Killing the CD player project

My 2004 New Years Resolution was to kill off all audio CD players for listening to music. I've had too many of them, they break, and worse, it is too hard to find the music that I've paid for. I have duplicate copies of far more CDs than I want to admit. I moved all the files to a music server and play the songs from there. So that is one resolution that I've actually kept.

Rather than using MP3 or WMA files, I use simple FLAC lossless compression of the WAV files.

I have a music server, from my OneBigCD days. It needed bigger disks, but other than that, it was ready. I got a 200GB disk for $105 and it installed in an instant.

I bought a Slim Devices Squeezebox. Very cool. Highly recommended. I've written some utility software to help manage your collection. And some assorted notes on software to rip and compress your collection

I started using the Squeezebox D-to-A converter. I splurged for a very good Digital to Analog converter, a Benchmark DAC-1 (about $975) (RCA and XLR out) (192k)

Other DAC's that I looked at before I bought the Benchmark include:

• Apogee Mini DAC (about $1000, more with USB) (XLR out) (192k)
• Mytek Stereo96k DAC (also about $1000) (XLR out)
• At the low end, M-Audio Transit USB ($80), 1/8" mini line out, Toslink in.

What's in a Squeezebox?

A squeezebox is a small box, about the size of a large paperback book. It has a fairly large display on the front, two network interfaces (both Ethernet and WiFi), a computer, OS and soundcard.

The electronic heart of the series One Squeezebox is a specialized IC for all audio processing, the Micronas MAS 3509F. Search google for the engineering data sheet, there was a copy here.

SlimDevices has releases a new and improved product, called the SqueezeBox 2. It is better and priced the same.

Some internal geek specs on the SB2 CPU:

• http://www.ubicom.com (the manufacturer)
• http://www.silicondust.com/ubicom/forum (forum operated by Nick Kelsey, a former ubicom employee. He is trying to negotiate a scenario where smaller customers could get cheaper/free access to tools and OS)
• http://www.seanadams.com/ip3k/cpu_module (some information about the processor module we designed, which is used in Squeezebox2). The ip3k is a brand new processor architecture, and Squeezebox2 will be one of the first products to ship with it.

Of interest to mid-level audiophiles, the SB2 has some significant audio quality improvements. Sean Adams, CEO and hardware guru of SlimDevices, wrote:

"Although I don't often contribute to the audiophile discussions, I really do enjoy reading them. Regardless of who can hear what, the fact is that there are indeed some real measurable characteristics such as output levels, THD+N, and clock precision where we had room for significant improvement. Squeezebox2 has completely done away with all the limitations - we're now doing all of the audio decoding and DSP work in software, and this gave me the freedom to design the digital outputs and analog stages exactly the way I wanted them. Please see the FAQ and the hardware specs page for details on the new design."

User Interface

The only real user interface on the Squeezebox itself is a display, it has no buttons. The Series 1 SqueezeBox used a Noritake-Itron Vacuum Fluorescent display. Data sheet is here.

Squeezebox2 also has a new vacuum fluorescent display - we had it custom designed by Noritake specifically to support the ideas we had in mind for new fonts, animations, and visualizers. The display is slightly larger physically, and has more than twice the resolution at 320x32 pixels. It has multiple brightness levels of course, but it also has grayscale capability, which we use for the visualizers and graphics.

Slim remote control

Links

• Background and Tips for capturing your music
• Usage hints for CDex
• Arithmetic behind Digital Audio
• My software utilities for managing the collection.

Software for DVD-A creation

All these questions are answered over here: http://www.discwelder.com They make two different varieties of DVD audio-mastering software: Diskwelder Steel and Diskwelder Chrome. The former sells for about $500 and gives you most basic DVD-A surround mastering tools; the latter sells for about $2500 and adds more menuing capabilities and professional mastering tools. Both work under Windows 98 & XP.

Here's one work around for DVD-lab: http://www.dvdrhelp.com/forum/userguides/169251.php