Help settle a streaming argument!

@polkalover 

He/she did answer the question. A better streamer into the same DAC yielded noticeably better results for them.

Many of us here have experienced similar results. I upgraded my streamer going into the same DAC and noticed a more significant improvement in sound quality than I did when I upgraded my DAC going into my previous streamer.

I’ve since concluded that the streamer is at least as important as the DAC - and perhaps more so. 

Try it yourself. But, try something that is supposed to be noticeably better than your Node so that you’re not trying to split hairs.  We look forward to hearing from you regarding your findings - whatever they may be.

@david_ten +1

@mteetank - not at all. Engineers are not designing the streamer to provide a certain coloration, but are trying to design the colorations out.

Digital data is read as a 1 or a 0. But how is a DAC to understand a 1 or a 0 when the actual signal is a voltage variation? Described simply, the signal can be represented as a sign wave and when the voltage hits a certain level, it is interpreted as a flipping to the other value. The sign wave has a positive and negative slope as the voltage varies. The steepness of that slope are influenced by a number of factors, and even minor differences here can cause timing variations in the signal (jitter or word clock error) even though the data is bit perfect in every way.

It turns out our ears are highly attuned to the distortions caused by jitter - even femto seconds of such are discernible. Lots of jitter hurts my ears - it’s sounds “glassy” or “steely” in the treble region.

Further, noise (not hiss, but typically EMF induced) is transmitted along the digital cable to the DAC. This too may cause distortions.

A better streamer will typically have the proverbial “blacker” background and will offer more spatial cues/information. Poor streamers may introduce enough jitter (even to DACs supposedly immune to jitter) that the sound becomes thinner or “steely” sounding. 

Others will greater technical knowledge can correct any deficiencies or inaccuracies in what I’ve stated above, but this does speak to the gist of the problem attempting to be solved by high performing streamers.

As others have noted, a good streamer will elevate and allow the full performance of an otherwise high performance system. A bad streamer will cripple the same to some extent.

Many times I see people post here and conclude their comments with “and it sounds great!”. I’m sure that’s true. But, if they’re using a mediocre streamer in their digital system, I can only say it doesn’t sound as great as it might as it’s only in direct comparison that the differences are readily revealed. 

@rgottschalk 

Or, perhaps your Roon bridge and Intel Nuc is just fine and that your related hardware is helping things along. 

Of course, it can be difficult to compare because it takes time to connect different devices so A/B is hard. But it could be that all is just fine with your system. Be grateful. 

Be that as it may, your experience does not negate the experience of others.

Perhaps there is a way to help conceptualize why streamers can (not always) make a difference via a simple test most of us can do at home. Some will claim it’s an unfair test, to which i would reply I’m suggesting it only to illustrate the concept of why a clean and jitter free signal to a DAC is important - the function of a streamer.

Here’s the test: regardless of your streaming source (hi-end or not) try using a cheap analog RCA interconnect to the SPDIF input of your DAC. A digital spdif cable has an impedance (75 ohm) designed for digital transmission. But, the cheap RCA cable will transmit the digital information to your DAC - all the 1 and 0s that are supposed to be there will be there. Yet it won’t sound right. Why?

The impedance mismatch of the analog cable is causing a change in the slope of the voltage changes introducing jitter to the DAC.

Yes - not exactly the same thing as a streamer - but it does illustrate that 1s and 0s can be bit perfect yet not sound correct. 

This test does not illustrate the significant efforts to eliminate noise taken by manufacturers of streaming devices.That too produces audible beneficial effects.

If you read my previous post, I address why a bit perfect file can sound different. You are correct that bits are bits, but not correct that noise is not a factor. Sound quality can vary among streamers. It is measurable.  It is audible.

Many people here post what they believe (me included). But believing and experiencing are different things. It is true that it’s possible some of us have been deluded by placebo. But, I think there’s more than enough measured and anecdotal evidence to suggest there’s benefit to investing in a better streamer. That’s what i believe. But also what i experienced directly - when I came in as a skeptic.

Do the work. Make an honest effort to do an honest comparison. Then tell us what you heard. I’ll regard that feedback as far more valuable than telling us what can’t be. Do the work. Then post.