When I first visited the TitleTrack developer website (www.titletrack.com), I was mislead to believe that I could utilize the optical digital outputs on my Sony CDP-CX455 jukeboxes in conjunction with the TitleTrack software. I wanted to make good use of my Benchmark DAC-1 digital-to-analog converter for optimal sound quality rather than rely on the jukeboxes' internal DACs. Info in the F.A.Q. section of the website suggests that Toslink switcher devices are available to automatically sense which Sony unit is playing a track and then correspondingly route that optical signal to my DAC. I ordered the Titletrack 3.1 download in early April and began searching the internet for a switcher gizmo. But no such switcher exists!! The Sony jukeboxes emit a continuous carrier signal which to automatic optical switching devices is indistinguishable from music and so a switcher cannot select a player as needed.
I contacted Panther Studios repeatedly via email regarding this limitation and have to date received absolutely no response. I ordered the product 10 weeks ago! They would not advise me as to what switchers to which they refer in their F.A.Q. section, probably because none exist. Even when I found a very affordable 4-input Toslink switcher that features an RS-232 interface - the same interface that TitleTrack uses - Panther would not respond to my suggestion that they make the ridiculously simple software update necessary to accommodate the Inday DA4X-RS switcher. (The Inday unit requires one simple instruction for switching input channels.) Even after offering to pay for a customized version of TitleTrack which Panther could then offer to all of its existing and future customers, they have ignored me! And to think that their website also encourages ideas for improving the product! What b.s.!!!
For discerning audiophiles who do not want to settle for using the analog outputs of their Sony jukeboxes (via an analog audio mixer if more than two players are to be controlled), TitleTrack falls frustratingly short, regardless of whatever flexibility in accessing an enormous CD catalog it provides. But more importantly, you can forget about support!! Even after ordering the software from the TitleTrack Jukebox website, I had to email them after two weeks passed and nothing had arrived in the mail. Only then was I informed via email of the link I needed in order to download the software I had purchased. And forget about the phone number listed on the site - it's no longer in service.
TitleTrack Jukebox
Sony 300/400 CD changer control software
Version: 3.0
Forget about using your DAC with TitleTrack!
Feedback Type: Commentary
Contributed by: Jukebox Jim Thursday, June 19 2008 @ 07:37 PM PDT
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: Have Not Tried
Recommend Product: NO
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