Thanks ovine. Although my knowledge of traditional equipment and its innards and tech has done me and my customers well throughout the years, I know next to nothing of this new digital stuff.
I understood "dac" and "case" in your post but I have no clue what a Pi 4 is nor "volumio" or where to download it on.
You know what is really putting me off on this streaming stuff? I can’t own the music. My tastes in music run rather tight. I am NOT an "overall" music lover by any means. "Hip-Hop" or "Rap" will never see the inside of this house ( except for one very hauntingly beautiful rap I heard as a prelude to a Blue Man Group show) as well as Michael Bolton or Barry Manilow or Janis Joplin or Kenny G and God forbid, Alanis Morrisette.
I have bought entire albums for just one song. There are only a few classical reproductions I like. In short, I’m rather "selective" with most of my preference in note structure associated with minor cord grouping.
It makes me wonder if this whole streaming thing is right for a person such as myself as opposed to finding a song, buying it for $1.99, burning it on a cd and playing it on what I consider a very good player. |
stereo5. Funny you say that. I used to sell audio equipment for years and never liked Mc stuff. I had it in the stores simply because many people loved their sound. I always thought Mark Levinson was hyped up stuff as well.
Now, house sounds "change". It did for ARC and I should probably listen to a McIntosh 2275 of late |
Kren, you have more cajones than me far as this streaming stuff goes.
I asked the question to see if people were finding satisfaction with streaming as this seems to be the upcoming wave.
I also recall how they said cd's were gonna be dead 10 years ago.
I'm a chicken to move toward streaming. It took me years to get a cd player. To me an audio system is still about a tt, a player and a good ole single ended.
You've trimmed yours down to what many are saying to do. Streamer/dac, integrated...done. I'm afraid to lose those "shimmering highs" however.
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Not too long at all Kren. I know noting of streaming. Don't know what to buy or where to start. Speaking of hobbies, one of mine was photography. It took me 30 years to get into digital. One trip to Alaska and 700 shots later, I never looked back.
I'm hoping streaming would be kind of the same thing.
Unfortunately, I am not a "music listener". I am a component listener which is way bad. It was different when I could listen to just about anything I wanted and took stuff home from the stores but it's where I picked up this bad habit of listening to "equipment". Hence my trepidation getting into streaming. |
Don't cut yourself short Kren. Music is in the ears of the beholder. Audiophilia is a sickness with much based on the "perception" of the listener. For those well healed and can spend $250,000 on a system, more power to them. Would this person be happy with a 5 or 10K system? Nope. But I'm not sure if the real added nuance of the music or the expectation that such a system has to produce $240,000 better nuance is the driving force. That last scintilla of quality higher priced stuff gives you is priceless to some. It does not mean in any form or fashion that cheaper stuff does not give joy.
From my experience in the 35 years of selling this stuff, many told what they should be hearing from magazines, took precedence over what they actually were hearing.
The poster stating he would be happy with this Walkman is on to something. The snobbery and bs in this business is astounding easily rivaling egos found at horse and dog shows. |
richopp. You have taken what you think as my "intimation" wildly incorrectly. For me and to my taste, ARC sound has actually improved from yesteryear.
The best system i have ever heard was at a show in Las Vegas in 2011 or 12. It was comprised of all ARC componetry with Verity speakers.
If one is into what they perceive as "actual timbres" with a "you are there" perception, this did it for me. |
I once let a brother-in-law hear a $100,000 system in one of our stores.
He turned to me and said, "this doesn't have anything over my Bose system" and added, after I told him how much this system would cost; "people who buy this stuff must hate money".
.
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Kenny: prophetic "if you can't hear the difference, you're probably lucky".
I've been cross country twice on motorcycles. Lost about 25%-30% of my hearing as a result of the constant cacophony of the exhaust even with muffed helmets.
I no longer hear the nuance details in components as I used to. That might indeed be "lucky". |
Enlighten me here please. Based on Douger's and js's response, can you burn cd's from a streaming service?
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richop
Coupled with your ARC pre, I believe you’d be tickled pink with their Ref 150 se. Very reasonable used.
Also, their all in one Gsi75 is no slouch either if you wanted a one box solution. As neutral as the 150 and can deliver the crystalline highs I like without being cold, thin or "whiteish". Can find these used once in awhile.
Now all of my blather is based on if your tastes run as mine do as described in an earlier post. In short, I'm not into "beautiful sounding" as I am into "reality" sounding. I would say the "bloom" of the old ARC stuff is about gone nowadays and you would be disappointed if your tastes still run in that direction. |
Ok, so back to my original question. As I am "chicken and ignorant" to get into streaming, for those who have listened to both: how does a streamed delivery compare with a "burned cd"?
I have the Arc CD-8 and it's darned good or I should say "I like it". |
Please excuse my dumbness but this is all new to me. So I need a streamer. I either have to get one with wifi or wired directly to my modem right?
Now I attach this streamer to my cd player dac with what type connectives? ("digital in" means hdmi?)
Why does the streamer have to be quality if it seems to be only a conduit? I just saw a streamer with dac for $23,000.
Also, I have to pay a monthly fee to join up with a provider like Apple music? What’s "tidal"?
My word. My questions are like "what spark plugs should I use" Sorry. |
Ok, thanks Tom.
I'll check the forum out as you advise. Just one more quicky though: Say I stream a song into streamer. Does it get stored in there so I can play it back at any point or do I always have to use a streaming network for play back?
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Pinthift. I too was a musician being a professional trumpet player. I was a bit younger than your son when going professional. Nothing I’ve heard over the years has equaled what I heard in the 15 piece band but that’s ok.
My greatest claim to fame was to sit in when the Fifth Dimension came to town and their player got the stomach bug.
I envy your boy in his journey.
That aside, we opened our first audio salon in 1970. We graduated to 3 stores and I left in 2001 and remained a financial principal until 2008 when the last store closed.
If I didn’t hear 10,000 combinations, I didn’t hear one. Krell, ARC, Wadia Garrad, Thorens, Jensen (an abomination of speakerdom but state of the art then) on and on.
With all that said, I am a babe in the wood with this digital stuff and amazed at the movement in tech it has wrought.
I am not against anything new but I admit I am a slow mover toward anything "new" partly because I exist in the comfort realms of the past while toe stepping into the future. I had to do that as a store owner.
I question everything. I guess because of all the bs spiel I heard as a business owner from vendors, suppliers and audio "critics" from every dimensional plane.
Like a newborn fawn, I do suppose I need to get out in the world to the few remaining stores and listen "all over again".
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