Sqeezebox Touch and High-Res Audio

[Hocky]

Cool, thanks.

 

[babydoc]

Squeezebox Touch

I've always purchased CDs and I'm not big on downloading digital audio unless I only want one or two songs from an album. However, I'm considering a Squeezebox Touch and I'm looking for suggestions. I currently use iTunes for my music managing on my MacBook. I usually choose "Apple Lossless" for importing. A few questions:

1. What program should I be using to rip CDs to get the highest rez import?
2. What format should I be ripping them in? What sample rates do I look for?
3. Are there any good, legitimate websites that off hi-rez downloads for modern music? (i.e. Dave Matthews Band, Jack Johnson, Kings of Leon, etc.)

Thanks!

I have lived with a Squeezebox Touch for several months and have previously owned the Classic and the Duet. The Touch is the best version of these devices that I have had in my system. It is a very very good buy for the money and what has not been brought up is that you can directly feed in through an SD card or USB device high rez 88 or 96/24 sound files. If you want to use an outboard storage device that is bigger than a thumb drive, it has to have its own power supply. I have compared the Touch's sound via its own analog outputs to that going into a DAC (I use the PerfectWave DAC). It is no contest. Outboard DAC wins by a large margin. Another nice feature of the Touch is its access to internet radio. While not a high-resolution medium (most are 128 kbps), the sound is quite acceptable for noncritical listening. If you have a Rhapsody or Sirius account, you can tap into a huge reservoir of live and recorded music.
I use the iPeng remote app on my iPad since it is easier than reading the touch screen which is 4.3" wide. All in all, I think you would get a lot of pleasure from the Touch.

 

[MickeyVee]

You said it! That to me is the major selling point of the Squeezeboxes. If you wanted a screen flickering away in your listening room then you could always go for the Apple TV or any of the other multitude of "media streamers".

For the Apple TV2, you don't need the TV on. Just an iOS device to control your source. I use my iPhone to control the library on my MacMini or MacBook and stream to the ATV2. The trick is to configure the ATV2 to never sleep.

I'll definitely consider the SqueezeBox when I start getting some HiRez files. For now, USB into the DAC or streaming to the ATV2 into the DAC works quite well.

 

[NKokemohr]

hi all,

Looks like there is a new HD download site available, namely iTrax. The name sounds more like a teenager's radio station, but it looks like they are quite serious about 24/96 audiophile music.

So my download fav list is:
- HDTracks
- Linn
- iTrax