List of known working dacs maintained by the community:
I've posted a new applet to the 3rd party apps list for Squeezebox Touch. This is designed to enhance the digital output capabilities of the device for use with external Dacs. It is based on the software which people have helped me test on the "Async USB Dac Experiments" thread but should now be suitable for less experienced users to install.
The app should add support of the following to your Squeezebox Touch:
- External USB dacs using either USB audio class 1 or 2 protocols [USB 1 dacs normally state they support up to 96k sample rates, USB 2 dacs normally state up to 192k]
- Support of 176 and 192k playback via the standard digital output
There are a number of limitations to be aware of:
1) USB 1 dacs which operate in asynchronous mode probably need an external high speed hub to work without "clicks" - this is due to what appears to be a limitation in the Touch hardware. It is completely resolved with a cheap (<$10) bus powered hub connected between the dac and squeezebox. There is a workaround option which works with some dacs if a hub is not used, but it limits playback to 44/48k sample rates. At present is has only been proved to work with Audiolab/Lakewest dacs.
2) USB support does not yet support hot plugging of usb dacs - please connect your dac and leave turned on at present [this is likely to improve in future]
3) 192k playback requires a dac which supports it and is only supported with flac files using native decoding at present. [In future 7.8 LMS and firmware should support 192k wav streaming] It will also require sufficient bandwidth on your network.
4) Only one output can be selected at once, this means when a USB dac or the Digital Output are selected there will be no sound on the analog outputs.
The app is called "Enhanced Digital Output" and is the main 3rd party apps list.
To install, please following the following steps:
1) Ensure your Squeezebox Touch is running 7.7.x or later firmware
2) Go to Apps Gallery -> 3rd Party Apps on the touch screen
3) Deselect the "recommended applets only" option, so that you see a longer list of apps
4) Select "Enhanced Digital Output" and select it for installation
5) Your touch should download the app, reboot, then download a new custom linux kernel and reboot again
6) You should now get a list of possible output devices - this should include "Digital Output" and your USB Dac if it is plugged in, select the appropriate output
7) Touch should reboot again and then be ready to start playing with the selected output
If you want to change the output go to Setting > Audio Settings > Digital Output; if you want to change some of the advanced options go to Settings > Advanced > Digital Output
Please note that if you perform a firmware update, then the app and kernel will need to be reinstalled, this should be automated just requiring you to install the app again or to have the "reinstall after update" option selected from the 3rd party apps list.
If you want to completely remove the app, then uninstall it and force a firmware upgrade to reinstall the Logitech firmware and kernel.
Please post your feedback on this thread - I would like to create a list of USB DACs which are known to work with it, we started that on the experiment thread, but I think it would be cleaner to maintain a list here.
I've posted a new applet to the 3rd party apps list for Squeezebox Touch. This is designed to enhance the digital output capabilities of the device for use with external Dacs. It is based on the software which people have helped me test on the "Async USB Dac Experiments" thread but should now be suitable for less experienced users to install.
The app should add support of the following to your Squeezebox Touch:
- External USB dacs using either USB audio class 1 or 2 protocols [USB 1 dacs normally state they support up to 96k sample rates, USB 2 dacs normally state up to 192k]
- Support of 176 and 192k playback via the standard digital output
There are a number of limitations to be aware of:
1) USB 1 dacs which operate in asynchronous mode probably need an external high speed hub to work without "clicks" - this is due to what appears to be a limitation in the Touch hardware. It is completely resolved with a cheap (<$10) bus powered hub connected between the dac and squeezebox. There is a workaround option which works with some dacs if a hub is not used, but it limits playback to 44/48k sample rates. At present is has only been proved to work with Audiolab/Lakewest dacs.
2) USB support does not yet support hot plugging of usb dacs - please connect your dac and leave turned on at present [this is likely to improve in future]
3) 192k playback requires a dac which supports it and is only supported with flac files using native decoding at present. [In future 7.8 LMS and firmware should support 192k wav streaming] It will also require sufficient bandwidth on your network.
4) Only one output can be selected at once, this means when a USB dac or the Digital Output are selected there will be no sound on the analog outputs.
The app is called "Enhanced Digital Output" and is the main 3rd party apps list.
To install, please following the following steps:
1) Ensure your Squeezebox Touch is running 7.7.x or later firmware
2) Go to Apps Gallery -> 3rd Party Apps on the touch screen
3) Deselect the "recommended applets only" option, so that you see a longer list of apps
4) Select "Enhanced Digital Output" and select it for installation
5) Your touch should download the app, reboot, then download a new custom linux kernel and reboot again
6) You should now get a list of possible output devices - this should include "Digital Output" and your USB Dac if it is plugged in, select the appropriate output
7) Touch should reboot again and then be ready to start playing with the selected output
If you want to change the output go to Setting > Audio Settings > Digital Output; if you want to change some of the advanced options go to Settings > Advanced > Digital Output
Please note that if you perform a firmware update, then the app and kernel will need to be reinstalled, this should be automated just requiring you to install the app again or to have the "reinstall after update" option selected from the 3rd party apps list.
If you want to completely remove the app, then uninstall it and force a firmware upgrade to reinstall the Logitech firmware and kernel.
Please post your feedback on this thread - I would like to create a list of USB DACs which are known to work with it, we started that on the experiment thread, but I think it would be cleaner to maintain a list here.
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