@chopandchange here's a link to a whitepaper that explains this in better detail, warning is bit head reading but you strike me as quite technical @gdnrbob thank you Sir for the kind words @pwayland I have nearly the same digital front end kit with the PS Audio DAC and Network Bridge, using Roon with Tidal and Qobuz libraries, a great source of enjoyment and musical experience
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I have both an Audiolab 6000CDT and a Sonore ultraDigital/opticalRendu streaming stack connected to the same DAC. The transport is coax connected and the streamer i2s The transport was $500 and the streaming kit approx 2k If the file formats are the same, the playback is very close in SQ Most of my CDs are 16 bit/44.1kHz Tidal and Qobuz offer many additional file formats with less compression and higher bit rates, up to 24-bit/192kHz For example, when playing the same song at 16 bit/44.1kHz from the transport and streaming it at 24-bit/192kHz, it's not even close - I'll stream the high bit rate file every time That tells me the question is less about CDs, transports and streaming and more about file formats Thus IMO the beauty of the streaming services is all of their remastered material in file formats that exceed 16bit/44.1kHz Secondarily I do not have to repurchase my favorite CDs at the higher bit rate, if they were available, it comes with the streaming service If in the future an old CD is remastered, again you don't have to go buy it. It's just added to the streaming library and you'll see it the next time you search for that song or album If a new and improved format is adopted, you'll be able to stream it without any additional cost, where in the case of the transport you may need a new one that's capable of playback in the new format What I do not see as a streaming option is SACD or DSD file formats Which again takes be back to the differences in file formats, not the difference in transport vs streaming Lastly the convenience of streaming better suits my lazy nature The amount of music and the number of artists I can enjoy in an hour streaming, far exceeds what I can accomplish in an hour searching for and swapping out CDs Happy listening and enjoy the journey |
So if the streamer is always getting a perfect binary signal where does it go wrong? Well the only thing I can think of is that noise is entering the system along with the binary stream. It's noise that's the polluter nothing else can be! You're right it's noise of various kinds, e.g, but not limited to - RF, EMI, and high-impedance leakage currents from SMPS and network component clocks that increase jitter and clock phase noise. The whole clocking thing is another space I haven't grasped enough to figure out how to make it right or even better Thus there are some products available to address reducing the noise in our perfect binary signals Here's a couple of links that describe the problem(s) and some products that improve the SQ https://www.smallgreencomputer.com/pages/systemoptique-certified |
Your question about clocking is a good one and it only takes about 2 seconds to get me out of my comfort zone I'll share what little I think I understand The issue of clocking is part of an age old problem of jitter in the digital waveform and not specific to streaming, we have the same issue with CD playback, thus the TCP algorithms and protocols may or may not always apply, depending on where the clocking occurs My limited understanding is one of the mechanism of reducing jitter is improving the precision of the clocking and providing a more accurate digital waveform for conversion and thus improved SQ at analog playback That seems to lead to various opinions on where the clocking should occur, what device gets to be the master clock, should it be re-clocked and circuitry discussions - ALL WAY OVER MY HEAD Here's some marketing specs from an audio grade network switch highlighting the advantages of their clocking technology Specs & PricingCircuitry: Fully differential clock circuitry, isolators, and flip-flops I've also seen various stand alone master clock hardware that sits between the transport and the DAC I've read about one master clock that improves accuracy by maintaining frequency temperature characteristics Since temperature has a huge effect on accuracy of the crystal oscillator, minimising temperature changes and maintaining it at an ideal level are extremely important in order to generate an accurate clock signal. The CG-10M employs an innovative oven-controlled crystal oscillator, the TEAC Reference OCXO to reduce oscillation frequency fluctuations caused by temperature changes. What does a master clock do in audio? The clock provides that timing information and allows the waveform to be reconstructed as an analogue signal correctly when required (assuming the sample rate is more than twice the highest frequency component of the audio signal being sampled). I find the concepts both amusing and intriguing, does my system need a master clock? Heck if I know but I'll know it when I hear it, and that will require me to evaluate a couple in my system over time Hope that helps and there are many on this forum MUCH more qualified than I to tell us both in layman terms the conventional thinking in this space Happy listening and enjoy the journey |
@sns great point and who knew? So many boxes to check just to ensure compatibility, much less optimization This is hard stuff to keep straight even for the reasonably or well informed I'm exaggerating for humor, but how in the heck can we expect the mortals to play along without getting frustrated and pulling their hair out |
