How to make your Squeezebox Touch sound better (the iFI way!)

When Logitech announced that the Squeezebox Touch was being dis-continued cries of “why” echoed around the audiophile world. The “touch” as it had become known as, was quite possibly the most innovative digital music product to have been invented in the last 10 years and possibly the best audiophile accessory ever. It’s abilities are still unsurpassed many months after it was canned, the slim devices forum however did help to push this small device to the very forefront of technical innovation with the myriad of tweaks that were done to it.

The most obvious tweak and one that is still largely ignored (mainly due to ignorance that cables effect sound quality) is the supplied wall wart power supply. Widely acknowledged amongst those in the know to be the biggest problem standing in the way of the Touch’s immense sonic capabilities. The switch mode power supply has long been known to inject interference into the mains supply and have a degrading effect on sound quality, the thin weedy wire acting as an aerial to pick up radio waves which come mainly from wi-fi. This interference goes straight into your hi-fi system and robs the music of life and vitality. The smps that came bundled with the “Touch” was well know as being poor quality.

The regulated linear power supply came along and re-educated 1000’s of audiophiles as to what was possible from the touch, along with the enhanced digital output mod and various other tweaks posted on forums by enthusiasts, the touch continues to thrive as a music streamer and digital transport.

Just when everyone though there was nothing left to do to the touch along comes another innovation from the talented engineers at AMR who have brought us the iFI range of products. Within this range is a hidden gem, the i-usb power supply. Amongst it’s many configurations is a dedicated 5v power line taken directly from a usb port which just happens to power the Squeezebox Touch, iFI even include a usb cable to connect the i-usb directly to the touch’s dc socket.

Full details are published on the iFI Audio website. The i-usb power supply can be purchased with a 30 day money back guarantee from the author of this article here.

Further improvements can be made using the touch and iFI, the iFI i-DAC and Gemini dual headed USB cable will ub-leash the true performance of your Squeezebox without a doubt.