testimonials


I collected some -  from my perspective - pretty nice comments.

This kind of feedback is one of the main reasons that keeps me going.



Folks. I really appreciate it.


I'll keep adding more over time.

I hope it's not a problem for you guys to show up over here.
If so, let me know.  I'll take you out.

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TT3.0 was launched at 11/02/11

Let's get some  comments framed:

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11/04/11 magiccarpetride

"Amazing! I love when I get proven totally wrong in this fashion.

So you're right, I finally got off my butt earlier this evening, did a factory reset, upgraded firmware to 7.7.0, and then modified all the settings on my Touch and on the squeezebox server, as per Soundcheck's instructions, and then installed TT3.0. I also applied his vollock, and finally killed deamon jobs (tt -k).

Set down for a critical listen and... wow! (insert your favorite audiophile hyperbole here)

The first song I listened to was "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" by Temptations. Right off the bat, I was blown away by the visceral physicality of the opening bass lick. And then the Pandora's box opened up -- the heavenly sounds of the strings and the never before heard detailed and intricate cascades by the harp. Meanwhile, two funky guitars with amazingly clear textures were barking from the left and the right channel, respectively. So many previously unheard details now emerged in crystal clarity.

And when the backing vocals kicked in ("wherever he laid his hat was his home...") I yelled in joy! Such realism, such musicality! These singers are standing right there, in my right speaker, living, breathing.

This mod is amazing, because it accomplishes the impossible: it presents the sound that is at the same time both in-your-face and laid back. Impossible!

I have a SHM-CD by Sade (refurbished, repackaged Japanese remaster of "Diamond Life"), which offers amazing clarity and details. Still, I found the overall remaster to be on a bit of a harsh side with TT2.0. Now with TT3.0, any traces of harshness have disappeared, although the very aggressive over-the-top pushy sound became even more prominent. Only this time it's completely relaxed, unhurried, not nervous, and (dare I say it?) analog-like.

I am now at a loss when I read people complaining how TT3.0 sounds thin, digital, with leaner bass, etc. Quite the reverse, it now sounds (on my system, at least), so much fuller, rounder, silkier, milky and with unprecedented presence. Overall, as we keep moving from one favorite song to another, my wife and I are consistently commenting on how much more realistic, musical, fuller and deeper the bass now sounds. Gone is all the boomines and messiness, and the only thing left in the deeper regions is music driven by a very tight, taut and nimble bass.

To me, the silkiness of the cymbals is just one thing among many that is totally worthy of the price of admission. Plus, so many more previously undetected details. Even during the loudest passages in Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself", I can now easily follow every tiny little strum on the acoustic guitar. I can plainly hear the plectrum cascading down the steel strings even during the very loud piano and trombone solos. Amazing!

Thank you a million times, Klaus!"


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refers to above comment:

11/04/11  rgro
Ummmm...gotta' agree with mcr!

Yep....seems as if Klaus has hit the sweet spot with both mcr's and my systems. After two days and many hours of listening, mcr ain't just whistlin' Dixie---at least with my combo of electronics. Pretty much everything mcr said mirrors my experience. Wide, deep soundstage, smooth, rich, and tons of detail. Thanks, mcr...now I don't have to type so much.

Big kudos to soundcheck......!

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11/03/11   lovejoy

Many thanks for all of your efforts on TT3 Klaus. I've spent the evening tweaking and listening and had some interesting findings:

I've been running TT2 for about 6 months and really enjoyed the differences it brought over the stock touch. I particularly love the sound of 24-bit recordings through it. Tonight I installed the TT3 mods after a factory reset and applied all mods with buffer set to 3400. Like others here I found it sounded quite digital, a bit forced, too hot, a bit too in your face, but at the same time I was also aware that the bass had tightened up and was really snappy and went lower with more control. Nevertheless, to me it was not as musically enjoyable as TT2.0, so I reverted for a couple of hours.

The bass in TT2 after going back really did sound quite flabby and started to grate a bit so I wondered if a compromise could be reached. One thing I always have preferred in TT2.0 was to have quite a high buffer setting, particularly as 24/96 material tended to stutter quite badly on pause/play with low buffer settings. I also found the sound somewhat smoother and less fatiguing with large buffers so I thought to try this on TT3.0.

So I did another factory reset and re-installed TT3.0 and weirdly, before I even got the chance to change the buffer setting I was convinced that it sounded better than it did the first time around. That digital glare was gone and the sound was much more balanced. Maybe this was just me getting used to the sound as it made no sense that it should sound any different as the install method and settings were the same as the first time around, although I'd be interested to hear if anyone else experiences this.

Anyway, I went ahead and maxed out the buffer setting and later increased the priority of the SPDIF output as you mentioned, and that's where I'm at now. A good 3 hours of music later and absolutely LOVING the sound. It's well balanced, that lovely tight and well controlled bass is there. Detail levels are astounding: a real sense of looking right into the recording. Engaging your method of fixing the volume at 100% seems to bring out more detail too, although I've not A/B'd this to any great extent as yet.

