Squeezebox Touch and Naim DAC

Thanks - My HDX does this - I was more wondering about streaming from internet sources of quality than NAS. This is the only area my HDX won't go.

Cheers

G

I stream some internet radio. That is compressed.

OK, thanks. Again HDX does this.

No need to experiment with a SBT - now I know!

Cheers

G

I have a SBT in my office system and a ND5 XS in my listening room. They more-or-less do the same things. In both cases I mostly stream high-res FLAC, but sometimes I listen to internet radio  (some classical music from the Netherlands).

Hello all, my first post here having become a first time Naim owner within the last 24 hours.

I've had an SBT for a couple of years and it is the most well thought out and designed piece of £200 kit I have ever owned. So sad to see that they were discontinued. 

I never used it without an outboard DAC as I found the analogue output from it to be a little flat and uninspiring, so up until yesterday I was using mine through an Audiolab 8200CDQ - A great piece of kit - but I always found that the best way to hear an album was to put the CD in the tray of the CDQ rather than play the FLAC rip of the CD over the network. Not a massive amount in it, but enough to make me get out of my chair and dig out the CDs in serious listening sessions.

A long story to follow as to how I ended up buying a Naim DAC which I won't relate here right now, but having collected my nDAC yesterday, I am utterly overwhelmed at how much of a new lease of life the SBT has received. It is such a massive improvement over the CDQ I can hardly believe it. A lot of money to spend on a DAC yes, but worth every penny as far as I am concerned.

I did purchase a new PSU for the SBT which I found to be a worthwhile improvement for not a lot of outlay. I also make sure that any decoding of FLACs etc. is done on the box running the Logitech Media Server software rather than on the SBT. 

Welcome to the forum lovejoy, and thanks for your contribution.

Have you purchased the SBT PSU in Europe or US? May I ask you which model? (since this is not a PSU for Naim equipment, I think that I'm not breaking any forum's rule). I'm considering to buy one as well...

Also, what's the rest of your system?

Cheers

I'm based in the UK. I purchased the Russ Andrews SBT power supply as one came up cheaply on Ebay. Having read all of the negative comments on various forums about how a boutique PSU could make no difference to the Touch I wasn't prepared to spend a lot of money on one, and having tried the odd switch mode supply from the likes of Maplin electronics, I came to the conclusion that the stock Touch PSU was actually pretty good as, if anything, the Maplin supply was a step backwards. Having bought the Russ Andrews second hand for about half of its retail price though and finding that to be a decent improvement over the stock supply, even though it is a switch mode supply still, I am keen to try a linear supply, but no rush at the moment as the new Dac has provided me with a significant upgrade to enjoy for the foreseeable future.

The rest of my system:

Well Tempered Classic V turntable

Dynavector L-300 with P-300 phono stage

Audiolab 8200P Power Amp (next on the list for replacement)

Home built standmount speakers based on an IPL acoustics kit.

The SBT is a fantastic piece of kit. I use mine with a not-Naim dac and will shortly be adding a TP power supply.  Earlier this year I heard a SBT with TP power supply into a not-Naim dac, not-Naim amp and a pair of SBLs.  Source was spotify. I have heard many pairs of SBLs since 1986 and never really understood what they were about.  

This combination was a revelation. I now realise that the SBL is a very special speaker but also very demanding. Get it right and it might be the last speaker you ever want to own. Get it wrong and......oh dear...  What this really means is the the SBT is a first class source.  Such a shame that Logitech decided to discontinue the product.  

I use a DC1 RCA BNC connection into nDAC. will soon upgrade nDAC with TXPS and SBT with  TTouch PSU. 

Combination of SBT using iPeng and nDAC beats any streamer in tearms of usability and SQ in this price range. 

Yes cracking bit of kit, I run mine digitally into the DAC  in my Supernait and it sounds superb.

