Amber Audio
This is the Day
To get away from the bloody things, even if I know deep down my streamer is a linux PC it doesn’t look smell or taste like one.
Agreed. Streamers are basically the newest thing to try and sell the discerning audiophile.Serous question. Why would you use a dedicated streamer over a PC and a DAC?
To me my PC plus DAC is as good as CD and vinyl.
I don’t care, hifi is a hobby, an escape from work. I know and appreciate the “it’s all about the music, how it sounds” opinion but I have no issue admitting I also like the boxes, the aesthetics, the cables, the swapping, the whole shebang. If I pay more for a fancy box that sounds the same as a plastic cased pi or dell optiplex, it’s my shout and dosh. It’s great for folk that you can get fantastic sounds so cheap these days, judging by all the expensive hifi around I’m not alone in wanting something that looks the business as well as sounding top notch.Does it sound like one though?
I would say not everyone wants a PC as part of their music setup and may not have a spare PC to dedicate solely to music listening.Serous question. Why would you use a dedicated streamer over a PC and a DAC?
To me my PC plus DAC is as good as CD and vinyl.
Hi, it takes a digital source, say from a NAS or PC (audio files say, or Tidal, Internet radio e.t.c) and does the DAC and provides an output that can go onto be amplified. Some contain their own pre and power amplification.
As long as you’re satisfied and enjoying what you’ve put together that’s all that matters. My mate can’t understand why I have so much hifi kit but then spends loads of money and time trying to get more horses from one of his bikes or cars that are already fast as f**k, but it’s what he enjoys doing with his spare time and I do enjoy the odd blast he takes me on, even if it scares the sh1t out of me now and again.I would say not everyone wants a PC as part of their music setup and may not have a spare PC to dedicate solely to music listening.
I've travelled the journey from PC/Foobar to Bluesound to Innuos Zen Mk2 and now feel entirely satisfied - all of my music in one place plus streaming options in the shape of Qobuz/Tidal & Radio Paradise with the option to use the Zen as a Roon core at some time in the future should the fancy take.
Might be a waste of your money or the OP’s but not mine.Then I think the OP question is really the same as "High end DACs and Preamps, waste of money or not, please?"
Agreed. Streamers are basically the newest thing to try and sell the discerning audiophile.
Might be a waste of your money or the OP’s but not mine.
DACs are closer to each other, but are different sounding. PreAmps don’t seem to get the same sound bite rolled out anywhere near as much “they all sound the same” and can have big differences.
Not in my mind.....its the process of converting digital to analogue. So it has analogue output, which is not computing, I think.Streamers are basically computers. As most vendors of branded audio streamers have a very poor security patching story, allowing these to connect to the Internet is risky.
Something like a Mac Mini is actually a lot safer and can be updated to support new services
Streamers don’t run a full OS so their attack surface is far less, you get the odd smart arse that gets ahead of the game and gets into non Computer devices like the print server hack advertising a youtube channel PewDiePie, but generally these devices are not gonna get pwned. They also boot and store using firmware so not able to get rootkits like hard disks. I don’t patch my hifi anywhere near as much as I patch my Win, Linux and Mac boxes. There is far less chance my hifi is gonna be an entry point for malware unlike my Dell/NuC/iMac.Streamers are basically computers. As most vendors of branded audio streamers have a very poor security patching story, allowing these to connect to the Internet is risky.
Something like a Mac Mini is actually a lot safer and can be updated to support new services
Agreed. Streamers are basically the newest thing to try and sell the discerning audiophile.
QEDI disagree. My previous Aurender N100, and now Auralic G2 Aries are sonically superior to my Mac / Audirvana set up.
Well the NDS sounds quite easily better than the ND5XS, as long as you’re into the Naim presentation, that is.
There are easily discernible differences, put it that way.
I would say that with this, & indeed with most digital replay gear, I feel the DAC makes far more difference than the streamer section. A decent streamer may make small improvements over a cheaper model, but I reckon you could hook a Sonos Port into a high end DAC & it wouldn’t disgrace itself.
That would be a computer plus a DAC, I was talking about the streamer standalone with external DAC, I don't want to derail this thread into DAC comparisons.Not in my mind.....its the process of converting digital to analogue. So it has analogue output, which is not computing, I think.