Streaming


I’m interested in high  resolution streaming but don’t know how to get started. I have a Schiit Gungnir Multibit DAC.  What else do I need?
rvpiano

Showing 6 responses by willemj

In the current market there is no high resolution streaming, if what you mean is live streaming from internet. The maximum quality for now is standard redbook CD, from Tidal in the US and Qobuz in Europe. The stream is compressed as a FLAC file, but this is completely transparent. So what you can get is CD quality.
To get this into your DAC you need a streamer of one kind or another. It is important that the streamer has an app(lication) for the streaming service you intend to use, like Tidal or TuneIn (for internet radio - much recommended). My preference is for widely supported streamers like Sonos, Chromecast Audio or Apple Airport Express since no service provider can afford to ignore them. These all have digital outputs, so the sound quality depends entirely on your DAC. You can use a computer for this (even a micro one like a Raspberry Pi), but I am a great fan of the Chromecast Audio. It is convenient, dirt cheap, and the digital output is bitperfect, so sonically there is nothing to worry about. Also, and unlike the Airport Express, once you have given the streaming command, the Chromecast makes a direct connection to your router, so you can turn off your tablet/smartphone. You can also use it to stream downloaded files from a NAS (even up to 24/96), but that demands a bit of computer skills (using the BubbleUPnP software). The Chromecast Audio also supports multiroom use, if that interests you. Similarly, if you have been listening in your living room and want to continue listening in the bedroom, you can simply transfer to that bedroom system. Some apps have additional functions, like a sleeptimer in the TuneIn App for internet radio (much liked by my wife).
Not sure I understand the question. Do you use the Oppo as a streamer? Does it have a Tidal app? In that case I assume you have to turn on the TV and use it to display the menu.
I hope others will now step in, because I don't have an Oppo nor do I use Tidal.
OK. This means you are using the DAC in the Oppo, which is fine. You could even use the Oppo as a very good pre amplifier and connect it directly to your power amplifier. However, on the Oppo you only have a Tidal App and nothing for other services. Fortunately the Oppo has an optical input as well, so you could simply get yourself for example a Chromecast Audio for some $30, plus a basic $10 optical cable (with mini plug at the Chromecast end), plug it into the Oppo, and you will have access to whatever streaming service you like, and with very good audio quality. Searching for the music you want is easier if you use a tablet rather than the small screen of a smartphone.
If you use the Chromecast Audio, you can install apps on your phone/tablet for any service you like, be it Tidal, Spotify, TuneIn, BBC radio 3 or whatever takes your fancy. Since the Chromecast is sold in such huge numbers, there is hardly any service that does not provide an app for it. The apps are in the Google Appstore. Designing these apps is the responsibility of the service, so not all of them are equally good. TuneIn and Spotify are good, but e.g. the Qobuz app does not yet work as well as it should. There are Apps for Android devices and for Apple. The way it works is that you have the app on your phone/tablet and you use that to connect to the service you subscribe to. It will start playing music on your phone/tablet, and when you then press on the cast icon, the phone/tablet will fall silent and hand over to the Chromecast. From that moment the streaming no longer goes to your phone/tablet, but directly from the router to your Chromecast and from there to the optical input of your Oppo/Dac and the rest of your stereo system. If you then want to choose a new piece of music or whatever, you take your phone/tablet, it will reconnect to the Chromecast, and you can instruct it to stop the current music and start something else.
Since the Chromecast Audio is so cheap, you lose nothing by experimenting. Make sure you get the Audio version and not the more common video one. And don’t let anyone persuade you that it does not have a digital connection - it does, but it uses the same multifunctional mini connector for both analogue and optical digital. Just make sure you have an optical cable with the mini connector at the Chromecast end and you are fine.
I hope this clarifies it a bit.
Gladly done. Let us know how it all ends. I think it is a great system that costs next to nothing and has no sonic drawbacks even if combined with high end components. I admit, however, that if there is a glitch I sometimes need to consult my nineteen year old son......
I noticed the same here in Holland: hires streaming for a premium price and on all material they have in hires, and just 16/44 on the rest. I don't know the proportion they have in hires.