Squeezebox Touch soft mod which truly improves sound quality?
Posted by: Flextreme on 11 January 2011
Hey guys, I thought it would be worthwhile to share this (completely safe and ready within 30 minutes) Squeezebox tweaking/mod guide I found.
I found it by accident browsing the slimdevices forum: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84061
Goto http://soundcheck-audio.blogsp...ouch-toolbox-20.html
Here you will find helpful and clear instructions. A new mod was released only a couple of days ago. The idea is to disable as much as possible on the SB Touch, which helps free resources and decreases interference caused by the internal electronics and CPU.
I have a SB Touch (org. PSU) > Coax > Supernait (Hicapped) > NACA5 > Harbeth SuperHL5
On my setup I -think- I can clearly notice an improvement. However, I do not trust my own judgement, as I learned through experience that is so easy to fool yourself in respect to sound quality improvements. I was (and still am) skeptical since the SuperNait dac re-clocks the digital signal and find it difficult to believe it's possible to tweak a digital signal.
However, this software mod (which can be easily switched on/off) seems to really make a difference after a couple of tests, comparing default settings and the mod. Specifically, more resolution, focus and treble extension (the latter is extremely welcome on the already 'darker' sound of both the Supernait and the Harbeth).
There are many recommendations in this guide (Wi-Fi to Ethernet, stream Flacs as PCM, and disabled the Screen ,etc...) I followed all recommendations except the PSU upgrade, since the SB Touch PSU is much better than the SB 3.
I set the buffer to 4000 (Command: ttbuffer 4000)
Because I disabled the screen, I need to control the SB with iPeng on my iPhone, which is fine. (although not an issue, because iPeng is used, a side effect of this mod is that using the official SB remote control now makes weird crackling noise in the audio)
After installing a free SSH client on my iPhone it is quite simple to control the mods directly through command-line from the couch. It is possible to save the modded configuration so you can easily switch between the modded and default settings.
Although I am not a NAIM DAC owner, I wonder if this mod brings the sound quality of the Squeezebox stream on the same level as direct attached USB stick on the NAIM DAC.
I am super interested if anyone tried it yet and did some critical listening. I need to give it a couple of days to make sure my mind is not playing tricks on me, but so far I have been very impressed.
Regards,
Jeroen
I found it by accident browsing the slimdevices forum: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=84061
Goto http://soundcheck-audio.blogsp...ouch-toolbox-20.html
Here you will find helpful and clear instructions. A new mod was released only a couple of days ago. The idea is to disable as much as possible on the SB Touch, which helps free resources and decreases interference caused by the internal electronics and CPU.
I have a SB Touch (org. PSU) > Coax > Supernait (Hicapped) > NACA5 > Harbeth SuperHL5
On my setup I -think- I can clearly notice an improvement. However, I do not trust my own judgement, as I learned through experience that is so easy to fool yourself in respect to sound quality improvements. I was (and still am) skeptical since the SuperNait dac re-clocks the digital signal and find it difficult to believe it's possible to tweak a digital signal.
However, this software mod (which can be easily switched on/off) seems to really make a difference after a couple of tests, comparing default settings and the mod. Specifically, more resolution, focus and treble extension (the latter is extremely welcome on the already 'darker' sound of both the Supernait and the Harbeth).
There are many recommendations in this guide (Wi-Fi to Ethernet, stream Flacs as PCM, and disabled the Screen ,etc...) I followed all recommendations except the PSU upgrade, since the SB Touch PSU is much better than the SB 3.
I set the buffer to 4000 (Command: ttbuffer 4000)
Because I disabled the screen, I need to control the SB with iPeng on my iPhone, which is fine. (although not an issue, because iPeng is used, a side effect of this mod is that using the official SB remote control now makes weird crackling noise in the audio)
After installing a free SSH client on my iPhone it is quite simple to control the mods directly through command-line from the couch. It is possible to save the modded configuration so you can easily switch between the modded and default settings.
Although I am not a NAIM DAC owner, I wonder if this mod brings the sound quality of the Squeezebox stream on the same level as direct attached USB stick on the NAIM DAC.
I am super interested if anyone tried it yet and did some critical listening. I need to give it a couple of days to make sure my mind is not playing tricks on me, but so far I have been very impressed.
Regards,
Jeroen