Do I Need a Dedicated Streamer?


Hello everyone,

As the title states, I am still unsure of if I need a dedicated streamer and if it would increase the fidelity of my music compared to how I am listening at the moment. Which is using AirPlay 2 from my iPhone to my Hegel H590 Integrated amp.

 

I know that the DAC in the Hegel H590 is considered quite good and it was one of the reasons that I bought the amplifier to begin with. However, would I get a better input using a dedicated streamer for around $1000 (such as the Cambridge CXNV2 for example) or would I be better off leaving things as is?

I am just not sure if airplaying music to the Hegel is degrading the signal in comparison to a streamer that would pull its own data and send it directly to the amplifier? Also, would improving my router placement and wifi signal make any difference to the sound since my Hegel is hardwired using a mesh wifi system?

 

I am open to switching streaming platforms if I can gain something out of it such as resolution but I’m not sure if apple music is the issue in any of this.

 

If the answer to the title is a no. I am curious what I would need to take the quality of my listening experience to the next level or where money would be better spent to achieve that. I do have acoustic panels in my room and have done my fair share of research on speaker placement already.

 

The only thing that I have been considering in the near-future would have to be the isoacoustics gaia 1 feet.

 

My equipment:

Hegel H590 Integrated

KEF Reference 5 Meta

Metra Velox Speaker Cables

 

Thanks for reading.

danb99

Showing 4 responses by cleeds

... So given the lack of reliable subjective evidence, the only evidence we can use is objective measurement ...

That's just your opinion. I'm not sure I agree with your premise and I certainly don't agree with your conclusion. So you might want to avoid the use of the word "we."

o_holter

... I’d like to invest in a streamer if I was sure it actually performed better than my laptop ...

Any good audio dealer would be happy to offer you a demo that would include a nice streamer and your laptop. Nothing equals hearing it for yourself.

deep_333

If he knew anything, he would know that a kickass audio optimized PC could be built for well under a 1000 bucks in 2023. Hence, he’s thoroughly convinced that as he goes up to 10k, 20k, 30k, etc, magic just descends on him, pours like the Niagara...Well, atleast he gets a beautifully milled chassis and some pretty knobs (jewelry, for sure).

Once again, a measurementalist feigning objectivity tosses logic to the wind and resorts to an ad hominem, the perhaps laziest of all loigical fallacies:

Ad hominem  ... Typically this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.