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Do I Need a Dedicated Streamer?

Hello everyone,

As the title states, I am still unsure of if I need a dedicated streamer and if it would increase the fidelity of my music compared to how I am listening at the moment. Which is using AirPlay 2 from my iPhone to my Hegel H590 Integrated amp.

 

I know that the DAC in the Hegel H590 is considered quite good and it was one of the reasons that I bought the amplifier to begin with. However, would I get a better input using a dedicated streamer for around $1000 (such as the Cambridge CXNV2 for example) or would I be better off leaving things as is?

I am just not sure if airplaying music to the Hegel is degrading the signal in comparison to a streamer that would pull its own data and send it directly to the amplifier? Also, would improving my router placement and wifi signal make any difference to the sound since my Hegel is hardwired using a mesh wifi system?

 

I am open to switching streaming platforms if I can gain something out of it such as resolution but I’m not sure if apple music is the issue in any of this.

 

If the answer to the title is a no. I am curious what I would need to take the quality of my listening experience to the next level or where money would be better spent to achieve that. I do have acoustic panels in my room and have done my fair share of research on speaker placement already.

 

The only thing that I have been considering in the near-future would have to be the isoacoustics gaia 1 feet.

 

My equipment:

Hegel H590 Integrated

KEF Reference 5 Meta

Metra Velox Speaker Cables

 

Thanks for reading.

danb99
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,317 posts
 

Give Roon a try first. Install Roon Core on your mac mini and link to Qobuz or Tidal from it. Then use your Hegel as Roon end point. It will be an improvement over airplay with more coherent and clear presentation.
Then if you want to try a streamer, Lumin U series (pure streamers) is a good starting point. The D2 is a streamer/DAC combo by the way. Lumin is Roon ready and you’ll be able to use it as a Roon end point or use its UI which unfortunately is pretty clunky. All this is easy to set up. 
The real improvement and a big step up will be when you use a streamer connected to an outboard DAC. Your Hegel built in DAC is decent enough to start with though. It’s fun to explore. Huge potential there depending on how much you’re willing to spend. Enjoy the journey!

emergingsoul
946 posts
 

Not sure if installing roon is going to be of value for the sound quality unless you use some of the dsp included as part of Roon, which I don’t find very appealing. I think the overlay of this on top of qobuz maybe on the neutral side.

 

Streaming direct from tidal or qobuz is just as good or maybe even better. Also the lumin Interface is quite good as far as sound is concerned, although the Interface itself is horrifying to use and requires a bit of a learning curve, and roon is so much better and easier to deal with.

The lumin ap I'm not sure you knew this but was designed by monkeys. I just wish they would've spent more time and considered human involvement when using it because I think it has promise due to sound quality being a little bit better than roon.

gryphongryph
352 posts
 

I am very excited to try the Volumio Rivo this holiday, unfortunately it has gotten stuck in customs, so I have to be patient, I want to try it as I use Roon and the Rivo is said to sound great with Roon, my dac is a Primare Dac30.

ghdprentice
6,425 posts
 

Lumin is a excellent quality streamer and will improve your sound quality significantly depending on your system… DAC, preamp, amp, speakers and venue.

 

Roon is search and recommendation software and at best will not reduce the sound quality of your system. 

cdc
1,677 posts
 

Do you need one? No.
Do you want one? Of course you do.

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