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 2 responses by panzrwagn

Gotta love those people who argue over Ethernet cables, the dismiss WiFi that removes them completely from the equation. Or that are concerned about jitter on their Ethernet connections. They're still very confused about TCP/IP. FWIW, buffers eliminate jitter. If jitter is so bad that the buffers overflow, then there's a serious ssue with the network that would show up in the router management as dropped frames. 

Unless you are serious about cobbling a streamer from a Raspberry Pi, and doing the associated bit-twiddling, just get a BlueSound Node. They're available for under $500 now, and a big step up from your current setup, and not that far behind the $3k to $5k offerings. Next get off of Apple, whether you move to Qobuz, Tidal, or Amazon UHD. You'll be very pleased. 

Ok reality check: A BlueSound Node can be had for a tenth the price of an Aurrnder. You can try the BlueSound and see if it helps, and then try the Aurender to see if the additional cost is justified for you. Even if you have to pay restoocking fees, that's a rounding error in the overall transaction. Conversely, if the value just isn't there, you just saved yourself $5,000. That's a win-win.