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Confused ? What's the difference between :-

AudioAl

AudioAl

pfm Member
Being a bit of a numpty , What's the difference between a Dac and a Streamer ?

Be gentle with me on these new fangled things :D
 
A Streamer aka Network Audio Player outputs/plays music as a digital stream, to get the music to the speakers it needs converting and then amplified, so it goes into a DAC aka Digital to Analogue Converter and then into an Amp just like a CD or Tape Deck.
 
Amber Audio said:
A Streamer aka Network Audio Player outputs/plays music as a digital stream, to get the music to the speakers it needs converting and then amplified, so it goes into a DAC aka Digital to Analogue Converter and then into an Amp just like a CD or Tape Deck.
Click to expand...

Oh my head hurts o_O
Is youtube a streamer then ?
 
DAC = digital to analogue converter. It takes a local data stream from another device and converts it into analogue audio. A streamer is an internet/computer interface that enables connecting to remote services, selecting tracks etc.
 
My understanding is that a DAC just converts the digital signal to an analogue one ready to go to your analogue amplifier eg Chord Qutest
A renderer gets the digital signal to the DAC via wifi or ethernet eg Auralic Aries
A streamer combines the 2 functions in one box eg Naim NDX2
DAC and streamers often have their own volume controls and can be connected directly to power amps or active speakers and may also have built-in headphone amps.
 
My digital is
i Mac , optical cable into a Wadia DAC , into a line imput on my amp and I can listen to music , NO streamer that I know of

Confusing even more is this , I have seen devices that have a hard drive that you can record music onto and the units have a viewable menu , What are these called ?
 
AudioAl said:
Sadly not , I'm Old school and have R2R , 8 track , Cassett , Record players etc , Hardly any modern equipment
Click to expand...
There are lots of products that do multiple jobs and the term streamer gets slung around a lot

Streamer >>> DAC >>> Amp >>> Speakers

Same idea as

TT+Cart >>> Phono Stage >>> Amp >>> Speakers
 
AudioAl said:
My digital is
i Mac , optical cable into a Wadia DAC , into a line imput on my amp and I can listen to music , NO streamer that I know of

Confusing even more is this , I have seen devices that have a hard drive that you can record music onto and the units have a viewable menu , What are these called ?
Click to expand...
iMac in this case is your Streamer

The devices with hard disks in are called Music Servers
 
As an example, downstairs I have an Auralic Aries Mini, which combines the streaming and DAC functions, whereas upstairs in the office, I have a Maplin DAC, which converts the signal from either the laptop or the Cambridge CDX CD , from Digital to Analogue.
 
Amber Audio said:
There are lots of products that do multiple jobs and the term streamer gets slung around a lot

Streamer >>> DAC >>> Amp >>> Speakers

Same idea as

TT+Cart >>> Phono Stage >>> Amp >>> Speakers
Click to expand...

If a Dac converts a digital signal why do you need a streamer then ?
 
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