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digital streaming....

I

ishmac

pfm Member
Ok been using a Squeezebox Duet fed into my M.Fidelity M1 dac via RCA connection with decent audio results for a few years now, but I fancy better quality if possible.......(as always)!

Question is;

If I was to try the likes of the mac-mini or the likes of the Linn Sneaky DS or any other digital streamer would I achieve a better quality sound or similar..?

Is it mostly down to the DAC, or are most streamers similar devices which take the wi-fi signal etc..??


Please discuss, I'm lost.

Thanks
 
Streamers are DAC's with a network interface connection, as preferable connection than saying using an optical or coax etc. ....
So better Streamers sound better because they have better DACs onboard...

..... Listen to the range of Linn DS players and see what you think.
 
The linn streamers are great but If your on a budget then I would be looking at a sonos zp90 with a rega dac, this pairing sounds exellent, better than a sneaky ds to my ears and not a million miles from a majik ds either!

I use a sonos with a rega dac as well as a klimax ds in the same system, why?
The sonos is the only streamer to work seamlessly with spotify and the dac forms part of my cd player anyway.
 
ishmac said:
Ok been using a Squeezebox Duet fed into my M.Fidelity M1 dac via RCA connection with decent audio results for a few years now, but I fancy better quality if possible.......(as always)!

Question is;

If I was to try the likes of the mac-mini or the likes of the Linn Sneaky DS or any other digital streamer would I achieve a better quality sound or similar..?

Is it mostly down to the DAC, or are most streamers similar devices which take the wi-fi signal etc..??


Please discuss, I'm lost.

Thanks
Click to expand...
I doubt if a Sneaky DS would be much better. Its mainly the DAC. The Squeezebox possibly has some jitter issues that some DACs will handle beter than others - Naim and Audiolab MDAC would seem to be the ones to go for. If your streamer delivers bit perfect low jitter output it should in theory be perfect. The real world isn't quite that simple, and in my system with my DAC (of the time) the order of preference was Mac, worst, Squeezebox, better, Linn, best, by quite a margin, but I think there were other factors at play that are very system dependent. Annoyingly, my turntable still seems better than all of them!
 
ishmac said:
If I was to try the likes of the mac-mini or the likes of the Linn Sneaky DS or any other digital streamer would I achieve a better quality sound or similar..?

Is it mostly down to the DAC, or are most streamers similar devices which take the wi-fi signal etc..??
Click to expand...

It's the DAC, and even they mostly sound similar. Good way to spend money for little audible return.

Tim
 
I have been running a Squeezebox Duet into a DacMagic for a while now. The best SQ improvement I have found so far is to replace the power supply of the Duet with a regulated supply from Maplins. It gave a noticable improvement, which I put down to reduction in jitter on the Duet digital output. So, a lot depends on the jitter rejection/correction capabilities of the DAC you use. I'm picking up an MDAC tomorrow, so should be able to give a report over the weekend on how that performs with the Duet receiver.
 
Don't know what the rest of your system is but you'd usually be better off putting the cash in a pot for speaker or amp upgrade in the future
 
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