Topic: squeezebox > MC-DX20B problem...

[halteh]

Hoping someone here might be able to help me out. I bought my mom a squeezebox 3 by slimdevices as well as a MCDX20B mini system by TEAC for Christmas. The mini system, like most, only has rca inputs (no digital in) so i am running the squeezebox into the aux input on the minisystem. However, i seem to be getting this very very nasty hiss noise that is quite audible on low volume settings and very audible on loud volume settings. I tried the squeezebox on my home reciever and it worked on full volume with no audible hiss, and then to test the TEAC minisystem I tried connecting my ipod to the aux input on the stereo and got wonderful results! both devices seem to work just fine on their own, but terrible when put together. Anyone have any idea what might be causing this? anyone know of any possible workarounds? I considered a DAC so i can go out from squeezebox via spdif or toslink to the converter and then analog to the stereo. I actually tested this with my m902 and got wonderful results, but ofcourse this isn't a reasonable workaround. Is there such thing as a very inexpensive DAC?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Wonderful holiday to all and an even better new year

--Fares Halteh

[it-goes-to-eleven]

Fares, that sounds very frustrating.   I have no idea what might be going on. Given the combinations you have tested, this seems like some kind of odd interaction. I am sure you have tried a different cable between the sb3 and the mini system?  Maybe you could go sb3 headphone out > mini system?  I know that isn't ideal but it would be interesting to know if it solves the problem and whether it could work for your Mom.

I have two sb3's and I have even run one of them directly into my DNA-125 amp with no buzz or hum (but I was really nervous the first time I turned the amp on with the sb3 plugged in!).  People seem to be reporting very good sound quality when running the sb2/3 directly into amps.  I would be interested in how the sb3 DAC compares to your m902.

FWIW, I bought my folks an SB2 last Christmas and setup a headless Linux server to drive it. I added a UPS to it during my recent visit. Still going strong.

[halteh]

Hey, thanks so much for the reply. I ended up taking the sb3 to the place i purchased the TEAC unit from and we tested it on another demo unit and got the same results. However, the shop was nice enough to allow me to exchange the unit with a mini system of equal value, it's working like a charm. I have the sb3 setup to my windows 2003 server. I can't get over how easy it was to setup the sb3 and how many possibilities it has to organize your music. My server has 3-320GB HD's in a RAID-5, I've ripped all my cd's and my mom's cd's in 256k mp3 with the lame encoder on EAC with some very nice results. Once I get my home system setup properly I am definitely going to look into an sb3 for myself.

Cheers,
--F