@fredrik222 i have demonstrated this for myself and for many others who have come to listen or for whom I’ve brought equipment to in their system. To me, that’s all that matters and I have nothing more to prove. I am providing this guidance through my own empirical learnings in an effort to pass my experience to others. Many others agree, but there will be people who are skeptical. Those who wish to learn more can also do their own research and experimentation. There is plenty of discussion in this forum that touches this subject.
The difference between Qoboz stream vs purchased songs
I am a admittedly noob, so please forgive my ignorance. Recently, have had the pleasure of getting a Innuos pulse mini, what a game changer! I knew that with the mini you cant buy music, only stream. Using Qoboz, is there’s a difference in sq between the two? I live on a fixed income so I have to be frugal and am trying to figure out where it’s best spent. Thanks so much for any info on this subject.
Showing 2 responses by blisshifi
Let me approach this another way. The OP is wondering if there is any benefit to owning the digital files of the music which may play locally over that of the sonic quality that comes from streaming Qobuz. @gkelly Yes, there is typically a difference in the sonic quality between high-resolution streaming and local file playback. Unfortunately, the streaming chain can be prone to a lot of noise -- through your router, ethernet cable and in the quality of the streaming architecture itself that may introduce jitter into the signal. So while you are playing a high-resolution file, it can be fatiguing and shrill. With local file playback, you typically bypass any network processing, and even a lower resolution file can sound better due to less digital errors and lower noise. With all this in mind, there are steps one can take -- investing in a high quality streamer (the Innuos you mention is a good start), investing in an audiophile grade switch (or even just a decent Cisco one), using a quality audiophile ethernet cable for the last 1M, powering your router or switch with a quality linear power supply... the options are vast. That said, I’m now at a point where I can barely tell the difference between streaming and local file playback and believe at most times they are equal. One other consideration -- if you want to play DSD, most streaming files are not in DSD or DSF format. Of course, there are ways to convert streaming files to DSD on the fly like using software like HQPlayer, but in my opinion native DSD/DSF files fed to a DSD DAC deliver the best sonic results above all. |