Squeezebox Touch and Naim DAC
Posted by: Sloop John B on 20 July 2013
I have an SBT connected to my 552 with a Chord Indigo interconnect. To say I'm impressed would be an understatement. It's hard to quantify these things but suffice to say I'm quite happy listening to it, for all but most serious sessions. I'm possibly lucky in that my Naim system is on a dedicated spur so the squeezebox's apparent ability to inject noise and other baddies into the mix seems tamed if not abated entirely. I'm now thinking that this streaming solution will do me until the Betamax and VHS of the streaming (loose term for computer audio) world proudly take their places.
Being of this parish one's thoughts go towards an upgrade, like how could a £200 SBT not be totally out of its league? So thoughts go to what the nDAC can bring to the mix. To be frank I'm also wondering whether the desire to ask this question at all is a malady, but here I am on this sunny day in Dublin asking it anyway.
Without wishing to sound ungrateful I would prefer responses from people who have actually heard the combo.
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.
I tried both the NDac and the ND5 at home on the end of my Squeezebox before taking the plunge and buying the NDac. There was a clear difference in presentation between the two. To my ears the NDac was just more musically communicative and involving and just had a better sense of timing and groove. In comparison, the ND5 was more clinical and hi-fi sounding. Probably more accurate I guess, just less involving. Horses for courses, but the choice was clear for me and I know which one I spent a lot more time listening to music from.
On the subject of coax interconnects, I'm still using a very old QED cable that was actually sold as a component video cable. It seems to work well, but having nothing to compare it with, I'm going to borrow one of the better Chord Co. coax cables to see if that brings about any further improvements. I'm going to allow the NDac to finish fully running in before I try that though.
I use a Clearer Audio coaxial cable to connect my SBT to the nDAC and love the sound. I did try the Naim DC1 (coaxial to BNC) but found it too 'dark' for my tastes. To be honest I was surprised that different digital coaxial cables could cause a discernible difference in sound quality as they are simply transmitting 1s and 0s but, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't live with the DC1. I guess it all depends on how well your system 'gels' in terms of complimentary speakers etc. and the 'fine tuning' which cables offer.
The SB3 is what got me back into hifi a few years back.
I dread the day when my "vintage" SB Touch will cease to function. It is by far the most user friendly streaming device I know of.
The fact that it's now being sold for big bucks on Amazon, eBay, etc says it all.
It's unfortunate that Logitech who are also dropping their Harmony remote line failed to see the potential of this brilliant technology.
They could repackage/rebrand it and sell it to audiosnobs at 10x the price.
The fact that it's now being sold for big bucks on Amazon, eBay, etc says it all.
It's unfortunate that Logitech...failed to see the potential of this brilliant technology.
Amen to that - the whole situation with LT buying it, running it a few years, then shelving it is a business decision that makes absolutely no sense to me. Bang for buck it is/was a great little product. And as you point out, there will come a day, sooner or later, where my SBT will no longer work, and I am not sure how I will then proceed.
Will a Naim streamer be able to read FLAC off my Voertexbox? If so, which software acts as the server OS?
Will a Naim streamer be able to read FLAC off my Voertexbox? If so, which software acts as the server OS?
Yes, it will. Vortexbox has Asset running, if I am not mistaken. Or at least Twonky for that matter. Both will readily serve a Naim streamer with Flac files.
I wonder what a 555PS would do to a SBT?
I wonder what a 555PS would do to a SBT?
That's easy...dwarf it! 
I wonder what a 555PS would do to a SBT?
At X100 the price I hope it would do a whole lot to a SBT. But would its software be as user-friendly? That to me is what makes the Touch such a winner. I can use my Oppo with third party DNLA software to stream music from my PC but the experience as a whole is nowhere near as smooth as that of the Touch with LMS software.
To be honest I was surprised that different digital coaxial cables could cause a discernible difference in sound quality as they are simply transmitting 1s and 0s ....
Interesting - how do they do that?
I do hope that a Naim streamer is going to be better than a SBT (or previously a SB3) into an old but smooth sounding Pink Triangle Ordinal DAC with 24-bit filter. As I have a ND5 XS one-route to stream my now 1,000 albums. The SBT/PT and before that the SB3/PT is limited to a max resolution of 24/48, so looking forward to hearing the 24/96, 24/88.1, 24/192 & 24/176.2 tracks I have already collected.
I do hope that a Naim streamer is going to be better than a SBT (or previously a SB3) into an old but smooth sounding Pink Triangle Ordinal DAC with 24-bit filter. As I have a ND5 XS one-route to stream my now 1,000 albums. The SBT/PT and before that the SB3/PT is limited to a max resolution of 24/48, so looking forward to hearing the 24/96, 24/88.1, 24/192 & 24/176.2 tracks I have already collected.
I can happily steam 24/96 with my Squeezebox Touch (and with a certain EDO mod 24/196 FLAC) to the Naim DAC (which recognises it as a 'high def' feed). I'm not implying that a Naim streamer won't be better though...just that SBT will stream higher than CD quality files.
Will a Naim streamer be able to read FLAC off my Voertexbox? If so, which software acts as the server OS?
Yes, it will. Vortexbox has Asset running, if I am not mistaken. Or at least Twonky for that matter. Both will readily serve a Naim streamer with Flac files.
You are mistaken. Vortexbox runs Vortexbox which contains miniDLNA UPnP server among other things ... It supports FLAC and does not transcode on the fly to WAV. No idea if you care about transcoding on the fly (I don't, but i don't use a Naim streamer). VB worked perfectly with UQ, but i now just bung an optical cable in the UQ. The VB's underlying operating system is Linux.
I was indeed wrong. Thanks for the correction.
well 60% use co-axial RCA
20% co-axial rca -bnc
20% optical.
Presuming this is representative I may have to invest in a slightly better co-axial cable as I have 2 cheapos lying around one optical one co-axial and certainly the optical is winning (slightly) at the moment.
any specific recommendations of make and model for co-axial digital interconnect?
SJB
John,
I am not a total-DIY guy; I ask my dealer to terminate/solder my NACA5 for me; I do not touch mains cables.
I have a DC-1 RCA > BNC for my SBT. But when I reconfigured, it was too short, so, I tried making a custom-length for temporary use. It is still in place. I will probably never buy a made-up coax cable again, unless I need a BNC > BNC someday; but, even then, I will baseline vs home-made.
Nick
well 60% use co-axial RCA
20% co-axial rca -bnc
20% optical.
Presuming this is representative I may have to invest in a slightly better co-axial cable as I have 2 cheapos lying around one optical one co-axial and certainly the optical is winning (slightly) at the moment.
any specific recommendations of make and model for co-axial digital interconnect?
SJB
Try Mark Grant cables. Very well made and good prices too. I use a BNC to RCA version between my NDX and Devialet amp.
James
I use Clearer Audio coaxial cables. They have a range of models and prices and I prefer the Silverline which I have to the Naim DC1 which I found a little 'dark' in my system.
Four weeks to the day after moving to the new house, finally got the SBT back in the system. I have been using the Mac Mini via optical, which is very good; but there is an effortlessness to the sound of the SBT I find hard to describe. Wonderful!
Nick