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Streaming through upconverting DAC - can I even improve audio quality?

New to streaming but have been at this hobby for over 50 years.  Started by getting a Marantz SA-10 SACD player that enables streaming through its DAC only via SPIDF.  The SA-10 upconverts everything to DSD 11.2.  So I started with ifi Zen Stream via ethernet, good Belden 75 ohm cable, then upgraded streamer to ifi's linear power supply, which made an improvement I could hear through balance of system, Luxman 590axii and Yamaha NS-5000 loudspeakers.  Sounds good so I'v e started to look at other streamers thinking it could get better, including the new Eversolo DMP-A8 (where I could use its DAC or the Marantz) and even the $5200 HIfi Rose RS-130 (streamer only).  But here's the thing:  so far, just using free Spotify 44.1 redbook quality, 1) since the Marantz upconverts everything to DSD 11.2 would I gain anything from a premium streaming subscription? and 2) the Ifi's femto clock and it's purifier noise removal works on the signals into the unit (clock) and then out (purifier on coax) and then the Marantz' dual clocks take over, so is there anything to be gained with a different streamer's clock? Or have I gotten the quality to about as good as its going to get without investing significantly more in another higher end DAC and streamer?  Should I be able to get SACD quality via streaming or maybe I'm getting that now and it's just that streaming sounds different than a SACD.

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Showing 1 response by yage

yage
400 posts
 

Spotify uses a lossy compression algorithm (Advanced Audio Coding or AAC - link) to deliver audio while saving on bandwidth and storage space. This means that some of the audio information is discarded during the compression process. These are parts of the audible spectrum that a psychoacoustic model has deemed inaudible. The compressed audio is then decompressed into a format and sampling rate suitable for your DAC, in this case 44.1 PCM. No matter how much upsampling your equipment performs on the resultant audio data, the discarded information is lost forever.

 

Also, don’t be surprised if it’s difficult to distinguish between audio compressed with AAC and compact disc audio in a blind listening test. After all, these types of tests are used in the development of compression algorithms.

 

Finally re: SACD, you can think of the resolution as similar to that of 20 - 24 bit PCM audio depending on the demodulation approach so any lossless hi-res music service out there will get you good performance as long as the recording itself was mixed and mastered well.

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