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.
Thanks for all of the replies thus far. Based on some of the responses, I suppose that I could wire my mac mini using a usb cable to my Hegel and get streamer level quality without buying a dedicated device?
I assume if that makes a noticeable difference, that I would need a very high quality DAC and Streamer to one-up things from that point forward.
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@rick_n Thank you for that response. I will definitely be trying out your Tidal suggestion since it is essentially free.
In the meantime, I will continue doing more research on the topic (obviously all of the responses here are a major help as well. |
I appreciate all of the responses. Now that it is clear that I do in fact need a streamer to take really complete my system. I am curious if there is a numerical percentage that could be attached to the level of improvement I would experience if I were to go from Airplay to a dedicated device such as a Lumin D2?
I am still a bit of a novice when it comes to all of the streaming platforms but will venture out and give the others such as Roon a try. I hope to report back in a few months with a solid conclusion on my findings and an awesome streamer to boot! |
