Which device makes for a better digital music source? Computer or streamer?


I have been using a streamer for both my audio systems. A buddy of mine uses his Macbook Pro and software as a source for his audio system. I use Bluesound Node2 in one audio system and Bluesound Vault with the other. Each has an external DAC attached. My Ipad is my controller. Which source has the potential to yield the best sound? The computer as a source or the streamer? What are you using?

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Showing 1 response by willywonka

I personally think the decision on if you should have a dedicated streamer or computer is dependent on what you are looking to do. If you want no fuss and your main concern is just listening to music then by all means a dedicated streamer will make your life easy with little hassles. On the other hand if you like to tinker and tweek things, you may be happier with a computer.

In my instance I wanted to do extreme oversampling (DSD1024X) with HQP and also wanted to use convolution filters designed for my headphones. This isn't possible with a dedicated streamer. I have a Holo Audio May KTE DAC that has a VERY GOOD USB implementation with very low jitter so using a computer for streaming wasn't as much of a concern for me. I think this choice will be dependent on your USB quality of your DAC. In my case my DAC has Galvanic Isolation. You could always try streaming from a computer and see how it goes. Startup costs to do this will be very minimal.