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streamer for PWD DAC mkII - tired of a computer and complicated connectivity!

Hello All,

I have a PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC mkII (PWD II) and I am sick and tired of having a computer connected to my hi-fi system.  I find it far easier to clean and play a record than it is to play a digital file, this is not acceptable!

I would love to keep my PWD II as it is a great sounding piece of gear, but I need to feed it with a music stream that is simple, and eliminate the mac mini and software.  I would love to use a Sonos Connect, but it cannot handle high res music.  Is there any other solution?  Is there a competitor to Sonos that handles high res?  Can I plug in an Apple TV and play music from the network without needing to look at iTunes on a computer somewhere?  Is there a low cost streamer that can plug into the PWD?  Can I control a NAS drive connected to the PWD II via ethernet without a computer?

Or, do I sell the PWD II, raise some funds, and buy a Cambridge 851N or Sony HAP-Z1ES?  Both of these units look way simpler, and both have plusses and minuses:  The Sony supports DSD, The Cambridge supports iTunes Airplay (and I would assume I can stream Apple Music through that?).

Thank you for your help!
- Mark
marktomaras

Showing 3 responses by kijanki

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,410 posts
 
oblgny, you can rip what you listen at the same time.  Eventually all CDs will get ripped with no effort.  Technically speaking, rip is better than original.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,410 posts
 
I use MacMini - Itunes/ALAC - WiFi -Airport Express - Benchmark DAC1 - Power amp.  WiFi makes playback program, computer speed, amount of memory etc. irrelevant.  I use ALAC since it is format used to send the data over WiFi (one conversion less).  WiFi allows to keep computer away from the audio system.  I also use computer during playback (won't affect the sound).  Airport Express has decent jitter spects (258ps measured by Stereophile) but only on the Toslink output.  Analog output is pretty bad showing jitter of 2400ps.  Apple TV receives data at 44.1kHz but outputs it at 48kHz.  That requires interpolation and might affect the sound.  My DAC suppresses jitter (no noise - very clean sound).

I don't understand problems with USB.  With good cable and asynchronous USB DAC it delivers jitter free music.  What is common with WiFi (or any other bridge) is lack of timing that is recreated on the other side of the bridge.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,410 posts
 
arafiq,

1. you're right, but all my music is 16/44.1 - good enough for me.  Most of music comes as 16/44.1 while a lot of higher rate music is the same upsampled 16/44.1 - not sounding any better (My DAC upsamples anyway)
2. I have no experience with Apple TV but I have read a few posts on this forum claiming detectable sound difference.
3. 258ps of jitter is not a lot but might be audible.  Jitter is basically addition of noise that is proportional to signal level and undetectable without music.  Pretty much every DAC has jitter suppression either in form of PLL or asynchronous rate converter (that suppresses better). Placing reclocker in front of the DAC is always helpful.  Once you get rid of jitter at the end nothing else affects the sound.  I'm so far happy with my setup but in your situation I would investigate Sonos, Bluesound etc.  More people today switch to computer server for convenience, therefore more bridge devices will become available - perhaps Apple TV with multiple output rates?
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