Why is my expensive streamer to my DAC better than sending Roon or my Mac directly to DAC


I recently upgraded to a Lumin U1-X and it really sounds great, the DAC is ARC CD9.  I was telling my son how great this upgraded unit sounds. He asked me " What does a streamer do, and why can't the Mac simple go directly to the DAC".

I was at a loss of words, other than I don't know but it sounds amazing.

Can anyone offer a better explanation? Thank you

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xweiserb

When you connect a PC directly to the DAC you are opening up a pathway for PC noise to get into the DAC. Not good.

Your Lumin isolates that network noise and sends a clean signal to the DAC. A PC added to network can also add noise to the network. Think also of all the other things connected to a network, printers, computers, security cams, etc.. All of this can add noise to a network.

I think the new Lumin U1-X has a fibre optical connection. My old Lumin X1 had a fibre connection. A fibre cable is made out of glass and glass cannot carry the noise that I described above. Fibre is better than RJ45 Ethernet connection for the same reason.

I use a cheap very internally noisy computer as my ROON CORE server. The way I have it setup with fibre optic cables makes my system sound great in 3 rooms of the house. My $500 ROON CORE server is actually residing under a bed in my guest room, nowhere near my audio systems.

 

 

 

weiserb the streamer is often getting its signal from a streaming site TIDAL OR QUOBUZ rather then a pc

Please clarify, if I am listening to a track on Tidal through Roon its, coming straight from the router to the Lumin?