Old phones as streaming sources

Another thread derailed by predictable acrimony.  I’ve used a phone tethered to my DAC as a streamer just to experiment and yes, it sounded a lot better than I would have expected.  Would I want it as my everyday streamer?  No, it isn’t that good, and this is an audiophile site, where we all want the best.  I think that’s what others are saying here, but no one is proposing that’s phone is the ultimate streaming end point 

that’s an example of “petitio principii” (assuming the original point).  The OP and some others seem to have experienced quite good, “audiophile” results using their phones.  I myself would never use a phone as my streamer because a modern IPhone is overkill for what is actually a very simple process - assuming functions like reclocking, up sampling or DSP are done elsewhere - requiring a very simple computer.  Current iPhones run at 3.5 ghz, the Raspberry Pi is 1.5 ghz, and the Apollo 11 computer ran at .043 mhz (lol!).  

When I first got serious about streaming, I built my own RPi streamer as a learning experience.  I don’t think being an audiophile should be equated to some level of expenditure (though I’ve spent a fair amount, admittedly).  But I think alot of audiophiles are a little intimidated by servers, streamers and the like because they involve technology that is not intuitive for most of us.  And I believe that there are companies out there that take advantage of that, and market products that may not do what we want to believe they do.  

The number of times I hear non-experts (like me!) say that something is less noisy, or “lowers the noise floor”, and then dismiss actual test results showing something different is incalculable.  That’s why I think threads like this, conducted in a civil way, are important.  We should have these conversations.  That’s what audiophiles do.  Respectfully.

@mdalton +1

I hope you don’t mean the processor power is the fault. The SGC sonicTransporter i5 you have runs on an Intel i5 processor at 3.6 GHz. The Ifi ZS runs at 1.4 GHz, and the Raspberry Pi is becoming more powerful, with the Pi-5 at 2.4 GHz. Several mid-end streamers like Innuos, hi-end like Aurender also use increasingly powerful CPUs such as Intel quad-core processors running at 2.5 GHz. As a comparison, the CPU speed on iPhones, ranging from 1.8 GHz on the iPhone 6s to 3.5 GHz on the iPhone 14, is by no means an overkill. A more powerful CPU is not a fault; how the circuit is optimized and implemented to achieve better sound quality is the key. I would wager that the trend among higher-end streamers will lean towards processors that are more powerful yet low in power consumption with better energy efficiency etc...

@mdalton I myself would never use a phone as my streamer because a modern IPhone is overkill for what is actually a very simple process ... Current iPhones run at 3.5 ghz, the Raspberry Pi is 1.5 ghz, and the Apollo 11 computer ran at .043 mhz (lol!)

@lanx0003 

Not really my main point, but the sonictransporter, acting as my Roon core, is doing a lot more processing than the streamer.  But the fact that it runs at about the same speed as a phone is actually telling, isn’t it?  Nonetheless, I also agree that speed isn’t everything.