How would you improve the sound of Squeezebox?

Amaggie05 wrote:
"How about Bolder Cable's Digital Mod + E.A. Pace-Car?"

Modding the SB3 would be a waste of good money if it's feeding a Pace-Car. The jitter coming into the Pace-Car is not really important. The clock is replaced with a local free-running clock inside the Pace-Car. If the Pace-Car is fed with SB3, Apple TV, AirPort Express or Sonos, they all sound identical, modded or unmodded.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

I have a Monarchy upsampler on my PC Rig (going into a Musical Fidelity XDAC V3 (w/XPSU V3 power supply); I tried the Monarchy on the Squeezebox and no improvement-infact, I think it narrowed my soundstage just a tad but could be just perception (add a cable, etc). SB goes into a benchmark DAC1 and I have read that the Benchmark's technology omits need of an upsampler. I should go back and try it with a better digital cable, power cord but I'm maxed out of cables right now (I used a signal power cable and a monster 75ohm digital cable).

Cerrot,

How does the SB sound with its digital output feeding into the benchmark? how does it compare with using the RCA outputs from its own DAC?

I compared the Transporter with a stock PS Audio DL3 using stored files (PC) - the DL3 was run through the digital out on the Transporter. This was at the dealer on a system unfamiliar to me, but it was very clear that on every recording the DL3 outperformed the Transporter - the DL3 sounded more open and clearer throughout the frequency range. The Transporter retails for $2,000 the DL3 at $1,000. If you can wait, PS Audio is in the process of developing a new “Ultra” DAC, which will be considerably more expensive (probably due this fall). Personally, I chose not to wait, so I’m buying a Cullen-modded DL3.

Amaggie05,

The digital out to the benchmark sounds wonderful. Quiet, nice soundstage (wide and deep but not as wide and deep as my Esoteric X03-SE), nice detail and transparency; very musical and absolutely non-fatiguing; no digititis. You can hear the individual instruments and there is a bit of air around them. Bass and treble are very well extended and the low level detail is very, very good-none of the graininess I have read about. The upgraded CI power supply has a bit to do with it as well, I'm sure, but have not tried it without. The onboard dac sounded very thin, tiny soundstage and practiclly no depth. Almost no low lever detail and no where as much resolution as with the benchmark. Overall, just plain non-involving. It was better with the power supply (blackened the background and made it more musical, not as thin sounding, and added a bit low level detail). It is an incredibly good sounding source for me with the benchmark. I listen for hours. Without the benchmark, it sounded alot like my Bose Soundwave radio in the livingroom. With the benchmark, it sounds much better than the Meridian 588 I traded in a few years ago. I would strongly recommend anyone with a SB giving it a try.