Allaboutmusic
pfm Member
Whilst I agree the dac is the bigger difference between streamer and dac (either separate or internal) it is not only the chip that makes the difference it’s also the implementation. The dacs output quality will also be a result of the analogue output stage and power supply. Additionally a noisy streamer will impact the performance of the dac.You raise too many issues to generate any meaningful discussion IMO: Ease of use of streamer as appliance vs other solutions, what matters for sound in a dac is it only the d/a chip, the importance of operating system's generation in a closed appliance, is numerical fidelity the only thing to seek in a dac etc. etc,.
for me I use a raspberry pi4 running volumio software which is optimised / purpose designed for audio playback. Streaming mostly via Tidal connect but also use internet radio via volumio and have some music on a usb drive. Cost around £100 to setup. The pi is great as it is essentially a single purpose computer with no moving parts and thus a low noise source. I run it via usb to a rega dac r which has a linear power supply, dual dac chips creating a buffer stage and galvanicly isolated asynchronous usb, so essentially removing any residual noise and allowing the clock in the dac to handle the timing rather than the streamer / pi. The dac has a class A output stage too.
so my point is the dac will make the biggest difference but it’s more than just the chip. Also a good streamer can be cheap but you can still get high jitter, high noise sources which will impact the dacs performance, particularly depending on the dac design as some will be more susceptible to noise.