fiddling with the mods, you'll have a digital player that can easily compete with Linn Akurate ($8,000 retail). In my opinion, modded Touch fed into Gatorized Caiman can almost outperform these $5,000+ plus players. All you need to top it off is a good digital coaxial cable, and a decent pair of analog interconnects, and no one will be able to wipe the wide idiotic grin off your face. As far as unmodded Touch goes, even then you'll notice drastic improvement in the sound quality, compared to the Duet. I know, I've been myself through all these upgrades. Started with Duet, ordered Caiman DAC, then moved to Touch, modded the Touch, and now I'm sitting in the audio nirvana land. -- magiccarpetride ------------------------------------------------------------------------ magiccarpetride's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=37863 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84903
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