New Version of Squeezebox

F

FLMike

Audioholic
New Version of Squeezebox PC Music File Streamer

I posted a comment in the streamer thread below, but thought some of you might be interested in this on its own. Slimdevices has released a new version of their Squeezebox, the SB2. They appear to have made some upgrades directly targeted at the "Audiophyle" community. Ive posted their comments below and would be interested to hear what some of you think.

From Slimdevices:

What's new for audiophiles?
Squeezebox2 features a new design for its audio output stages, which includes components and design aspects usually found only in much more expensive equipment. We listened to our audiophile customers, and carefully designed both the digital and analog output circuitry for extreme performance. We tested many power supply, DAC, and op-amp designs and selected the best configuration using measurements taken with a Dscope Series III audio analyzer. The result is an incredible level of measurable performance rivalling much more expensive equipment.

For the analog output stage, we used extensive power supply isolation and filtering, with separate dedicated linear regulators for the DAC and line-out amplification stages. The PCM1748 DAC comes from Burr-Brown™, a brand widely recognized for high quality and ultra-low distortion levels. Full 6Vpp line-out levels ensure a high signal-to-noise ratio through to the receiver, and power levels compliant with high-end gear.

The S/PDIF interface and DAC clocks are driven directly by two dedicated crystal oscillator circuits running at fixed frequencies. By contrast, other low-cost devices generally use a PLL circuit to generate multiple clock frequencies from a single crystal - this design is less expensive, but it is more susceptible to instability due to power supply noise and environmental factors. By using dedicated fixed oscillators, Squeezebox2 eliminates the predominant source of jitter and clock imprecision in S/PDIF sources.

In addition to this new hardware, Squeezebox2 uses a new signal processing architecture implemented entirely in software - we call it SlimDSP™. This means that all audio format decoding, synthesis, filtering, mixing, and attenuation operations are tuneable and upgradeable with firmware. Even all of the audio-releated logic circuitry, such as the encoding of the S/PDIF output signal and the presentation of data to the DAC, are implemented in a field-upgradeable Xilinx gate array. Squeezebox2 is without a doubt the most capable, configurable, and upgradeable networked audio device ever created.
 
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