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How much difference between streamers when using own dac?

zippy said:
I can tell no difference in quality between using my streamer, and connecting a laptop directly to the DAC.
For me therefore the only difference between streamers is their functionality.
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I used to connect a laptop or Mac mini directly to my DAC. Changed a long time ago to sotm sms200/Sbooster PSU. The difference is dramatic. Anybody who doesn’t think so should delete their pfm account immediately. ;)
 
I have never found differences to be dramatic. I sometimes perceive what I think may be differences but I’m often unsure as they seem so fine, often negligible, sometimes perhaps imagined through expectation.I’m not even sure they are improvements. I tried a linear power supply on my Touch after others spoke of improvement. Absolutely no difference at all.Often the more expensive streamers are more attractive and maybe have more functions and that is perhaps a good enough reason to purchase for some. As I’ve got older and more experienced I’m less impressed with looks and more intrigued by the prospect of achieving satisfactory sound within a reasonable budget. I like to rely on my own hearing. I also have a horror of being duped.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Interesting hearing different views, I think I am going to fall on the side of functionality difference rather than sound. So will have to think about what my next upgrade will be. Current system is rega planar 3, rega exact, rega brio, rega dac-r, cca, neat motive sx3. Possibly upgrade the amp or turntable next
 
mandryka said:
Anyone got any ideas about how that could possibly be?
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Yes it could output a cleaner data stream with less jitter and accompanying voltage noise on any shared signal wiring. That's hardly rocket science.


Perhaps Keith now believes that there's not a credible mechanism of function for the Intona's he used to sell? Because to say all streamers must sound the same is to deny any audible effects of corruption/pollution of the USB data stream. (and we all know Keith's not claiming that, is he?)

All streamers should sound the same, and all dacs should be impervious to fluctuating PSU's and signal integrity- but they aren't.

Anyone arguing otherwise has had their logic chip replaced with a dogma chip. It just makes them look technically ignorant and personally biased.
 
Del monaco said:
It’s on his site, most recent article I think. I’ve tried a few streamers in my friends set up( he has very revealing speakers)including Aurender, Linn, Naim, Innuous etc. Blowed if we could hear much difference through his dcs dac.Even with a Pi based streamer gave competition.
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Intel i7 PC vs Raspberry Pi? That illustrates my point rather nicely.
 
I think this is a valid summation.

This continues to add to the evidence that "audiophile" computer-based digital "transports" do not make a significant difference to the sound. I cannot subjectively hear a difference either when I play music as I switched around the configurations while measuring. What's most important remains the quality of the DAC itself. In my opinion, other than the user interface, supported features or the "non-utilitarian" benefits like the esthetics and the "wow factor" of an expensive system, "high end" devices like the Melco previously discussed will make no appreciable difference to the sound quality itself compared to an inexpensive Raspberry Pi connected to the same "good" DAC. As usual, I would like to see evidence to the contrary and challenge the manufacturers of such products (Aurender, Auralic, SOtM, Sonore, Fidelizer, Baetis, Antipodes, Innuos, etc.) to demonstrate objective benefits from the DAC output using their products (please also identify the DAC used and under what conditions).
 
EDITED POST

Can some of you gentlemen enlighten me as to whether the following individual points make a difference when transferring digital bits through a streamer to a DAC?
- various types of psus and how they are isolated from the streamer and DAC?
- the quality of the usb/coax/spdif/IS2 implementations?
- USB: does it matter whether power is separated from the signal during transfer?
- USB: usb bus powered vs externally powered implementations

I will leave cables out of it.
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Archimago seems to answer it for me:
"Bitperfect playback from a reasonable quality computer, using an asynchronous interface, and through a reputable DAC would result in the same sonic output irrespective of claims I've heard otherwise. I have found no need for special power supplies, fancy cables, or specialty devices for example to clean up the USB signal. In my mind "reasonable" just means a device that's known to be reliable and has a good reputation, rather than something that needs be endorsed by an audiophile guru. This is the most logical position to take intellectually given how digital devices work, based on objective results I've found, and subjectively I have no cause to testify otherwise. To put it bluntly... Yes, "bits are bits" using modern digital computer playback hooked up to a good asynchronous DAC!"
 
I can believe that some people have tried different transports into a DAC and heard no difference whilst other people have tried different transports into a different DAC and have heard a difference - hence the differing opinions. Could it be that that some DACs are more susceptible to the transport than others?

I use a Naim DAC with a HDX as the transport which sounds to my ears streets ahead of the Macbook, Squeezebox and similar devices I've tried. Could it be that the nDac can distinguish the type of digital transport fed into it via some bytes in the bitstream and therefore its software raises the performance level when being fed by an expensive Naim source?

Just a thought! :)
 
Rosewind said:
EDITED POST

Can some of you gentlemen enlighten me as to whether the following individual points make a difference when transferring digital bits through a streamer to a DAC?
- various types of psus and how they are isolated from the streamer and DAC?
- the quality of the usb/coax/spdif/IS2 implementations?
- USB: does it matter whether power is separated from the signal during transfer?
- USB: usb bus powered vs externally powered implementations

I will leave cables out of it.
---
Archimago seems to answer it for me:
"Bitperfect playback from a reasonable quality computer, using an asynchronous interface, and through a reputable DAC would result in the same sonic output irrespective of claims I've heard otherwise. I have found no need for special power supplies, fancy cables, or specialty devices for example to clean up the USB signal. In my mind "reasonable" just means a device that's known to be reliable and has a good reputation, rather than something that needs be endorsed by an audiophile guru. This is the most logical position to take intellectually given how digital devices work, based on objective results I've found, and subjectively I have no cause to testify otherwise. To put it bluntly... Yes, "bits are bits" using modern digital computer playback hooked up to a good asynchronous DAC!"
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Why don’t you try your self and make your own opinion?
 
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