Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems Squeezebox or Transporter

Hiya , tried he search to see if anything came up but nada.
Anyway heres the thing , I use a Theta jade transport running thru a Z-sys RDP-1 digital parametric/pre with a set of Meridian DSP5500's
I want to dip my feet into server based music and thought a Squeezebox ideal.
However I also have a set of ATC scm50a's.

Now here'e the thing , I can get a SB at around $300 or a Transporter at around the equiv of $1200 - neither are a huge outlay for me , but I don't want to "waste" money on the more expensive unit. (seems the transporter in the US is closer to $2k , so perhaps 1200 is a "bargain")
So I have a few questions and points and need some advice
1)In the DSP based system , would there be ANY sonic diff tween the SB and TRANS? Is there any difference in terms of ergonomics and useability.
In all likelyhood , I will be ripping uncompressed to my HD.

2) One thing about the SB is it has a headphone output whereas the Trans has none , is this headphone output at all decent? I am using Senn HD650's with a Jolida CDP and a Musical Fidelity X-can V3 valve amp.

3) Can the transporter be used as a stand alone DAC of any quality

4) Is the volume control only in the digital doman for the Trans , IE can it be used as a decent DAC AND a Pre of sorts?

5) My ATC's have balanced inputs , The Trans has balanced outputs , currently I run the ATC's off a TACT 2.00 with an AD/DA board and I'm not that impressed. I'm thinking the Transporter might be a better option especially since I can use it as a music server and a DAC/pre? (I could use the SB into the TACT too)

6)Is either unit sensitive to Digital cables ,I would do away with the LONG Meridian cable and use a Kimber illuminati to my master speaker cos I can site either SB or transporter near the master.

7) Are there any issues with either unit and DSP speakers (older non 24/96 models)

As I said , neither unit is a financial hardship , I haven't spent much on my system recently so I am in "credit" but if the SB is more than good enough , perhaps I should use the balance for something else , like a really hot puter for ripping or some terrabyte Raid HD system instead of wanting to run atc's or other non digital systems.

Thanks in advance for any info.

Once you begin to use Server based Music Files, Convenience of Access becomes important (IMHO)

Have a look at Sonos.com, in particular at the Zoneplayer 80 with the Digital Outputs.

While this solution is slightly more expensive than the Squeezbox, it does place the LCD Controller IN YOUR HAND. This works almost exactly like an iPod, allowing you to browse your Music Collection by Artist, Album, Playlist, Genre, etc.

If you are talking about Archiving a large Music collection to Hard Disk, then I think future ease of access or "browsing" becomes very important. Also easier to use for others, like SWMBO!!!

There are quite a number of Sonos users on this site and I think it's fair to say that most, if not all, would be very happy with its performance when playing Lossless files from a Server

Have a look and see what you think

Also, when you do get around to Ripping to WAV (or Lossless), take a look at http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/ for the most accurate solution available for making sure that the CD Copy you rip to Hard Drive is bit accurate to the CD. Slightly more cumbersome than you might imagine, but worth it

Good luck

1) The Transporter can play 24/96 stereo tracks. The SB3 can also do this, but only by throwing away every other sample - it's a 24/48 max solution.

2) No, from what I've heard the headphone output isn't all that impressive. If you're just using the digital out from the SB3 (as I do to my G68) it's fine, going analogue to a stereo system leaves it far behind a Transporter.

3) It's said to be a good DAC as well, but I haven't heard that demoed.

4) As I understand it, it's digital only. Usually no problems with CD quality playback, but 24/96 tracks would of course get the sound changed a bit (or some bits).

The good thing with Squeezebox is that you can start out cheap and build on the system, as well as put the music server on an old PC or a NAS - and the huge User Community creates vauable plugins because of the use of open source code. But it would be more heterogene than a Sonos system (have only seen Sonos at a short demo), and the Sonos remotes are nice. But SqueezeCenter (the new name for SlimServer) can also be controlled by Wi-Fi devices like Archos 405/605, Nokia N800, your portable computer - and the new SB remote with colour screen will probably be released in January.

Oooh! Any links with details on this?

Thanks,

Mark

Been wondering when they'd up the functionality of the remote and take on Sonos a bit.

