Difference in audio quality with streaming transports
- Thread starter jason rockley
- Start date
gingermrkettle
Deep vein trombonist
Blue 3, generally. The avatar probablu gives that away, though.
Colin L
High-tech low-life
No it doesn’t. I have used DACs that measure impeccably. They sound different. Low distortion doesn’t mean that components don’t have a sound signature.
Sorry, I may have expressed my point less than clearly.
It is a credible idea that for an artist it is more important that his/her music is listened to at all (though "the power of music" really does not mean anything).
However, it does not follow from this, that the accuracy of playback is insignificant. I think there probably are artists who could not care less, just as there probably are artists who see accuracy as desirable.
miktec
retired
Perhaps there could be a coding system (like used on food)
RED - only to be played on equipment that has been certified as accurate by [insert imaginary gov body acronym here]
AMBER - may be played on uncertified but reasonably high quality (read - expensive) gear at your own risk
GREEN - play on any old shite - we don't give a f*c*
RED - only to be played on equipment that has been certified as accurate by [insert imaginary gov body acronym here]
AMBER - may be played on uncertified but reasonably high quality (read - expensive) gear at your own risk
GREEN - play on any old shite - we don't give a f*c*
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
I am disappointed in @Octavian's reluctance to divulge his setup:
1.This is a hobby, and there are as many opinions about "the hardware" as there are forum members. All are valid.
2. Coming from the "subjective" end, I'm genuinely interested in the kit he is using which, I assume, is coming from the "objective" end. At the very least, it's a new avenue to explore, and heck, I might learn something.
1.This is a hobby, and there are as many opinions about "the hardware" as there are forum members. All are valid.
2. Coming from the "subjective" end, I'm genuinely interested in the kit he is using which, I assume, is coming from the "objective" end. At the very least, it's a new avenue to explore, and heck, I might learn something.
gustav_errata
pfm Member
Thank you for clarifying. Substitute "the power of music" with whatever phrase works for you for communicating the concept of the aesthetic impact of art, divorced of any questions or concerns about medium, that which allows individual members of the species Homo sapiens sapiens to differentiate between "sound" and "music", that which allows one to enjoy an all-time favorite song even if it plays out of a tiny bluetooth speaker, that which allows you to enjoy that same song even if played live in a venue with worse acoustics than you have in your living room. I said "the power of music" because I thought it would communicate a simple, common human experience, but hopefully this has clarified it for you.
Anyway, at the end of the day, none of this matters. To lean heavily on cliché, when you're on your deathbed, are you more likely to reminisce about great music or about that time when you bought a ten-fold reduction in the THD+N percentage at one part in your music reproduction chain? I'd rather just forget about it all and get the most enjoyment out of music, that singular obsession of mine since childhood, that I can. If you instead want to singularly focus on achieving the lowest noise possible, great, good for you, everyone needs a hobby. But to me, at least, it's just not important.
Amber Audio
This is the Day
Old posts, so no idea why he didn’t just say on this thread.
Lenovo tablet -> Chromecast Audio -> Benchmark Dac 1 -> Genelec 8030 loudspeakers & Stax Lambda headphones. Also a Luxman PD284 TT in the kitchen cupboard, almost never used.
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/thr...-you-currently-own.175485/page-9#post-2808130
https://pinkfishmedia.net/forum/threads/expensive-gear-boring-sound.219769/page-3#post-3487477
suzywong
Wot, no electrons?
Some fine kit then.
Genuine question: how does Chromecast Audio stack up in SQ terms in "the streaming world"?
Amber Audio
This is the Day
Absolutely
the caretaker
pfm Member
Learn the ukulele, I think you meant? Lol
Amber Audio
This is the Day
Genuinely no idea, I bought one to try out of curiosity but when it arrived at work one of the Techs was all over it so I gave it to him. It’s discontinued but I don't know why, eBay has them regularly. Reading in the passing they appear to be a bargain and easier to get going than a Pi for many.
sq225917
Bit of this, bit of that
To summarise, better is an objective term, as in measurably better. Preferable or more enjoyable are subjective terms. If people just stuck to a defined use of language these pointless cyclical arguments wouldn't exist.
