2. digital
  3. 179322-96

Anyone else feel like it’s the Wild Wild West?

I’ve been following the streaming threads here for a while now, and I find it both exhilarating and intimidating.  I mean, we all know everything in high-end audio matters to some degree or another, right (Ok, maybe except for the flat earth contingent)?  From what I’m reading and from my own experience the process of optimizing steaming has near unlimited potential, and some even say it rivals or even surpasses vinyl if taken to the max.  Cables, routers, optical, filters, extenders, power supplies, switches, etc., they all seem to make a significant difference despite the naysayers who say bits are just bits.  I’m all in on this steaming renaissance, but most of the jewels of useful info are buried in other posts, so I’d like to have this be a consolidator post of your best streaming experiences and recommendations for others who could benefit greatly from your hard-won victories and maybe save a lot of people the agony you went through to get to streaming nirvana.  So have at it — let’s empower this community in this noble task and help everyone realize the amazing potential of this magic gift to audiophiles.  What say you?

soix

Showing 1 response by mike_in_nc

mike_in_nc
1,166 posts
 

My setup gives excellent sound with the following:

  • Synology NAS for file storage, Qobuz for more
  • Roon running on a Nucleus-like NUC
  • ASUS RT-AX86U router, TP-Link managed switch, wired Ethernet
  • Auralic Aries G1 streamer to a good DAC and system
  • Furman and Torus power conditioners/surge protectors
  • Decent (Billy Bags) stands

What I don’t use are the following:

  • Special power supplies or power cords on any of it
  • Expensive interconnects or digital cables; no optical LAN here
  • Vibration footers, pucks, Ethernet filters, gongs, crystals, DDC, etc.

Maybe those things could make the sound incrementally better. But it’s already so much better than most systems I hear, that I am not motivated. I'd rather listen to music. When I’ve tried tweaky stuff, it’s changed the sound less than moving my chair back or forward 6". So for me, all those tweaks are a nothing-burger.

 

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