BTW, I don’t use Roon so that’s not an issue.
WiFi streaming — streamer vs. through iPad
I’m currently streaming Qobuz in my HeadFi rig to my DAC via my iPad via an upgraded dongle and USB cable and was pretty happy til I hooked up my CD transport and realized it sounds much better than than streaming. After speaking with some folks here I’ve since realized I need to get a dedicated streamer hardwired to my router to up my streaming performance, but I’ve got a couple situations where going hardwired won’t be possible and will be forced to use WiFi. My question is, if I’m using WiFi would there still be a sonic benefit to using a streamer (I’m planning on getting an iFi Zen Stream BTW) versus going wired through my iPad or will using WiFi completely nullify any sonic advantages the streamer brings? Thanks for any thoughts/advice.
Showing 6 responses by soix
The TP Link AC750 looks interesting to me — thanks @eugene81 @ghdprentice @audiotroy from your experience do you have any WiFi extender recommendations that have worked particularly well?. Thanks a lot guys! This has been SUPER helpful. |
@classdstreamer Thanks for all the good info! I noticed Qobuz wasn’t mentioned on the iFi Zen Stream page and was planning on asking about that. That’s a big problem for me because I’m not going to listen to dumbed-down audio through Air Play and a don’t like Tidal and their silly MQA stuff either. I’m amazed iFi is ignoring such a popular app like Qobuz — any idea why they don’t support it yet or if they have plans to incorporate it relatively soon? And thanks for the info on Mesh and extenders. I’m new to these products so can you explain why Mesh is better than an extender. Thanks again. |
@bkeske Thanks a lot — that’s great info and a huge relief because I’m pretty set on the Zen Stream and not sure what I would’ve done if Qobuz didn’t work. I’ve emailed iFi and will forward any new info re: Qobuz in case anyone else might be interested. |
So after listening to and learning a lot from all the great info here, I’ve decided to dip my toe in on the cheap to get an idea of what improvements I’ll get in my system running hard wired vs. just using WiFi. I bought a TP-Link RE650 used in very good condition for $67 that I’ll connect to the Zen Stream through a 1m Wireworld Starlight 8 Ethernet cable I found for $200. I’m thinking AC wire line noise might not be as big an issue as the TP-Link will be powered through an Audience power conditioner that I’d think will mitigate the impacts of any line noise. So while certainly not a SOTA setup I figure this will be at least good enough to compare WiFi to hard wired with the Zen Stream and I’ll just upgrade from there as necessary or desired. Thanks again(!!!) for all your help here — you not only enabled me to get started but also provided great info for future potential upgrades (Mesh, fiber, ENO, etc.) that I’ll inevitably be exploring in the future. I’ll follow up with my findings after I get everything settled in case anyone might be interested. |