With TT2.0 there was a real gulf between 16/44 and 24/96 recordings. TT3.0 has made 16/44 that bit closer to 24/96 with a great big jump in refinement.

I think it's going to be a weekend occupied with a lot of listening. Many thanks again. A donation is on its way.

Rich
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11/02/11 cvj

After downloading Soundcheck's new modification toolkit 3.0 and installing it without any problems thanks to the very clear step-by-step documentation provided on the blog, I am totally "blown away" with the very obvious improvements to my listening experience.

I have no hesitancy to recommend these software mods to owners of the Logitech Touch... It is not difficult to implement Klaus' recommendations and the results are most gratifying.

Due to my wireless setup, the only mod I have not able been to implement is the LAN mode. Most of my listening is streaming from Spotify Premium (OGG Vorbis 320 kbps) and to me the listening experience clearly surpasses or is equal to listening to my collection of CDs streaming from the SBS. (of course, this is a totally subjective impression - trust your own ears!).

Again, warmest congrats to Klaus for all his hard work in developing this toolkit for us!


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11/02/11 pandasharka


Just had the chance to listen to a few of my fave tracks again and everything is more alive and musical - compared to V2, V3 is different league.

Now, what Logitech should do is hardwire these software mods, and blow the Sonos / Linn DS brigade away.

But only after employing Klaus and paying him a wedge of investment $$.

Hi hate the US terminology but V3 really is awesome.

Amen.
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 11/02/11 reverendo

just installed everything and listened to my test files in order to evaluate.
the word that keeps popping up in my mind is 'clearer'. Everything is more transparent, low-level details show up more easily. Seems like I have a blacker background.
I spent the whole afternoon experimenting with power chords so I'm very aware of how the sound of the system was before with these same test files.
Thanks a lot Klaus.
best regards
André

PS: just donated
PPS: I work semi-professionaly with music production so chance of placebo effect is definitely lower than normal. I'm also a musician having studied Composition for 7 semesters at a University. Just so you guys know where I come from.
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11/02/11 sckramer

Really really good, it sounds better than freaking ever, Thank You Klaus!

Nice documentation, software, everything is very well done.

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11/05/11 guidof

TT 3.0 is brilliant

Those of us who have followed magiccarpetride's posts know that he is prone to somewhat exuberant enthusiasm. So, when I read his rave about TT3.0, I did not immediately jump to install the mods, especially since the link to the WLAN version was down.

However, when the more sedate rgro endorsed the enthusiasm, I decided it might be worth the PITA to unhook the Touch from my main system, hook it up (temporarily) to the ethernet and have a go at it.

I listened for only three hours last night, but the improvements over TT2.0 are so immediately obvious, that I'm convinced TT3.0 is absolutely brilliant.

In my system, and with my ears, this is what I hear:

- more natural instrumental timbres
- more extended highs (lots more "air") coupled with sweeter highs
- tighter, more tuneful, more impactful bass (Art Blakey comes alive in my room!)
- better S/N ratio (aka "blacker blacks")
- more articulation in large orchestral works
- better tonal balance
- overall more refined, yet more involving sound (aka more "liquidity").

Re: the SPDIF discussion, my Touch is connected to my DAC via Silflex optical Toslink by Lifatec, not coax.

Many thanks, Klaus, for all your work and for the excellent tutorial/discussion. (Donation made!)

Guido F.


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11/05/11   praganj

After few days of testing i am convinced, that TT 3.0 sounds much better than TT 2.0 + dynaudio priority mods.

The sound has more space, details, blackness between sound, 3d imaging and for me the most visible change is more live, PRAT or whatever you call it.

Maybe soundcheck like the Naim Audio sound approach and tuned SBT in this direction ?

I have SBT with 7.7 nightly, Teddy Pardo diy ps, Buffalo II DAC. SBT is connected with ethernet to a small Cisco switch dedicated only to SBS-SBT connection. SBS runs on a fast dual core Lenovo notebook with W7, SSD for OS and second 2GB USB HD for waves (yes - waves). I converted all my 30.000 files with dbPoweramp to waves. One can convert all flacs into waves with dbpoweramp in batch mode without loosing the tags

Running with buffer=3400 and without xruns even when playing 24/96 waves.

Checked different priorities of spdif, and the impact is not so big as in TT 2.0. With higher values (50-55) there was IMHO little more details and space, but the sound was leaner with less bass, so i just set spdif priority to 41 instead of 40 to have my peace of mind knowing that spdif has liitle higher priority than many other processes with 40 ...


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After another day of listening, the TT 3.0 mods are a terrific addition in both my Touch.  In my opinion, they raise the playback quality dramatically.  I have reinstalled from factory settings more times than I can remember and  there is no drawback that I can hear.  Highest recommendation.
Larry  

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to be continued