Digital music questions

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting your feet wet purchasing a Bluesound Node.  The streamer in it is perfectly adequate, if not better than that.  It is its internal DAC that is rather just OK.  Its operating software is among the best. You will find that there are members here with fine systems who enjoy their music using the Bluesound, again running it into external DACs.

@cmb13 : I sense you are questioning stuff, rather than asking questions. I hope I am wrong.

Next question, dealing with a little sticker shock, is the Aurender N200 at $6300 really THAT much better than, say, a Bluesound?

Then just get a Bluesound. It will most certainly be better than a noisy general purpose computer used for streaming audio like your MacBook

Would a dedicated streamer sound a lot better than the Macbook Pro?

Good God yes!

if the MacBook is sending a digital file, comprised of bits (0s, 1s), why would the streamer make so much of a difference? Isn’t the digital file the same regardless of the source? I’m trying to left brain this, it just isn’t making sense the way there can be such a difference in speaker quality or amplifiers, for instance.

I think most of us probably started this journey thinking very similarly because it’s eminently logical, but just like jitter was a relative unknown when CDs first came out, things we didn’t know initially can turn out to be very consequential and even critical. For dedicated streamers, a lot of the difference can come down to reduced noise (probably the biggest issue and the single biggest problem with using an extremely noisy computer as a source), clocking, power supply, and overall parts quality. If you pursue streaming further you’ll quickly learn that every single thing matters and almost always matters A LOT.

I’ll share my own example where several years ago I started running a high-quality all silver USB connection from my iPad/iPhone to my DAC, then I compared the same recordings between my budget CD transport and streaming through Qobuz and the transport was undeniably superior, and at that point I was pretty damn depressed. So I reached out to the fine folks here and the overwhelming consensus was I needed to get a dedicated streamer, so that’s what I did and picked up an iFi Zen Stream for a relatively paltry $400 and BLAM — right away my streaming quality leapfrogged my CD transport by a huge margin. Point being, moving from a noisy computer to even a relatively modest dedicated streamer will be a significant upgrade, and once you do that I’d also strongly suggest you do a free Qobuz trial as it’ll be far superior to Apple Music and there’s also a ton of music in high-res as well. I know you’re hesitant to take on another subscription, but at least you can try it and then decide if it’s worth it.  I’ll just say some things are just worth paying for.  A couple very good streamers you can consider in the $1000 price range are the Eversolo dmp A6 and the Innuos Pulse Mini — the A6 has more features but Innuos is more established and offers excellent customer support and the highly-regarded Sense app interface that’s constantly being upgraded for sound and usability. Sorry to drone on, but there’s a lot to consider here and a huge amount of sonic benefits to be had with some very worthwhile effort. Hope this helps, and best of luck.

Thank you for the responses. ghdprentice, can you help me understand, if the MacBook is sending a digital file, comprised of bits (0s, 1s), why would the streamer make so much of a difference? Isn't the digital file the same regardless of the source? I'm trying to left brain this, it just isn't making sense the way there can be such a difference in speaker quality or amplifiers, for instance. Asking with all sincerity. Anyone else can chime in. Next question, dealing with a little sticker shock, is the Aurender N200 at $6300 really THAT much better than, say, a Bluesound?  

Fuzztone, can you let me know brands / models?

thyname, the issue with Apple Music (I love the interface), is that I understand you cannot stream hi-res unless it's through the apple produce, wired; ie not bluetooth, and there are incompatibilities that make it only cd-quality when going through, say a Bluesound or Sonos or other streamer.

Soix, not sure of budget, but don't really want to spend several thousand unless I'm really convinced of the superiority of it. That's why I'm posing the question above. I was hoping to be in the $1000 range, for instance, or maybe a little higher, but the Aurender N200 is quite costly!!

Plenty of DACless streamers. I own 5 of them.

What’s your budget?

This is a great time in digital to be getting into high end audio..

First an overview. A streamer and a DAC are components like a preamp and amp. They both deserve the same consideration and investment levels. A Mac book or PC is a very inferior streamer. The best services are Qobuz (1), and Tidal (2)… most the rest are notably of lessor quality. These costs around $12/ month. Qobuz gives you access to well over a half a million high resolution albums and millions of CD quality albums. You need never purchase music again.

It is best for high end equipment to have a separate streamer box and DAC. Both strongly determine the sound quality. My rule of thumb is the reseach and buy the very best you can in both categories and it is likely a well balance system will end up with the cost of each component around the same, so streamer = DAC = preamp = amp.

Streamers (take a look at the Aurrender N200… for instance is an outstanding streamer). You plop it down and it will connect directly with Qobuz and you control it through an iPad. I highly recommend Aurender. They supply outstanding low end audiophile to the very best streamer on the market. I own one at each end.

The sound quality is primarily based on your equipment more so than the specific format (resolution). Recording variability will cause more difference than will the play back resolution in general. While there are exceptions. Over the last couple years I have listened to my streamers about 2,000 hours. I will frequently be surprised how good something sounds… I will think, “now that must be a high resolution recording”. I will look and it is only a red book CD quality… but a really good recording. The opposite occurs as well. So, the important thing is to work at getting a top quality streamer and DAC. They both matter.

A high quality streamer can be connected to the internet using a wall wart wifi extender. So you run an Ethernet cable to a nearby outlet where the extender is. Some folks go through elaborate exercises to “clean up” their whole internet signal… through fancy routers, power supplies, filtering devices. It is much easier just to buy a good quality streamer. It isolates the signal and output and provides a well timed signal for your DAC to use.

That being said, am I leaving a lot on the table? 

Yes. See below.

Would a dedicated streamer sound a lot better than the Macbook Pro?

Yes. Most definitely.

Are there streamers without DACs, so I can use the McIntosh DAC without purchasing redundant equipment?

Yes. Plenty.

Can I get a streamer that uses the DAC of the c2700 preamp?

Yes. You will connect the streamer via a digital cable to the built in DAC in your preamp. Such as USB, S/PDIF, or AES / EBU. 

Finally, do I then need to add another subscription, such as Tidal or Qobuz, to get high res audio? 

Not necessarily. Apple Music (red book standard 44.1/16) is pretty good already (CD quality). You can take a free trial for Qobus or Tidal to determine whether they are any better for you and your tastes.