I wonder how many of the objectivists have done double blind tests to see if they prefer the measurably worse kit? Perhaps the subjectivists have a point and us numbers guys are just listening to unenjoyable hairshirt gear, just a thought.
I've never listened to more music than I did when I owned, tag monos, a 72 and kef reference 302s. But that was in a much better room than I have now...
I wonder how many of the objectivists have done double blind tests to see if they prefer the measurably worse kit? Perhaps the subjectivists have a point and us numbers guys are just listening to unenjoyable hairshirt gear, just a thought.
I've never listened to more music than I did when I owned, tag monos, a 72 and kef reference 302s. But that was in a much better room than I have now...
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
joe9407
actress/activist
I've heard differences among different streaming sources piped into the same DAC, under sighted conditions: subbing one source in for another, etc., etc. However, I know that my mind must be playing tricks on me. Unless there's a significant third-party interloper - for example, power supply noise being added/removed - there can't be any actual differences.
The entire world depends on bit-perfect data transfers. If someone actually invented a computer - and that's all a streamer is - that could improve upon or combat degradation of the data sent to it, this would be an Earth-shattering discovery -- in addition to being a multi-billion-dollar business. Every financial institution and large corporation in the world would use this technology. This would not just be the province of hi-fi manufacturers. Auralic would have the sales figures of Alibaba.
After thinking this through, I removed the ultraRendu and power supply feeding the DAC I was using at the time (would have been either a Hugo 2 or a Topping D10) and connected my Roon Core directly. It sounded pretty dire, I thought! Flat, gray, lifeless. Since I already had the gear and since it works faultlessly, I put the 'Rendu back in.
[Shrugs.]
The entire world depends on bit-perfect data transfers. If someone actually invented a computer - and that's all a streamer is - that could improve upon or combat degradation of the data sent to it, this would be an Earth-shattering discovery -- in addition to being a multi-billion-dollar business. Every financial institution and large corporation in the world would use this technology. This would not just be the province of hi-fi manufacturers. Auralic would have the sales figures of Alibaba.
After thinking this through, I removed the ultraRendu and power supply feeding the DAC I was using at the time (would have been either a Hugo 2 or a Topping D10) and connected my Roon Core directly. It sounded pretty dire, I thought! Flat, gray, lifeless. Since I already had the gear and since it works faultlessly, I put the 'Rendu back in.
[Shrugs.]
Heckyman
pfm Member
Either way, “better” = “preferred”.
If something is better because it “measures better”, it just means you are someone who has decided to prefer better measuring gear (not a bad starting point at all).
OTOH, if something is said to be better because it sounded better to the person who heard it, it should be obvious what is meant. It should not be necessary to constantly take care to say “I preferred”, “in my system, YMMV etc.” ... this is just hifi political correctness.
Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
The argument that we should strive to listen to music through equipment that measures best, rather than through equipment that gives us the greatest musical pleasure, is a value judgement. It sanctifies the original ‘work of art’ in a way I doubt any genuine artist would condone. Most genuine artists and musicians are, in my experience, very happy for people to take what they want from their work. Indeed, many are disparaging of the critics and experts who get a bit precious about meaning and interpretation.
The argument, that we must respect the art above all, and should only listen to it in an approved form, is both elitist and exclusional. And a tiny bit fascistic. It is but one short step from setting out ‘acceptable’ forms of music to listen to, and disparaging other forms as ‘unacceptable’ or ‘degenerate’.
The argument, that we must respect the art above all, and should only listen to it in an approved form, is both elitist and exclusional. And a tiny bit fascistic. It is but one short step from setting out ‘acceptable’ forms of music to listen to, and disparaging other forms as ‘unacceptable’ or ‘degenerate’.