advertisement


Streamer numpty question

V

vinylmonkey

pfm Member
Assuming a decent DAC, is a dedicated streamer going to make that much difference over either a CCA (via optical) or iPad (via USB)?
 
Try for yourself, you can compare the optical CCA and iPad to start with.

For usb on the iPad I think you will need the camera kit (I'm not sure about the latest iPads, or even the older ones, lol).

Ronnie
 
Very little difference, the most important factor for me on streaming is ease of use.
 
No idea about the iPad.

Putting an iFi SPDIF purifier between a CCA and a Mytek Brooklyn DAC made a worthwhile sound quality difference IMO.

This is especially clear with well recorded piano pieces.
 
Differences yes.
“Much difference?”...........Well that really depends on the individual & what’s important to you.
I use a MacMini, with Audirvana & Tidal. I’ve heard a fair amount of Bluesound & Naim streamers.
Not sure I’d spend 5 times what the Macmini cost to get a Naim Streamer. I’m sure others would though.
Starting out from scratch, a Bluesound Node2 streamer does a very decent job indeed for not a lot of £££.
 
I have a Sonore MicroRendu connected to a Chord DA C and it has made a big difference in SQ as well as conveniance, streaming Tidal. A streamer eliminates the sharing of the Internet connection and nasties coming from a computer. The improvement in SQ is also dependent upon the rest of the system. Mine is NVA and very transparant.
 
But isn’t a dedicated streamer also a computer of sorts anyway, albeit cutback, without other peripheral elements, printers etc attached to it? What nasties come from a computer that don’t exist in a streamer......assuming that the computer is used only for streaming & not other tasks, that is. Genuine question.
 
manicatel said:
But isn’t a dedicated streamer also a computer of sorts anyway, albeit cutback, without other peripheral elements, printers etc attached to it? What nasties come from a computer that don’t exist in a streamer......assuming that the computer is used only for streaming & not other tasks, that is. Genuine question.
Click to expand...

& if (if!) that is the case is there any reason a cheap android tablet (so long as talks to the DAC) wouldn’t do the job well?
 
2112 said:
I have a Sonore MicroRendu connected to a Chord DA C and it has made a big difference in SQ as well as conveniance, streaming Tidal. A streamer eliminates the sharing of the Internet connection and nasties coming from a computer. The improvement in SQ is also dependent upon the rest of the system. Mine is NVA and very transparant.
Click to expand...

What "nasties" would that be, and what is the issue of sharing the connection?
 
Think there’s a bit more to it than that.
If a streamer was no more than a dedicated internet connection, you could simply plug your Ethernet cable into a DAC, no?
A streamer IS a computer, surely? Ok, not a fully loaded iMac or desktop, but I’m guessing streamers have a few chips, motherboard, power supply, in/out connections etc etc.
 
Oh I’m so glad it’s not just me who is a numpty on this. I have only just got in to streaming , having picked up a used squeeze box classic on PFM. Having ripped a few cds, downloaded a few hi res tracks, and using Spotify through the Spotty app, my impression thus far is that, at its best, it doesn’t get as good as a good CD player, but I appreciate there is better about than Squeezebox - nice and easy to use though. Spotify through Spoty is listenable, can’t put it any higher than that.
 
2112 said:
A streamer is a computer dedicated to music play back and nothing else. There is no mother board.
Click to expand...

What is your definition of a "mother board"? Does the raspberry pi have a motherboard?

A motherbord is simply a main PCB that holds the main circuitry and carries connectors for peripherals and expansions, so technically some streamers have motherboards, some don't, and some computers have motherboards, some don't. What's bad with having a motherboard?
 
2112 said:
Computers create noise which is transferred to the DAC.
Click to expand...

So do streamers. Same circuitry.

A dedicated internet connection only carries music signal.
Click to expand...

And how does that affect the signal? The whole point of the internet was that it was designed for sharing traffic... :)

In any case, if your computer isn't doing anything else than playing music, there won't be any other traffic on the net connection for it either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top