Squeezebox touch vs Arcam Alpha+

[admin_exported]

Hi Everyone,

I just got a SB Touch, its amazingly well made!

The thing is when listening to uncompressed riped CDs it is no match for my 17 year old Arcam Alpha+ CD player, which is a surprise (to me at least!).

The amp is a NAIT 2 and speakers are Mission 753 Freedoms.

I will borrow a UnitiQute and see what that sounds like.

Ian.

 

[Tonya]

The unit IS extremely well made and sounds really, really good.
Please tell me you are using the digital out signal from the Touch, the analogue out is OK but for the best performance I use the coaxial.
At home, mine is connected to several hard drives, one of which is exclusively devoted to the DTS format.
We also have a high quality streaming service called "WimP" where for a mere £9 a month, it's an all you can eat high quality service that included even the most difficult to find stuff.
What really sold it for me was the nice interface for the iPad that mirrors the user interface, complete with album art.

 

[Pedro2]

Hi ihailey,

Any more impressions about your touch?

Recently bought a touch after a couple of years squeezing (excuse the pun) as much as possible out of a duet receiver (modified by Brent at Fidelity Audio with new clock etc as well as a linear power supply). I have been quite happy with the results but was intrigued to see whether the Touch could do better (having read that it could).

On first listening, the comparisons weren't that favourable. I could understand you preferring the alpha+ cd player.

I then following the tweaking advice provided by soundcheck (see his 'toolbox 2') as well as Dynobot.

I was very sceptical that any software tweaks could improve the sound but they definitely have and I've now installed the touch as my main player, relegating the receiver to another room.

I'm not a computer bod so had to follow the instructions letter by letter but it's not hard and worth trying. The sound I'm getting now really is very, very good.

p.s I'm feeding the signal from the touch into a Beresford Dac

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Pedro,

Yesterday I compared the SB Touch (no SW mods) to a UnitiQute (SB connect to the Uniti via coax), playing the same WAV file.

Sadly it shows up the SB Touch quite badly, if I have time I will try the SW mods to see how they impact the results.

Ian.