Well , Rhurley being in South Africa , my choices are limited. The local logitech importer has only 1 transporter and 7 Sb's in stock. Sonos would be out as its not represented here and I would have to import one with almost no back up. I was wondering just how good the access and interface was as well.
As to EAC , well right from the very first CDR writers , it's what I have been using for copying for other devices (and I'm pretty anal about that) , I swear by it. I will most likely re-rip my whole collection as I never kept ripped files , this is my first foray into music servers so wanna do it 100% right.

Tommy , thank for the additional info , I did find out more about the attn on the transporter , evidently its a hybrid system in that there are jumpers that set the max level and you do digital from there ....so essentially one can really limit the digital domain attenuation to as little as possible , quite a nice solution indeed.
Are these user based add ons only for the SB or will whatever works on the SB work on the transporter?
Is there something like a parametric EQ available for either unit as a plug in?
As I mentioned prior , only one unit in stock in the country , but I would hate to buy it and find that there is an upgraded colour remote available in 2-3 months , however I do have a Sony programmeable remote - perhaps that would make life easier ? Dunno whether I want to use my phone , pda or gps etc to control the unit , I'm a bit of a luddite when it comes to those things , I only learned how to SMS a year ago

I know you can be forever waiting for what's around the corner, but I have a feeling there will be a bunch of new and improved music streamers coming out in the next few months.

Maybe it's just increased awareness and adoption on the forums I frequent but it seems more and more people are getting into it, and it seems there is a hell of a gap waiting to be filled between the cheap n cheerful "consumer" streamers and the high end stuff.

As far as quality goes your in the grey area. The Transporter has slightly better jitter which (in my opinion) is the only thing that will effect the quality. But the Meridian DSP Speakers and Processors should factor that out. But if the Processor did the job perfectly (dejitter) I don't see why Meridian would sell $12,000 CD players and folks buy them :-). Neither SB or TP will drop bits on you.

For $1200 and if you have the bucks I'd get the Transporter. They both hold their value pretty good if you change your mind.

I think TP can be used as a standalone DAC.

If you use the Analog outputs (I think) you can setup the TP to do only analog volume.

Keep in mind that a big piece of what you are paying for is the DAC in the TP. A lot of folks wished they would release a DAC-less version of the TP.

The Display is nicer on the TP.

Rodney

You might find this thread useful:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=36561


Regards
Gary

Ta for that Gary.
So in essence if I can't get a SB+ , then the Transporter is a no brainer choice?
I do have extensive power conditioning in my listening room , totally dedicated spurs to the power plugs , power smoothers and 1:1 isolation transformers and a selection fancy (well not exhorbitantly fancy)power cables.
One thing confuses me , the literature says Volume control over all outputs , The RCA analogs have jumpers and when they describe the balanced outputs , they say "fixed attenutuation" , by that I do assume that the DIGITAL vol control still does exist over all the outputs but the ablity to limit the balanced in the analog domain , like the RCA's is not present.
IE I can still use the unit as a DAC and digital attn pre to my ATC's using the balanced outs , or whould I have to buy a dedicated pre for vol control?

Rodney

The balanced outputs don't have jumpers so the volume control is purely digital, although not necessary I preferred to use a passive preamp on the balanced outputs (Audio Synthesis Passion 8m).

I wouldn't say the Transporter was a 'no brainer' choice, it depends on your requirements. I've not heard a standard Transporter but after the original bout of modifications by Reference Audio Mods my Transporter was a close match for a standard analogue version of the SB+ but cost nearly 4 times the price. It needed a few more mods to pull ahead of the SB+, in other words, if you don't need the DAC/preamp facilities of the Transporter then an analogue SB+ at �1000 is exremely good value for money. With power conditioning and decent cables it was very close to my GNSC modified Wadia 861se.

I recently sold my Transporter to somebody with ATC 20's and 100's (not sure that's the right numbers), as far as I know he is using the output from the Transporter direct to the speakers.

Regards
Gary

here we go again.....

IMHO and FWIW I do not believe that the SB3 and the SB+ sound the same playing into my DSP's; just t6he same as my 206, 596 and 598 do not sound the same...all going in via SPDIF.

But then again, what do I know....I only listen to the music.