Its such a pity that it is discontinued, I notice that one sold second hand on the bay for £250, so if ever I do decide to replace it there could be  a profit to be had 

what connection are you using?

optical or coaxial?

if coaxial RCA-RCA or RCA-BNC?

regards

John

SJB

I use RCA  coaxial out to RCA into the Supernait............

I use the optical connector to the DAC in my SN.

Hi, John,

I use RCA > BNC via a home-made cable, because my DC-1 is too short for the current config. 

Nick

I use my sbt with the naim dac. Amp is nac 72, hicap, 2x nap 135, speakers are b&w diamond 803. I do not use a NAS nor ethernet, the sbt is conncted via usb to a ssd, Format of my Cd-rips is FLAC. I control it with ipeng on a iphone via wlan. Connection between sbt and ndac is optical.

Before I bought the ndac I had one at home and compared soundquality of the sbt standalone and connected to the ndac. I found sq slightly, not at all dramatically, better with the ndac.

Josef

I use the sbt with an excellent outboard dac. It is connected to my imac through an ethernet cable. worked and sounded much better than wireless wifi. At first I hooked it to my dac through a cheap optical toslink cable. The sound sucked. Perhaps there was to much jitter. I quickly bought a high quality digital coax cable. Now I am getting wonderful music. The sound blew my flatcapped cd5x away. It rivals the sound from my dedicated cd transport. The coax I use is a black cat silver star $150. hope this helps.

Well, that is pretty impressive.  You are saying that the tiny DAC in the SBT is ever so slightly inferior to a $3500 DAC

The aren't any 'bad' DACs any more. Even the most modest TV has a DAC which will not be much worse than than of a 1.000 EUR streamer.

'High end' DACs just add a shiny case and a largely oversize PSU.

The nDac is a huge improvement over the SBT dac, IMHO.  I have been using the SBT/nDAC combo with my SN and it is sublime.  I tried the SBT into the SN dac and the analog out into the SN and both were frankly inferior to my current setup. Wide soundstage and great detail.

Anthony

I use a Chord Signature phono to phono interconnect

I link my SBT to my SN via good quality coax (tried many, and some cheap were not great).

Re the nDAC, I tried it once between SBT and SN, and I think it's a good improvement (more details and sound stage, more sparkling transients), certainly not a cheap one! SBT and SNdac are an enjoyable combo and it takes '000USD to better it, IMO.

Just like many of the other members here I too link my SBT to my SN via coax (Wireworld Starlight).  However, a wave of upgraditis has struck me, and I have a few questions to ask.

1. Is a TeddyDAC or a nDAC 'better' in connecting the SBT to the SN?  I have read on other parts of this forum and elsewhere that different systems would see different outcomes, but if specifically for between SBT and SN?

2.  Would it be worthwhile to upgrade via the DAC path or to just go the whole hog and obtain the NDX? Would the greater outlay of dough result in a better SQ that can be resolved by the SN?  No point getting 'too good' a source that has no discernible improvement right?  Personally I am a classical guy, heavy on Mahler and Shostakovich.

As it is, the cheapest option is to go for TeddyDAC, then nDAC, and most costly NDX. Thanks!

Paradox,

most of the forum members will tell you that there no source that is too good for your system...

I don't know the TeddyDac, and I know that nDAC and NDX (both standalone) have different sonic characters. For that kind of money, you should also consider the NDX's little brother, the NDX5XS (same money than nDAC).

In summary, the only way is to compare these solutions in the context of your system, room and your music. I never had the chance to do it, so I'm curious to get others' impressions.

Only your own ears will be able to tell you what to do.

Only yesterday I tested a prototype DAC of a high-end company in comparision to the stand-alone SBT.

The SBT won. Why? Because it had better bass´and was more dynamic. The tested DAC certainly wasn't bad, but it just wasn't for me.

As I have said before, bad DACs are very rare these days, even in the cheapest gadgets. You really have tp go out and listen for yourself. Spending '000s just because those high-end DAC are supposed to be 'better' is certainly not the way to go.