How to improve the sound quality of the squeezebox duet

Tomasito

Hello Sound gurus,
I need your advice or recommendations.

I just purchase a squeezebox duet that is connected by coaxial to my Pioneer VSX94TH with polk speakers in all 7 channels.

I am not totally satisfied with the sound quality.
My digital audio media files are in WMA pro, MP3's, lossless, WMA - CD quality rip.

How can I improve the sound quality?
Should I use a DAC,
Is this the correct layout of the connection is like this squeezebox via coaxial or optical --> DAC --> VSX94TH

thanks in advance,

Tomasito

Not sure if this is the correct forum to post, if I am incorrect, my apologies, kindly tell me what forum to post my thread

thuffman03

Have you tried to just use the L/R? That is what I am using and it sounds great. Though don't use the IC they put in with it. Connect with a better one.

Face

An external DAC will definitely help.

thsmith

Your AVR may not have that good of a DAC. Not sure the SB has one built in but you want to try as the poster above says and use the l/r out to your AVR.

heiney9

WMA, MP3's suck so I'd say start there

Tomasito

How about WMA pro? is it a better format?

Tomasito

Face wrote: »

An external DAC will definitely help.

What DAC do you recommend?
thanks

thsmith

Tomasito wrote: »

How about WMA pro? is it a better format?

Try Flac before diving into a DAC but if you do I like my PS AUdio III, a lot people like the Benchmark DAC 1.

heiney9

Tomasito wrote: »

How about WMA pro? is it a better format?

I use FLAC and nothing else.

Face

I use WMP lossless since it's also compatable with my Zune HD.

As for an external DAC, the Cambridge DacMagic and Musical Fidelity V-DAC are the two best bargains out there.

steveinaz

Moving to lossless for ALL of your files and an external DAC is the way to go...

Tomasito

what program can I use that can rip CD;s in WMP lossless or FLAC?

Face

You can use Windows Media Player to rip to WMP lossless. Look in preferences.

Tomasito

thanks
what program to use for FLAC

Montoya

For your files that are mp3 or low quality use the sound Retriever function on the pioneer.

Tomasito

OK let me read the manual on how to do this

WesKParker

Here's a suggestion to help troubleshoot your issue. If you can hook up a dvd/cd player to your reciever with a digital (coax or toslink) and that sounds fine to you. Then you can be pretty sure the issue is in your files or to a less likely degree your sqeezebox's ability to decode the files. And i would say that if your CD/DVD player sounds fine to you, then a DAC probably isn't necessary.

m00npie

Tomasito wrote: »

thanks
what program to use for FLAC

EAC - Exact Audio Copy

adam2434

As others have indicated, lossy compression via mp3, wma, etc. will limit your sound quality – and an outboard DAC won’t fix it.

Building on what WesKParker suggested, rip a familiar, good-sounding CD to lossless (flac or wma lossless). Load up a DVD/CD player with the same CD and connect to your receiver with optical or coax. Connect the Squeezebox with optical or coax too – ideally you would use identical digital cables for the DVD/CD player and Squeezebox to eliminate cable type as a variable.

Make sure the DVD player is set to bitstream as lpcm and make sure the Squeezebox is running at 100% volume with no volume adjustments or ReplayGain adjustments. This should ensure that you are getting the same bitstream to the receiver’s DAC, and that the bitstream is exactly what is on the CD.

Switch back and forth between the DVD/CD player and Squeezebox while playing the same track. Determine if you can hear a difference. You will be comparing the DVD/CD player and Squeezebox from a purely transport standpoint. I have not been able to tell a difference in this type of comparison.

The final thing to determine is whether you are satisfied with the sound. If not, try the analog outputs from the Squeezebox as an experiment. In this case you will be using the Squeezebox’ internal DAC. The internal DAC and analog output is nothing special, so it may sound worse than the receiver’s DAC.

If you are not satisfied, definitely look into an external DAC.

Tomasito

This comparison will be a good experiment to do. I will do it tonight when I get back from work.
thanks

Tomasito

You guys are correct. I changed the track I rip using the WMA pro format and then I rip again with WMA lossless. The sound quality changed. gggrrrrhhhhh the hard work is ripping all my CD collection to lossless formats.

I performed the comparison that adam recommended. There is a very little difference between the squeezebox stream and the CD sound of the same track. Maybe I am bias (brains) knowing that this track was being played by a CD player. If I did a blind test probably it will hard to tell the difference.

Should I still get a DAC?

beardog03

that seems to be the norm

I have been reading/watching all of you go through the same thing, and ask all the questions....I will follow your progress and follow suit, as I have been playing with my new ipod and have it on good authority (inside tip from the kids) that I will be getting an itouch, or a music server type of thing this year for X-Mas....seems the whole family is relying on my wifes nephew to do his homework and pick one of those server things

Sorry for the derail..!

as I said earlier, everybody seems to eventually get an outboard DAC

I think I will start shopping for one myself....couldn`t hurt, as I`m sure it would be better than the one you have in your AVR

As Face stated before cambridge, music Fidelity, and Benchmark seem to be the ones to look into

MF and benchmark are high on my list

steveinaz

Tomasito wrote: »

Should I still get a DAC?

Are you satisfied with the sound?

adam2434

Tomasito wrote: »

Should I still get a DAC?

What's your frame of reference for CD playback? What have you been using?

Is the Squeezebox with lossless files and your receiver's DAC is good as what you had been using, and is that good enough for you?

An outboard DAC can be a huge improvement over the Squeezebox' analog output assuming the rest of one's gear, as well as one's ears are discerning enough.

What speakers do you have?

Audioadvisor.com carries many highly regarded DACs at various price points from $300 and up. They have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so you could buy a DAC and return it if it doesn't meet your expectations. I think the Cambridge Audio DAC for $430 is a great piece for folks who don't want to spend a huge amount on their first external DAC. I already have 2 external DACs, but I really want to give the Cambridge a listen sometime.

Tomasito

My squeezebox is connected by co-ax to the VSX94TH. My frame of reference is the oppo CD player. Maybe I'll give a cambridge audio DAC from audio advisor a try.