Agree with @ghdprentice …good article that shows clear path to SOTA streaming setup. One thing this article didn’t address is ‘cleaning’ up Ethernet signal before it reaches your local server / streamer. Everything matters, Choose wisely :-)
Music Server/DAC – Ethernet, USB, S/PDIF, AES3 or I2S.
This is a well written article which I thought I would share so as to prevent the need for any further discussion on the subject. 😁
Showing 4 responses by lalitk
I have long admired and valued Ed’s contributions. That’s one argument to have clock close to its circuit for best performance but I can’t stress enough the improvements in precision and realism one hears from a SOTA external clock, assuming your downstream components are good enough. In a direct comparison between DA2 and Merging +NADAC and +clock (external clock), I was in a different stratosphere. As good as DA2 is on its own, it simply paled in comparison. This revelation came after enjoying DA2 with Aurender N20 for over two years. My take away is, unless one have the opportunity to experience and compare, we are speculating at best. In audio, the best in our minds is what we can afford at present. I am only using a external clock that cost $18.5K. The next two level of upgrades in Merging clock are $30K and $58K :-) |
“Usb is a flawed connection to a dac no matter what. If you look at some of the better dacs they don’t include usb.” Spot on! USB was adopted out of necessity to facilitate audio out of a PC’s. For the purpose of digital streaming, the DAC’s with direct Ethernet stream is the way to go thus eliminating the need and endless debate on which input (USB, AES/SPDIF, Toslink) is better regardless of how they are designed and implemented. Those continue to advocate USB, AES or SPDIF protocols needs to hear upper tier DAC’s with Ethernet stream capabilities. |
Well, you got this part right, “USB is a computer protocol for connecting various computers, peripherals, and communications tools that dates to the last century” Please re-read my original post and the point of contention about USB protocol used for streaming audio out of PC. Sure you can stream audio, but is it perfect; not even close! I am guessing you’re one of those many using PC to stream audio and thinks it’s the next best thing to sliced bread! |