SB Touch + speaker to replace SB Boom?

[slartibartfast]

So, you're saying I can plug my Touch directly into, say, powered computer speakers like an set of Creative Gigaworks, simply using a Y adapter and RCA cables? If so, yet another option.

You could also plug the speakers into the 3.5mm headphone socket.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[d6jg]

So, you're saying I can plug my Touch directly into, say, powered computer speakers like an set of Creative Gigaworks, simply using a Y adapter and RCA cables? If so, yet another option.

If you are looking at PC speakers then I'd look for USB Active Speakers - something like Alesis 320's or Behringer Media 40 - these have analogue in via RCA or 3.5mm but also have 2 way USB albeit some are limited to 16/44.1.

I have a pair of Ion Deskrockers - they are exactly the same as the Alesis as in the same speakers - plugged into a Raspberry Pi USB at a remote location I visit once a week. They produce a good sound. Via RCA these would work with anything except a Turntable where you might need a pre-amp. They are a big step up from Creative Gigaworks. Via USB they will also work with pretty much everything as no drivers are required.

[Jeff07971]

There these:

https://kantoaudio.com/product/yu4/

My friend swears by them and they have multiple inputs

Jeff

[left channel]

I use the RCA outs to active speakers. The Marshall Stanmore line is amazing. For stereo separation, AudioEngine A5+ speakers perform very well.

[chopinhauer]

One setup I've used with good success is using a "Y" adapter to feed both analog channels of an SB Classic (SB2, actually) into a single powered speaker.

Would this work for the Receiver in the SB Duet combo? I'm leaning towards using one of my many Duet Receivers instead of my spare Touch.

Given the smallness of the room and the fact that I don't play music loudly there I just want any-old cheapish powered speakers. Some of the suggested powered speakers are just too good (and too expensive) for the my purposes. On the other hand, if I do choose to spend upwards of $AUS300 for a more long-term and flexible solution then the Audio Pro C5s or the Liberatone Zipp seem more attractive options, especially when and if they become Airplay 2 ready.

[sleepysurf]

Take a look at the Vanatoo Transparent Zero's... https://www.amazon.com/Vanatoo-Trans...web_8937008011

They are fully active, with built-in Class D amp, DAC, Bluetooth, remote, and every conceivable connection option. Can even pair them with a small sub. They provide audiophile-grade sound at an entry level price.

[peterw]

Would this work for the Receiver in the SB Duet combo? I'm leaning towards using one of my many Duet Receivers instead of my spare Touch.

I would expect it to work, but having done a bunch more Googling, apparently it depends on the player device -- most modern devices handling this well, but some suffering damage from shorting L+ and R+.

I guess @seanadams isn't gonna jump in and help us out. :-(

Another option, depending on your LMS server, might be using a custom-convert.conf file to have LMS transcode everything for the Receiver down to mono. I expect that wouldn't work so well with synchronized playback.

Yet another might be configuring your spare Touch to play mono. At its heart, the Touch is a Linux system using the ALSA audio APIs, so you might be able to configure ALSA to always output mono. This would be your safest bet -- synchronized playback should be fine, no extra burden on LMS... toughest part might be figuring out how to configure it, as Touch is likely using a pretty old version of alsa.

[agbagb]

You could also plug the speakers into the 3.5mm headphone socket.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I've got multiple SB installations, some using a pretty high-end amp and speaker system. But, you know, one of my very favorite "as-listened-to" systems is exceptionally simple, and cheap - a Touch driving via 3.5mm jack a very old JBL Spot computer speaker system: two tiny mains-powered speakers and a larger bass unit. Those Spots were around 100 US, but have been out of production for years. They were and are so well-regarded and popular that they are still relatively easy to find on-line at modest prices (sometimes unused new/old stock). Here's a original BestBuy webpage, just for details and reviews:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/reviews/jbl-spot-2-1-multimedia-speaker-system/8475866

They fill a 50 square meter room with a powerful and accurate sound. Amazing. And many an audiophile friend at first thinks they are listening to something I've probably spent a small fortune on.

I actually do have a spare set of Spots, but I'm holding on to them.....

[peterw]

chopinhauer, here's your recipe, based on Touch firmware 7.8.0 r16754 and this alsa suggestion. Only briefly tested, and only with the analog outputs, this does seem to route all sound to the left channel. (To send to the right channel you should only need to change the second digits from "0" to "1" and "2" to "3", e.g. "ttable 0.1 1".)

Enable remote login from the Settings > Advanced menu.
SSH in as root
make a backup copy of /etc/asound.conf for good measure:

cp /etc/asound.conf /etc/asound.conf.bak

edit asound.conf (I hope you know how to use the 'vi' editor), adding/inserting the boldfaced lines below

pcm.plugmulti {
        type plug;
        slave.pcm "multi";
        route_policy duplicate;
        [b]ttable.0.0 1;
        ttable.1.0 1;
        ttable.0.2 1;
        ttable.1.2 1;[/b]
}

Restart the Touch application:

/etc/init.d/squeezeplay restart

If that doesn't work, reboot the whole Touch:

reboot

Done. Assuming all is well, return to Settings > Advanced and disable remote login.

To undo the change you can edit again, or replace asound.conf with your backup copy, or just factory reset to wipe out the overlay filesystem where your modified asound.conf resides.

[chopinhauer]

Thanks for the last few replies.

I've actually solved my issue by going another route that still stays within the Squeezebox environment.

And my solution was extremely cheap and elegant. I simply purchased the SB Player app for my phone and then used this to access LMS and my library via wifi and send it to my UE Boom 1 in my bedroom via bluetooth from my phone. Since I already had the Boom and it wasnt being used much it cost me nothing. The result I get the full functionality of LMS including syncing my players with sound superior to my SB Boom. The SB Player app works well with my Squeeze Ctrl app as they are by same developer

Maybe one day when Logitech UE further develop their Blast range of wifi speakers so they can use airplay I can dispense with SB Player and bluetooth, but until then this works brilliantly and with no cables or power adapters (which is another advantage over the SB Boom).