dac player for usb 32gb drive to play flac files

deseroner

heiney9 wrote: »

Except if he goes the route of the Squeezebox there is no USB involved. I guess the OP has to decide the exact method he wants to do and then solicite recommendations. The USB route is fine if you want a physical computer tied to the rig. It works fine for me in the office rig since the computer and associated gear is close by. But I would never want a computer running right next to my main rig, others may not care. It's one of the reasons I use the SQB and also because the SQB is a helluva lot more convenient than using a computer when sitting on the couch trying to listen to tunes.

H9

well i went with squeezebox ,won it for 204 on ebay new in box .it will let me use usb and it will manage music.well see how it performs, i have some nordost cables from sqb to sc37

tonyb

Still gonna need a dac bro.

heiney9

deseroner wrote: »

well i went with squeezebox ,won it for 204 on ebay new in box .it will let me use usb and it will manage music.well see how it performs, i have some nordost cables from sqb to sc37

I don't know what you mean by that, the SQB doesn't have a USB connection. I stated that earlier.

tonyb wrote: »

Still gonna need a dac bro.

It has built in dual dac's. An more expensive external dac will probably sound better, but it's not too shabby on its own w/o a dac.

H9

deseroner

heiney9 wrote: »

I don't know what you mean by that, the SQB doesn't have a USB connection. I stated that earlier.



It has built in dual dac's. An more expensive external dac will probably sound better, but it's not too shabby on its own w/o a dac.

H9

http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/logitech-squeezebox-touch_3.jpg

heiney9

It's not going to work like you think. The USB is for a thumb drive not a full blown HD and it won't stream from a computer via the USB. It will but it's very slow, a little clunky and you don't get the full function features it's capable of.

Give it a try, I have and the USB is merely a convenience for people who bring some tunes over on a thumb drive. If the thumb drive is too large it loads slow and is very sluggish.

H9

heiney9

You stream music by either the wired Ethernet cable or from your wireless router and you need a computer or NAS that can run the SQB software. You can't stream music via the USB.

deseroner

heiney9 wrote: »

You stream music by either the wired Ethernet cable or from your wireless router and you need a computer or NAS that can run the SQB software. You can't stream music via the USB.

well , i will try it, i have them on my computer also, also setup media player.if it works better then i will stream thru ethernet . no prob.

heiney9

Good luck and let us know how it works via the USB. I have tried to use a thumb drive a few times and never did get it to work properly. It's a great, flexible unit when used as designed. I think in the end you'll end up loving it once you figure how to use it best in your system.

H9

deseroner

heiney9 wrote: »

Good luck and let us know how it works via the USB. I have tried to use a thumb drive a few times and never did get it to work properly. It's a great, flexible unit when used as designed. I think in the end you'll end up loving it once you figure how to use it best in your system.

H9

well using the hmg on my pioneer sc-37 , i can play flac thru network, but it is downconverting to 16bit from 24bit, i will let you know what happens with sqzb once i get it.

deseroner

it is working well with usb cruzcer 32gb.the sqzb touch .reads up to 24bit.

steveinaz

Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30

deseroner

so squeezebox touch manages from my usb cruzcer 32gb drive and manages its folders,plays flac well 24bit.

tonyb

Whats your idea of a decent budget Mike ? Used, Dacmagics can go for 300. Audio-GD, Grant fidelity also makes a decent tube dac cheap.

steveinaz

What's strange is that almost all network players lack the same thing: a proper interface/display. This is such an easy thing to correct, and can be a serious deal breaker for most. If I have to get up everytime to select tracks, because I can't read the display from 11 feet away--I may as well be loading CD's. If the whole purpose of these devices is convenience (and correct me if I'm wrong), most are NOT very convenient; unless you sit 4 ft away from your system, or happen to own the correct cell phone to download the "app."

Until someone gets this right, I'm not interested in streaming.

It's possible the MEGA-expensive Naim, or others are better in this regard, but I'm NOT going to spend $2k to network my music, sorry.

steveinaz

If you can stretch 1 more hundred: http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MFVDAC

$299 (Mike, check the rest of AA's DAC's as well, quite a few inexpensive ones)

All DAC's: http://www.audioadvisor.com/products.asp?dept=90

If I was going to go "budget" DAC it would either be MF or Cambridge.

heiney9

steveinaz wrote: »

What's strange is that almost all network players lack the same thing: a proper interface/display. This is such an easy thing to correct, and can be a serious deal breaker for most. If I have to get up everytime to select tracks, because I can't read the display from 11 feet away--I may as well be loading CD's. If the whole purpose of these devices is convenience (and correct me if I'm wrong), most are NOT very convenient; unless you sit 4 ft away from your system, or happen to own the correct cell phone to download the "app."

