Odyssey Audio HK Forum - Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX

odysseyhk

YaBB Administrator

Offline

I love my DAC1!!!

Posts: 1449
Hong Kong

Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX
Feb 20^th, 2006, 11:34pm

Squeeze Box 3 + DIY PSU Vs Creative Audigy 2 NX + Battery Pack

數月前在Odyssey Audio 聽過 Battery-powered Creative Audigy 2NX (A2NX), 已知其靚聲, 但我沒有DIY技術, 不能 replicate Odyssey的 Battery, 只能用Standard A/C. 我酋其更討厭 A2NX外貌之衰, 所以經常以 ” 爛鬼 Sound Blaster “ 名之, 換之而後快…

等等下, 近期樂壇出�{新貴 Squeeze Box 3! SB3 外表靚仔之餘自命係 Audiophile product! 有幾靚聲是各 HTPC 友好的關注. 於是買下. 初聽時用其 Built-in A/C supply, 好不幸, 只能同 non-modified A2NX打個平手, 各有千秋, 亦各有衰聲之處 (見前 post).

終於今天有幸, 同時邀請到兩位網友, Robin & hkfind 借出高達 60W 之 DIY A/C Power Supply. 我亦從 Odyssey Audio 借來鎮店之寶, A2NX 專用DIY Battery Pack, 作 SB3+PSU VS A2NX+Battery 終極大比拼. 不好意思要勞煩Robin & hkfind兄抬了幾十磅 DIY Amp, DIY 線, 兩Set Power supply來我家!

Path係:

A2NX:
HTPC -> USB A2NX +Battery -> Coaxial -> Benchmark DAC1 -> AA Settenta -> Proac R1SC

SB3:
HTPC-> Ethernet SB3 + A/C PSU -> Coaxial -> Benchmark DAC1 -> AA Settenta -> Proac R1SC

SB3 DIY Regulated A/C Power Supply Photo: http://hk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kelvin_robin/album?.dir=4d15&.src=ph&store=&...

兩部 DIY Power Supply 取向不同, 但目的一樣: 提供最乾淨電源. SB3和 A2NX, 各自接上最強電源, 一場厮殺立即�}始…

音源: EAC Ripped Wave files: 陳潔麗, Round Up, 平井堅, Whitney Houston, 黃飛鴻, 蔡琴, Twins, 李克勤, Enya, Flamingo, …及 MP3, AAC, etc…

我的意見:
陳潔麗: A2NX分析力較高, 聲音較柔, 勝
Hacken: A2NX & SB3 一樣
Round Up: SB3小勝 1-2%
平井堅: 一樣
蔡琴: A2NX 勝 5%
Flamingo: SB3勝
Enya: A2NX wins
Whitney Houston : Same
黃飛鴻: A2NX wins very slightly.
Audiophile Latin Guitar: A2NX
其它MP3, AAC : 都是A2NX勝

我們一致�{為, A2NX分析力較高, 勝超高, 所以音場較深, 音樂感亦多少少. 以聲/價錢比亦勝出. 唯HTPC USB 的 Implementation可能�|影響其音色.

SB3以外表, UI及方便度勝出. 因用Ethernet + 64MB RAM Buffer, 真正Digital, HTPC點砌都不�|影響 SB3 音色. 音色除超高外, 其它音色同 A2NX一樣, 所以音場較前, no good. 點換線都無用. 估計係 design issue, ie 就算電源再好都不能改善其超高. 其實, 以SB3 貴 A2NX 足足一倍, 又自命 Audiophile product 來說, 超高不足已經係一條死罪, 但我的老闆睇法唔係好同, 而且SB3少條USB線, 所以SB3繼續留低. 所以話”靚聲都不一定等於好賣”.

結局真是出人意表! 再次多謝 hkfind & Robin 兄抬幾十磅重 Amp, 線到我家指教, 亦被我留下了 A/C PSU, 比 SB3 及A2NX用! 下次一定要去 Robin兄家聽 TSM 300!

with the permission of appleteapot to post on his behalf

Back to top

Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server.

