Can somebody else check this with their SBT?

I think we all know by now what this section is for.
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#1 Can somebody else check this with their SBT?

Post by Cressy Snr »

As an aside from the 801A thread I happened across this app on the Slimdevices forum.

Enhanced digital output 192KHz capable.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthrea ... ital-Ouput

I installed it on my SBT and frankly it appears to be wonderful.

It seems to take the performance of the SBT into another league IMO.

If somebody with a Touch would care to download and install the app and give their opinion I'd be grateful.

I need to check that it is not mere wishful thinking.

I have no 192K files to try but the performance on everything else is great and gives a substantial lift to the performance with an external DAC. (I think)

The reviews have been positive on the SD forum so I don't think I'm alone in hearing what I'm hearing.
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#2

Post by The Stratmangler »

Just installed it - can't listen 'cos SWMBO is watching shite on the idiot lantern.
I'll have a listen as soon as is humanly possible....
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#3

Post by Cressy Snr »

Well after a bit of head scratching, my SBT now streams full 24/192KHz high resolution FLAC files.

And it sounds ruddy marvelous!

I obtained a couple of 24/192 FLAC files, but at first when I tried streaming 192KHz the SBT simply refused, putting up an
"unsupported file format" error message.

Going into the Settings > Advanced menu turned up a new addition, a "digital output" item.
Going in there, I was presented with just two options as I had not plugged a USB cable into the DAC (pointless anyway with the no higher than 48KHz support of the MF DAC)

The two options were "digital + analogue output" or "digital only"
It is the "digital only" option you need to select as the SBT won't receive a 24/192 stream if the analogue output is active.

The selection made, the SBT rebooted itself and lo and behold 24/192 now played at native resolution.

This is an awesome upgrade actually.

Mr Triode, the guy who spent a lot of time getting this app up to speed and ironing out the glitches, over a long time deserves a medal!
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#4

Post by The Stratmangler »

Had a brief listen last night, and there does indeed seem to be an improvement in sound quality - everything seems to hang together better and sounds a bit more like decent vinyl replay, only without the tears.

My DAC can't cope with 24/192, so all I could hear from it was clicks.
The player was however showing all the signs of playing the tracks.
I take it your DAC can handle 24/192 over S/PDIF Steve.
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#5

Post by Cressy Snr »

The Stratmangler wrote:Had a brief listen last night, and there does indeed seem to be an improvement in sound quality - everything seems to hang together better and sounds a bit more like decent vinyl replay, only without the tears.

My DAC can't cope with 24/192, so all I could hear from it was clicks.
The player was however showing all the signs of playing the tracks.
I take it your DAC can handle 24/192 over S/PDIF Steve.
Yes, that's just how I would describe the sound quality from this new bit of firmware tweakery. It really does sound "analogue".

Voices are handled far better than the stock setup, losing a hardness that I had not been bothered by too much until I heard what things sound like when it is absent.
Soundstage depth and width at the back are brought into better focus on the right recordings
(usually 1950s and 60s jazz and easy listening offerings).

Treble details such as the ring, texture and decay of ride cymbals and general air and space are also ahead of the stock setup.

In short the sound is very lifelike, but without the fuzz, smeared sibilants and
the rest of the headaches that go with end-of-side budget vinyl replay (sorry but that's the way it is)

My Musical Fidelity DAC handles up to 24/192 on its coax output, up to 24/96 on its Toslink and up to 24/48 on the USB,
so we can see where Anthony Michaelson's priorities lay when costing out his affordable M1 DAC.
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#6

Post by Nick »

My Musical Fidelity DAC handles up to 24/192 on its coax output, up to 24/96 on its Toslink and up to 24/48 on the USB,
so we can see where Anthony Michaelson's priorities lay when costing out his affordable M1 DAC.
Don;t read too much into that, 24/192 is easy with off the shelf parts and spdiff, to do the same with USB is much more complex and far less standard/cheap.
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#7

Post by ed »

not sure if I put this up somewhere else.....if I did then I apologise. If I didn't then I apologise...or maybe somebody else put it up?

http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
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#8

Post by pre65 »

An interesting read Ed. :wink:
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#9

Post by Cressy Snr »

Well that's killed it then
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#10

Post by pre65 »

SteveTheShadow wrote:Well that's killed it then
Not sure what you mean now Steve. I thought your original comment was more to the point. :lol:
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#11

Post by Cressy Snr »

pre65 wrote:
SteveTheShadow wrote:Well that's killed it then
Not sure what you mean now Steve. I thought your original comment was more to the point. :lol:
Ok I'll reinstate it:

I couldn't give a flying fsck
I know what my ears are telling me and that's that!

With a bit of added information:
2 days in with the firmware hack and it still sounds bloody marvelous.

Claire Martin and Richard Rodney Bennett at 24/192KHz FLAC sounds waaay better than the downsampled, CD quality 16/44.1KHz
The track comparison being that of "Witchcraft".

Must be fooling myself though as the 24/192 cost £1.89 - twice the price of the CD quality FLAC so it has to sound better.

There, that's what's causing it. I knew it had to be something simple.

Is that better? :D
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#12

Post by pre65 »

SteveTheShadow wrote: Is that better? :D
Yes. :wink: :lol:
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#13

Post by Lee S »

SteveTheShadow wrote:I couldn't give a flying fsck
I know what my ears are telling me and that's that!
from Ed's posted website wrote:The number one comment I heard from believers in super high rate audio was [paraphrasing]: "I've listened to high rate audio myself and the improvement is obvious. Are you seriously telling me not to trust my own ears?"

Of course you can trust your ears. It's brains that are gullible. I don't mean that flippantly; as human beings, we're all wired that way.
:lol: :lol:
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#14

Post by Cressy Snr »

Lee S wrote:
SteveTheShadow wrote:I couldn't give a flying fsck
I know what my ears are telling me and that's that!
from Ed's posted website wrote:The number one comment I heard from believers in super high rate audio was [paraphrasing]: "I've listened to high rate audio myself and the improvement is obvious. Are you seriously telling me not to trust my own ears?"

Of course you can trust your ears. It's brains that are gullible. I don't mean that flippantly; as human beings, we're all wired that way.
:lol: :lol:
Then I'm a believer.

Though how a thread about a firmware hack to a squeezebox that appears to give superior sound quality to the stock firmware, and enables 24/192, could degenerate into a subjectivist, objectivist argument is disturbing.

Next you'll be telling me that vinyl sounds better than digital because it has infinitely high resolution and does not chop the sound up into little bits.
That rather neatly negates everything the article writer says, if you happen to believe in the superiority of vinyl records over digital.

I'm bored with this crap to be honest.

Let's stick to the subject or continue the argument in another thread please.
This is exactly the reason I had second thoughts and removed my original comment to Ed's link.

I suspected this would start. Guess I was not wrong.
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#15

Post by Lee S »

Hey come on Steve, lighten up... I was only jesting. No offence intended. I always enjoy reading your threads/posts/articles. They're great. 8)

Unfortunately, I had just read that whole article Ed had posted and then refreshed the AT screen and saw your last remark about believing ears.

I was only messing, honestly. :oops:

Anyway... Back to the topic in hand... :arrow:
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