Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion HiFi & HT Chat Moving to a Streaming Setup (A Bit of a Ramble, Sorry)

For HD video streaming check out the Dune players. They have also been discussed on this forum several times, so do a search.

Thanks Ronnie,

I wonder if I would have made my latest very expensive upgrades if I had had a SB Touch and it had sounded closer to my preceeding G91 upsampling into my G68? Could I have justified the expense for the ROI? Totally academic questions for me at this stage, but very relevant for Seeker.

Aloha,

IMHO, some of the biggest reasons for moving to a Music Server are Convenience and Easy to Use Software Interface

While some Bluray players can play Lossless files etc., the User Interface is simply not there yet and in most cases require the User to switch on the "TV" to access the Music

By comparison, the Squeeze, Sonos and Sooloos Options all allow iOS and Android devices to act as an Easy to User interface..........that can be used from anywhere in the house

I would stick with my earlier advice SB Touch plus Flash Memory card.......once you play around with that for a while, you can then review other options

Hi Dolf
Just for reference, I used to use the Sonos ZP90 for "casual" listening, where the ability to switch between Albums and Playlists etc., was very useful

However, for "critical" listening, where I just wanted to sit back and enjoy the music at its optimum quality, I would revert to spinning CDs on my 800 player.

Using the SB Touch brought the Sound Quality noticeably closer to the 800.......still not quite as good, but only when critically listening for tell tale musical cues.

And for reference, I always found the 800 to sound noticeably better than the other Meridian spinners of its era, i.e. the G91, G98, 508.24 etc.........most likely due to its Upsampling, MHR and Low Jitter design.

Only the 808.2 and 808.3 surpassed it for CD16/44........and funnily enough the 800 sounded better with High Res 2ch discs (which the 808.3 can't play).

Summary: The SB Touch is a very high quality Sounding player.......and when you factor in the �180 cost, it becomes very hard to beat.

Hi All,

I have been reading this post with extreme interest. When funds allow I would like to move away from my CD player. The idea of buying an SB touch is intriguing. I have a few external hard drives so could I use one of them? or is a USB flash drive better? Not bothered if everything is hard wired or not.

If I added an external DAC at some stage, would that set up match or improve the sound over my G06. Not botheres how many �boxes� I have stacked up.

Thanks
Shaun

Logitech recommend that any USB Attached Hard Drive be self powered, rather than powered by the SB Touch's USB port..............as the Touch's USB port may not deliver enough power to keep the hard drive running

Some USB Hard Drives work fine and others don't

In all of this, I think it's best to put as little stress as possible on the SB Touch.........i.e. focus its Resources on Decoding the FLAC and outputting the PCM with as low as possible jitter

With this in mind, I think using a Flash Drive, which has tiny power requirements by comparison to a USB Hard Drive.........is a slightly better option

In the longer term, using a NAS to feed the SB Touch over Ethernet is the better way to go anyway.......my suggestion above is just to allow Seeker to "get his feet wet"........and the same could apply to your good self

As regards a DAC, I believe that the SBT has a very good DAC in relative terms.......but I think that your G61R would still be superior, so just route the SBT thru that??

Many thanks Ronnie, I have asked Santa for one - can't wait!!

CheeRS

Shaun

There must be an echo in here.

Hi Ronnie,

I am going to get Santa to build me a NAS drive (assuming I am a good boy) any recommendations? I don�t have a large music collection.

Thanks in advance

Shaun

I informed my friend that I going to buy a SB Touch and he said it was a poor mans� Sonos. I said no that it had lower jitter and the DAC was better, however, I just made that up, as I have no idea.

However, as this site recommended SB and not sonos there must be many valid reasons, could someone please enlighten me.

Thanks in advance

Shaun

The source one seems to me (but what do I know) to be a PC and the sound card is a RME Hammerfall DSP 9632 PCI sound card.

Why so expense? Is it just the software we are paying for? Or am I missing something here?

Has anyone tried plugging the said sound card into a PC

CheeRS

Shaun

The Touch has lower jitter and the DAC is better.