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Does a streamer do anything to the data that Tidal provides?

I have been streaming Tidal to my HiFi for the past 4 years with a streamer and a DAC connected to my amplifier (Raumfeld streamer to Musical Fidelity DAC and also Musical Fidelity Amp). I also have an all-in-one system for my summer house (Naim Muso Qb). So, I know the basics and I am only interested in streaming from Tidal.

What I struggle to understand is, what the streamer does apart from transporting the digital signal and therefore why it could make sense to invest in an expensive streamer.

I understand what Digital to Analogue Conversion does and that it makes sense to ensure a good quality, but isn't the streamer just a transporter of data? Does the streamer do anything to the data that Tidal delivers apart from receiving them and sending them to the DAC? 

Thanks in advance, Michael 
mtraesbo

Showing 1 response by rbstehno

rbstehno
1,506 posts
 
Why would you want a streamer or a computer to act like a streamer these days? I got rid of my dedicated Mac mini running various audio software (pure music, audirvana) years ago. This setup bettered than a multi thousand $$ CD player which I sold. It is foolish imo to have a computer in your audio room.
i moved to a dedicated streamer the Auralic Aries which bettered the Mac mini setup by quite a bit. The drawback was using usb to an external dac.
for a year now, I have been using a bridge that’s built in to a ps audio directstream dac. Internally it uses an i2s interface between the bridge and dac. I use roon and SQ is fantastic. Last month, an audio publication had a review of a DCS bridge which they really liked.
if you don’t want the best setup using a bridge, the Aries with its DS Lightning software was very good.
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