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Streamers and bit rot.

In audio land, I see streamers as being complicated and subject to what we call "bit rot" in the software industry. It really means that over time, the code that used to work may no longer work because the environment around them is moving on. It doesn't mean the code becomes buggy, but fails to keep up. A modern streamer has three different areas where code must interface to the outside world:

  1. The services being streamed (Quboz, Spotify, Tidal, etc.)
  2. The USB DAC - Drivers must exist for each chipset.
  3. The user interface - iOS, Android, web
If you are an audio manufacturer, say, Parasound or Ayre and you want to make a streamer you have to solve all of these issues. Those require developers. OK, so you pay your Android and Tidal developer. They go away, and Tidal adds a new feature or a new service like Amazon streaming comes in. Got to go find developers again.  Apple releases a new iOS and your old Android app is now dead. What are you going to do?  This happens with some frequency and all but the most basic of apps "rot" over time.

This is very different than the software-less EE world in which your core expertise may lie in. I mean, even if you use some microcontroller to handle your inputs/levels and bass management it's still a lot simpler, and fewer lines of code to manage and keep up. 

So, my dear fellow A'goners, what brands to you trust to keep up and how did you solve this issue?
erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by brownsfan

brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
@erik_squires,  
Insightful observation.  It seems to me that all forms of digital playback are subject to early obsolescence.  CD players, DACs, and yes, streamers, become outdated much faster than amps, preamps, speakers, etc.   For those of us who are not in the "money is no object" class, it becomes a bit of a dance trying to figure out how and when to buy and sell digital equipment so as not to loose the value of our equipment by holding it too long.  In other words perhaps we should embrace the buy but don't marry mindset advocated by Kalali. 

I bought a Sony HAPZ1-ES in 2014 and promptly sent it to ModWright for modification. The Sony probably was at or near the beginning of streamer/server technology.  I bought it for and used it as a server, rarely using the streaming capability.  At this point, my perception is that it is most certainly obsolete as a streamer.  I have an extensive music library, which is not going away, so I just don't really care about that functionality being obsolete.  However, if I wanted to sell it, I'm not sure I would recover but a fraction of my investment, so I'm left holding one more Dinosaur that is way too good to just give away.  

I am considering purchase of a more up to date streamer/server and external DAC.  If and when I do buy, I will probably buy used, hold for a couple of years, and hopefully resell while there is still a reasonable market.   I expect that digital playback is going to continue to rapidly evolve and mature at a rapid pace for the foreseeable future.  It is just the nature of the beast 
brownsfan
1,508 posts
 
Eric,. The Sony has a single USB in port that permits use of either an external hard drive or an external DAC.  I presume Sony could provide a firmware update that would permit other possibilities, were they motivated to do so.  DACs are stable in the sense of being usable, but not in the sense of holding market value.   What might have been a pretty good (and pricey)DAC in 2005 becomes a piece of junk sitting in a closet in 2020 that you can't give away.  So digital for me is not a buy and hold proposition.
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