IP Logged

odysseyhk YaBB Administrator Offline I love my DAC1!!! Posts: 1449 Hong Kong	Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX Reply #1 - Feb 26^th, 2006, 10:14pm 後記: After the comparison Squeeze Box 3 was sold. appleteapot is working on tweaks to improve the PSU. Battery powered A2NX is still giving the best sound.
Back to top	Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server. IP Logged

mishka YaBB Newbies Offline I love YaBB 1G - SP1! Posts: 1	Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX Reply #2 - Oct 27^th, 2006, 9:35pm Hi there, I just got my 2nx today! How do i build or where do I buy a battery pack? Failing that...where might i buy a linear powe supply? Thanks in advance! Mishka
Back to top	IP Logged

odysseyhk YaBB Administrator Offline I love my DAC1!!! Posts: 1449 Hong Kong	Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX Reply #3 - Oct 30^th, 2006, 10:01pm mishka wrote on Oct 27^th, 2006, 9:35pm: Hi there, I just got my 2nx today! How do i build or where do I buy a battery pack? Failing that...where might i buy a linear powe supply? Thanks in advance! Mishka http://www.odysseyaudiohk.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=PowerSource;action=d...
Back to top	Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server. IP Logged

odysseyhk YaBB Administrator Offline I love my DAC1!!! Posts: 1449 Hong Kong	Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX Reply #4 - Nov 10^th, 2006, 12:21am Latest Update, we changed from Audigy 2 NX to Trends Audio UD-10 USB-SPDIF converter. Trends Audio UD-10 clearly win Audigy 2 NX. It natively support 44.1kHz sampling and bit perfect.
Back to top	Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server. IP Logged

odysseyhk

YaBB Administrator

Offline

I love my DAC1!!!

Posts: 1449
Hong Kong

Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX
Reply #5 - Dec 13^th, 2006, 12:28am

With UD-10, no upsampling is used as it supported 44.1kHz natively.

In Audigy 2 NX, upsampling is used for one reason, to bypass the poor upsampling in Audigy 2 NX.  Audigy 2 NX always upsample to 48kHz for internally processing. We use SRC to usample which is better than built-in Audigy 2 NX upsampling.

We DO NOT encourage upsampling as it does NOT improve the sound quality.

For the Assemblage D2D-1, we set it up so that NO upsampling is performed. It just dejitter and reclock.

Back to top

Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server.

IP Logged

Quest

YaBB Newbies

Offline

I love YaBB 1G -
SP1!

Posts: 6

Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX
Reply #6 - Jan 10^th, 2007, 11:27pm

hi, just wondering if you had tried other usb soundcard like the m-audio audiophile usb?
that is just slightly more expensive than the ud-10.
the interior of the m-audio: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210684

i too am using only digital output, and am looking for a replacement for squeezebox.
thinking of selling after reading your reviews to get better HAPC.

Back to top

IP Logged

odysseyhk

YaBB Administrator

Offline

I love my DAC1!!!

Posts: 1449
Hong Kong

Re: Squeeze Box 3 vs Audigy 2 NX
Reply #7 - Jan 11^th, 2007, 12:55am

Quest wrote on Jan 10^th, 2007, 11:27pm:

hi, just wondering if you had tried other usb soundcard like the m-audio audiophile usb?
that is just slightly more expensive than the ud-10.
the interior of the m-audio: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=210684

i too am using only digital output, and am looking for a replacement for squeezebox.
thinking of selling after reading your reviews to get better HAPC.

There is one customer brought along a M-Audio Transit for audition. UD-10 is far better than M-Audio Transit. We did not try M-Audio Audiophile USB and we have no comment on this model. If you can borrow it and we can have comparison at the showroom. But you need to bring a notebook with you as I don't want to install too many drivers on my PC.

One thing to note is that the UD-10 we used is tweaked with battery. It sounds much better with battery. While for SB3, using battery did not improve the sound much. And it is not practical to use battery with SB3 given that the power consumption is much higher.

Disclaimer : We do not sell SqueezeBox3 or UD-10. The performance of SB3 and UD-10 may vary under different configurations.

Back to top

Odyssey Audio HK is run by audiophiles, not sales. We focus on bringing top class audio components with great value for money to music lovers. We innovate & specialize in digital audio and PC audio server.

IP Logged

	Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register	Click Here for Odyssey Audio HK Homepage
	News:	Click Here for Odyssey Audio HK Homepage