Until someone gets this right, I'm not interested in streaming.

It's possible the MEGA-expensive Naim, or others are better in this regard, but I'm NOT going to spend $2k to network my music, sorry.

Steve you need to do your research because your fears are unfounded. As an example all the Sqeezebox products from day one had a display larger than a typical cdp. Also you don;t need to spend anywhere near $2K for a music server. 3/4 of your battle is won because you already have a great stand alone dac. Implementing a Squeezebox Touch is so simple and painless and the convenience is off the charts. It's like that grumpy old man who thinks cell phones are useless.

The only downside initially with a music server is the physical time it can take to start ripping files for the library, and perhaps for some, it's a hassle to periodically back-up your server if you aren't using some sort of raid array if you have a drive failure. Drive failure occurs occasionally for sure, but it depends in configuration and quality of products used too.

Please expand on the "What's strange is that almost all network players lack the same thing: a proper interface/display." I have no idea what you are talking about, because that has never been an issue with the Squeezebox products.

I went into this kicking and screaming because I was old school. My brother had a Squeezebox way before I did and I swore it wouldn't sound as good, blah, blah, blah....hassles with set-up, displays, streaming, etc, etc. I was DEAD wrong and wished I would have done it sooner.

H9

falconcry72

Keiko wrote: »

That VDAC looks good. Any thoughts on the Music Hall?

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHDAC15.2

Keep in mind the new V-DAC mk2 is now out for 349:

http://www.amazon.com/Musical-Fidelity-V-DAC-II-MKII/dp/B005K8CSZ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320939621&sr=8-1

It's basically a V-DAC mk1 plus the V-Link asynchronous USB > SPDIF converter put together in one, better looking, box.

heiney9

The Squeezebox makes a remote control with a built in LCD screen you take with you or you look at the display on the Touch's screen you can see or you can use an Android based phone or Apple I products with the proper app to run the entire system while having all the info and art-work right in your hands 11 feet away. Can you see the screen on your cdp form 11 feet away?

H9

steveinaz

Keiko wrote: »

That VDAC looks good. Any thoughts on the Music Hall?

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHDAC15.2

Don't know anything about it, but MH usually has some pretty respectable stuff...

steveinaz

heiney9 wrote: »

The Squeezebox makes a remote control with a built in LCD screen you take with you or you look at the display on the Touch's screen you can see or you can use an Android based phone or Apple I products with the proper app to run the entire system while having all the info and art-work right in your hands 11 feet away. Can you see the screen on your cdp form 11 feet away?

H9

I see where you're coming from and you make excellent points--but typically I'm loading an entire CD, so I'm not even using the display, where with streaming aren't you generally selecting numerous songs as you go?

I like the Squeezebox, and I'm not too concerned about the fidelity portion--as the SB reviews well. It will be running thru my DAC. I guess I'm hung up on how convenient it is to select songs, etc (mostly because I dumb about this stuff). I am actively ripping CD's to flac via EAC. About a 1/3 of the way thru my library.

heiney9

steveinaz wrote: »

I see where you're coming from and you make excellent points--but typically I'm loading an entire CD, so I'm not even using the display, where with streaming aren't you generally selecting numerous songs as you go?

I like the Squeezebox, and I'm not too concerned about the fidelity portion--as the SB reviews well. It will be running thru my DAC. I guess I'm hung up on how convenient it is to select songs, etc (mostly because I dumb about this stuff). I am actively ripping CD's to flac via EAC. About a 1/3 of the way thru my library.

Or you can load the entire to cd, as in push play and it will play from beginning to end.

I rarely listen to a cd from beginning to end, even before I had the SQB. Sure there are some that I can and do play from beginning to end but not that many. Before I had stacks of cd's on the floor (since my cd racks were in another room) and I'd listen to some SRV, not the entire cd and then I'd wnat to listen to few Hendrix songs, then some Zep, etc and I had all these cd's stacked around, etc. That's all eliminated. Plus having other squeeze products in the house like the Squeeze Radio I can listen to my entire library somewhere else, not possible with a cd unless I had a rig in that room.

H9