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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 3 responses by sns

sns
3,578 posts
 

Yep, my local files (NAS) still a bit better than streams, but streams getting very, very close with more upgrades to come. I can segregate some stream equipment upgrades from local file upgrades so expect next streaming only upgrade will further close the gap. I also expect further upgrades/innovations in streaming software/players.

sns
3,578 posts
 

Good for you. Good time for streaming, many new innovations and devices coming to market, expect this to continue into future. Will streaming become the de facto mode for best sound quality in the future? I think quite possible based on high level of sound quality already available.

sns
3,578 posts
 

Streaming vs. cd sound quality is no longer the issue. Streaming wins on the availability of music and ease with which it can be accessed. Now, my own experience during the time I was transitioning from cd's to cd rips, was that the rips had better sound quality than cd's, this was the final nail in coffin for cd's, and I had well over 3.5k cd's to rip, took me a couple years, what a pain!

 

I'd like to be convinced there is a single music player software that is superior to all the others. I've observed reviews of the software for years, opinions all over the place. At some point its likely I'll try some proprietary player. The excellent sound quality I'm getting with Roon at present certainly doesn't give me feeling I'm leaving something on the table. I have found that turning OFF every single process possible with Roon provides best sound quality. I also presume Roon has deepest pockets of all the music player software app providers, assume greater knowledge base of engineers working on things like sound quality, ease of use, etc.

 

Per sound quality music player software. What makes me somewhat skeptical is while some claim they hear differences in sound quality with Roon updates, I can't confidently claim I hear them. I'd have to do A>B>A comparison from some rather old Roon iteration to latest to really test for this. Still, not writing this off as possible or even likely, I just think the small differences between iterations make it difficult to hear.

 

Don't listen to those who claim lps and usb no good, total nonsense. Lps always good, usb superior in some cases, other times not, depends on implementation. One must optimize both usb out of server/streamer and usb in on dac.

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