Advice for Streaming Newbies - Best Bang for Our Bucks

@vthokie83 - my mind is blown! Just how many USB re-clocker, de-jitter, and noise reduction widgets are there?

This wouldn't work with my current setup but it's great to know that there is something for everyone out there.

I've achieved something similar with Zen Stream to Zen DAC v2; the Stream has a reasonable femto-precision GMT clock and has "Active Noise Cancellation" on its USB out. The DAC has a low-jitter crystal clock and I've plugged an ifi iPurifier 3 into the DAC itself, effectively cleaning and clocking the signal on either end of a decent-quality USB cable from Wireworld (though I am tempted to upgrade the cable - someone please take my credit card away!). The result is pretty darned good and precludes me from needing any more USB magic in the chain right now.

Don't a lot of DAC's and/or streamers solve these problems without needing to purchase all this extra stuff? It's packets of data, correct? 0's and 1's.

It seems all this money spent on magic routers and cables and other doo-dads could just be spent on a better streamer and/or DAC?

Jabbaman, tru dat. Glad to see you've got it covered, and happy with your USB chain.

Atlvalet, I thought so as well until I kept hearing about the improvements folks were getting with USB filters, USB cables, re-clockers, and DDCs. I was thrilled with my Node 130 out to a Denafrips Pontuss II DAC, but again was hearing about major improvements made by adding one of Denafrips DDC devices. I had high hopes (in particular because Alvin Chee at Vinshine thought I'd be happy with it), and added an Iris DDC.....I am very impressed, and at $535 for the Iris it's a steal

@atlvalet - you are correct in that the data itself is packets of 1’s and 0’s. None of the tweaks we talk about alter the data itself in any way and Ethernet and TCP are reliable at getting the packets to their destination.

I am a lifelong IT guy working in networking, security and infrastructure. I’ve been involved in building solutions that a lot of people use in their daily lives. I’m not an ultimate expert but I do know a fair bit after a lot of years of learning and doing.

1’s and 0’s aren’t everything, there is jitter, there is EMI and there is RFI. Domestic power is noisy due to the dozens of things we have plugged in such as our boilers, our fridges and freezers, our Alexa’s, and our neighbours too! Our houses are noisy from Wi-Fi and Mobile Phones too.

All of these things can affect the devices that receive the data packets adding noise to what we hear. I was sceptical too as I’ve read a lot of conflicting opinions. The main thing I noted is that the people that say these tweaks can’t work "because of physics" etc. haven’t actually tried them in their own homes, with their own kit and most importantly their own ears.

Are there preconceptions and biases when we listen to upgrades? Of course, there are! When I change something I expect a difference, however, I don’t assume it will be a difference that I like in my setup.

So as a lifelong techie and a bit of a sceptic, everything I have purchased has come with a money-back guarantee so if I don’t like the difference i.e. I don’t find it positive to my enjoyment of music back it goes (and I have done this).

To your main question, why don’t the expensive boxes we buy as DACs and Streamers etc. do this for us? Yes! Quite so! Well some do have a good crack at it, and the more you spend the better the clock, or the better the PSU, and in some cases, the better network interface with some noise reduction tech.

But, there are some very well-respected audio experts out there with no commercial incentive to like these extra magic boxes and doo daa’s and they have very high-end systems, often with dedicated power etc. and they still hear improvements in their music that they like with these widgets. Therefore investing in them now doesn’t make them redundant when I can afford to spend more in the future on better components (though my budget gear is starting to sound marvellous).

And on that note, I’ve ordered a better USB cable and a SotM ISO-CAT7 Ethernet filter :D

@jabbaman even though I am not a big fan of ASR, I find myself caught between two sides with regards to streaming. Like, a lot of people say they loved their EtherRegen, but ASR was like, "This thing does nothing." Same for some of these audiophile routers.

Higher end pieces have linear power supplies, so that should fix the "dirty power" issue. Good DACs incorporate galvanic isolation. I totally get the jitter thing and better clocks. Shit, I just paid Parts Connexion to upgrade the clock in my old Sonic Frontiers SFT-1, but good DAC’s incorporate good clocks.

I also get RMI and EFI because, in my old place, one of my speakers liked to broadcast low levels of a local radio station. I tried a whole bunch of stuff, but only thing that fixed it was an SET integrated amp. No idea why. A push/pull valve amp and SS amp both had the same issues.

I mean, I’m willing to try things, but a lot of streamers and/or DACs already have the upgraded stuff people are paying extra money to add on. And I agree ears should be the final judge, but short term memory is a terrible thing to use to determine audible changes.