msb Ilink vs. wadia 170i ipd docks

"I got an early version of the Squeezebox, then got the best modded version and when the excitement cooled down I compared the highly modded Squeezebox running direct with only WAV files harvested with EAC, against my old Musichall cd25 the cd player was sooo much better as a transport it was ridiculous."

Who modifed the digital output of your Squeezebox?

IMO, The Duetta by www.analogresearch-technology.net, turns a SD Duet into a world class transport.

Vinny modified the Squeezebox, a very nice job but ultimately... IMHO it is a technological shortcoming, not the modders fault.

The digital output was also modified but compared to my outboard DAC it was useless.

I havent got a Forsell TT, but maybe in the near future... I tried a couple of mid level TTs with no luck, I guess I need to spend a lot more to start comparing.

I hope the Lector transport is better, but for the moment the Forsell does an almost magical job in my set up... I hope my next transport will be a computer-ipod-thing one!!

Jsadurni,

My local dealer was a Forsell dealer(before Dr. Forsell retired). He has the Forsell transport and the Forsell Turntable. Trust me the Forsell turntable is the best turntable out there. You can pick them up used but it's a great risk because there are so many parts that can be damaged.

He also carries the Lector digicode and digidrive(which I use for my digital setup) and trust me they are amazing. They produce the most analog sounding digital music I have ever heard. Also, my turntable is better than any digital rig out there. I am not being arrogant it's just I have heard the best and they don't do 50% of what my turntable does.

I hope one day we will have super high rez digital downloads because I love the convenience of my iPod setup but until then, when I want to do serious listening it's analog(unless I can't get the recording on Lp, which is rare now a days).

Jsadurni-

If it's not connected to a DAC, the Squeezebox's digital output would be useless.

AFAIK, Vinny's mod did not improve the clock and or voltage regulation feeding the Squeezebox's SPDIF chip.

IMO, there's nothing wrong with the technology. SD has continued to improve their software and firmware.

Has anyone compared the digital outputs of the SD Duet and
Wadia 170i?

Kana813

Full Mods at the time, dont get me wrong it is a nice playback, but it is not better than a very good transport and DAC. Personally I found that the battery used limited dynamics in a critical way. I dont remember what was done (I have the emails somewhere) but yes regulation at a certain point but with batteries remember than is not so important, some changes to the clock but not a new clock....

Nrosotv

Nice playback you have, a couple of friends have the same speakers but with Chord electronics and Halcro, we listened to them with a Hovland tube amp (2 el34 about 40 watts) but it didnt have the power to move them properly, I did like tubes with those speakers but there was an Accuphase integrated amp that almost made me cry... the blend was that good!

The Forsell has a certain magic that blends wonderfully with my Non-upsampling DAC, I traded a CEC TL1 for it. I guess my curiosity with CD playback stops here. I am putting together a TT, right now I am waiting for the final protoypes of a very special tonearm!