Streamer suggestions with both wireless and wired connections


There are necessary components in our systems like speakers and amplifiers,  which are to be bought.  At the same time,  since one can  use a computer to stream 0s and 1s, is it justified to invert 5k or > on a streamer?

I am using a Blue sound Nide 2i streamer (not as a dac though) for already several years, sometimes I use my computer and actually I note no essential difference in sound quality. Some of you claim a night and day difference between SQ of different streamers. So I want to find out if I am really streaming constantly at night. I have no convenient Ethernet connection close to my audio system, besides would like to compare the defferences in SQ with wireless and wired connections.

Please help to create daylight in my streaming environment

 

128x128niodari

Showing 5 responses by niodari

Thanks all for your input. I think I need more of that.

@carlsbad2 , did you mean 92% instead of 2? Just an elementary calculus. I I compared of course CD reproduction with streaming with Tidal. I hear a bit cleaner and  little bit of more space on CD,  but I would not call the differences crucial. Given that the difference between wired and wireless connections cannot be more than that, 2 % seem too exaggerated. 

As to my main system, I have Thiel CS6 speakers, and interchange different amplifiers, a few class d, and a SET tube amplifier. CDs are reproduced by Jays  Audio transport and a t&a DAC. I suggest both give high quality CD reproduction. Despite this, the differences between wireless streaming with the  Node 2i and CDs are non-critical.  So my logic just says that there cannot be a big difference between different streamers. Besides, it may depend on the type of a streamer, if you have one with a buffer then the information is first loaded in the buffer and then is reproduced from the buffer, as if you were reading from a hard drive. So whether you are streaming wireless or with a cable, roughly, the outcome should be similar, with a little more delay with wireless connection. @troidelover1499 , your arguments sound logical and reasonable.

@ghdprentice , does Aurender produce wireless streamers, how you came to a 22k streamer, would not you get a better overall result to invest part of this to upgrade the rest of your components? (There is a boom on Aurender streamers on this site, to me, it  looks more like an intentional advertisement than statement of objective reality.)

ghdprentice , Your experience with digital audio and LP reproduction is valuable. It did not come to my mind to compare streaming with LP reproduction, partly, because my turntable is not so good. Besides, I have not so many LPs of the quality I like. I did A/B comparisons of some well-recorded jazz LP with the corresponding CDs. The frequency range is always better with CDs, but LPs give smoother and non-harsh sound reproduction. Besides the T&A DAC, I used other DACs in my comparisons, including a Reimyo DAP and an Ambar Lampizator DAC, with similar outcomes . So  for me, a streamer that doesn't sound  better than a CD would not make much sense. I strongly doubt that a streamer may sound better than the combination of a good CD transport and a DAC, hence I see no sense in spending $22k or even $7k on a streamer. Your experience is different though. 

@carlsbad2 , I agree that the DAC in Node 2i is no good, I never used it, and of course, while doing comparisons, I used the same DAC for both, the CD transport and the streamer. 

I understand your point of view. But in my experience, the price does not necessarily determine the SQ, and they are not necessarily proportional (and not only is audio stuff). Jay's Audio CD transport is known to be one of the best, hence I don't think that by replacing it with a $20k CD transport the picture will essentially be changed, and the same with the DACs I use.  Overall, while measuring the SQ we are often subjective, and it is a matter of an individual taste. 

But I think you reached the most important thing - you are completely satisfied with your choice.   

 

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There are simple exceptions from the rule "the more expensive, the better". 

Some time ago I bough a Chinese  clone of a very expensive Swiss amp. The clone is claimed to perform 99% as the original one and it costed about 15 times less than the cheapest amp I had before. On the one hand, it is a clone of an amp which costs about five times more than the most expensive of my amps. On the other hand, it is 15 times cheaper than the least expensive amp I had. How the Chinese amp sounds? Excellent, better than some of my expensive amps, the sound is open, extended highs, deep lows  3D soundstage. And it also looks beautiful. How cheap or expensive parts it has inside? According to the info I have, the parts are not cheap, however the amp is cheap. Does Aurender use extra super expensive parts to charge so much for their streamers, or does it have an exceptional design/patent that makes their streamers so expensive? 

The answer is very simple - it was so cheap that I don't care. So far it feels working reliable and doesn't get hot at all. As to the parts, there are photos without the cover where you can see even some part numbers. It would be a complete ignorance not to admit the build and the sound quality of such a gear.