2. digital
  3. 141208-38237

PC+Dac or Streamer

As the CD sales is going down at my surrounding and no new albums on CD, planning to go streaming...Now the question is whether  quality of sound will be better on PC plus DAC or Streamer, I read in Linn's website that Streamer is better options but I see it is expensive, they are mentioning about convenience, controlling through phone or tablet, I am alright to walk to PC and select my paylist.
Would like to know if any gone through this road and selected which options, PC+Dac or Streamer
murgeshj
tuberist's avatar
tuberist
951 posts
 
I went PC for years until I bought a dedicated streamer-dac. The sound quality and convenience of use (through iPad or iPhone) was much improved IMO.
n80
2,107 posts
 
This is a big, complicated topic. But, a couple of minor corrections.

First, you can still get new music/bands on CD. No problem at all. Now, the production value may not be any good but that is not a new risk.

Second, CDs are available CHEAP. Probably cheaper than any other media. Millions available via eBay. Excellent recordings for $2-8.

As for SQ, it depends on how picky you are. Low res streaming typically isn’t going to sound as good as a CD via a CD player. Hi-res streaming might sound better than a CD on a CD player if you’ve spent money in the right places. And that can be a lot of money.

I use Amazon streaming to a low end DAC to research music. Then I buy the CD if it is a keeper. I rip the CD into my computer and play it via the same DAC. It is VERY convenient and run completely from my chair via iPhone. The whole set-up set me back maybe $150 at most.

In the final SQ analysis I believe the SQ is better via CD player than ripped through the DAC. But only marginally.

A lot of people will tell you that a Blue Sound Node 2i is a good streaming option. I have not tried it yet. $500.
big_greg
6,561 posts
 
For me it's as much about convenience as sound quality.  I have a streamer in my office, but I hardly ever use it because it's a lot easier to play Tidal, Spotify, files from my network, etc. from my desktop since I'm sitting in front of it already.  I have two such systems, both with good DACs (a Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2 and a Mytek Liberty), and the sound quality is excellent. 

In my main system, there's no PC sitting in front of me, so I have a BlueSound Node 2.  I control that with a tablet (or my phone) and that is pretty convenient.  I'm feeding the signal from the Bluesound into an Auralic Vega DAC.  The sound quality is better than the other systems, but that's in large part because I also have better amps, preamp, and speakers in that system. 

You can have great sound quality either way.  I would be more concerned about convenience / ease of use and budget than whether one method sounds better than the other.
More to discover