Streamer creates a Wow experience


I started streaming by running USB from my iPad to my DAC using Qobuz, and I thought it sounded pretty good and was happy.  Then I compared this to playing CDs and much to my dismay I slightly preferred the CDs.  This was a depressing moment.  So I reached out to you guys and several of you assured me if I got a dedicated streamer it’d be much better, and while I always believed a streamer is important and can make a difference I still found myself a little skeptical how much improvement there would be. 

So I decided to heed the advice here and after some research got an iFi Zen Stream with their upgraded power supply.  After getting the Zen linked to my WiFi and using mconnectHD to be able to stream Qobuz through the iFi — Holy Crap!!!  I expected some improvement but I was not prepared for the huge leap in sound quality I was hearing.  Every aspect of sound improved markedly and my jaw was on the floor.

Anyway, you guys were so right in assuring me a streamer would make all the difference.  And this is through my HeadFi rig and can’t wait to hear what this sounds like on the big rig.  Thanks for your helpful advice and getting me through this.  I’m one shocked and very happy camper.

 

soix

Showing 4 responses by eisen0169

I also bought the ifi Zen Stream to try streaming.  I was able to take advantage of the DAC in my Marantz SA10 SACD player, which is not a DAC per se but works in a proprietary way, but only accepts 75 ohm coax SPIDF.  I invested in a true coax cable from Canare for not much.  So far have enjoyed the free streaming but it's not quite as good as CD through the Marantz.  If I sample something I absolutely love, I'll just buy the CD.  Since my ifi Zen Stream is plugged into my Shunyata Hydra Delta power conditioner, would I even benefit from a LPS, since as I understand it the LPS is designed to diminish power line noise?  Or is the ifi's standard power supply itself adding noise back into the Stream?  If anyone knows, I'd appreciate your insights.  Thanks.

Thanks.  I did realize that after I posted that it is the power supply itself that can be noisy.  I did see that iPowerX online.  I then checked out some of the LPS mentioned in this thread and saw how much they cost.  I also found the iPower Elite from iFi and was wondering if anyone compared it to the iPowerX.  It is $300, which might be overkill I guess.  Or it might not in my compact reference system, which includes a Luxman 590AXii amp, which itself is pretty quiet.  I am thinking when I hear less "quality" when playing the same music streaming (although so far just Spotify) than with the same music via cd what I'm hearing from streaming is actually noise.  I've had it so good with my system in terms of noise, I'm not sure what real noise is supposed to sound like I guess.  Does seem like there's some kind of "graininess" when streaming so I guess that is noise.

Wow is right.  I just splurged based on this thread and everyone's advice and some more googling and got the iPower Elite.  I had just ordered the Japanese SHM version of The Police Greatest Hits but hadn't listened.  The first cut, Roxanne, is well known and the sequence of play was the Zen Stream with its standard power supply, then the CD.  Obviously the CD was much better in every way.  These play through a Canare coax cable into the "DAC" of a Marantz SA10, then into a Luxman 590AXii (Class A) integrated and then into Yamaha NS-5000 speakers, so I consider that setup a "compact reference system".  So then I switched the power supply to the iPower Elite.  Heard it right away.  All streaming just wirelessly from free Spotify from my Macbook Air laptop.  Now as recommended will try a trial of Quobuz.  It does seem like overkill to spend almost as much on the power supply as the streamer, but in this case, where the system is pretty much higher end I guess anything that's a weak link like the standard Zen Stream power supply shows up as such.