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Computer Audio..Stream or download?

Fellow Audiophiles,

Until now, i never cared for music streaming or downloads, simply because of compression. I owned fairly large selection of CD's, SACD's, DTS and DVD audio discs. DTS and DVD audio are long gone and SACD's are now pretty much limited to classical titles. I have been watching the digital trend pretty closely..it seems that we have evolved from digital downloads to now streaming. For sake of convenience, i have installed Sonos in couple of rooms. In my HT setup, Sonos just couldn't live up to high standards set by Krell and Raysonic. The streaming from Spotify, Amazon and Rhapsody is just average (flat and dull most times).

I am looking for ideas and feedback based on your experiences with high-res downloads. I am only interested in listening to high-rez / DSD64 or DSD128 files.

Please respond with your recommendations on DSD software and DAC's/Players.

MY Equipments:
Classe SSP-800 / CA-2200 / CA-5200
Krell Cipher
Raysonic CD-128
B&W 803s/804s/HTM2s/SCMS
Audience Au24 SE - IC's, Speaker, Power and Digital Cables
Audience AR6-TSSD/AR2-TSSD
128x128lalitk
arh
366 posts
 
To really see what streaming can do you must try Tidal. CD quality streaming. If you like classical you can try Classicsonline from Naxos. They stream up to 24/192. I don't buy downloads any more and don't really care for DSD.
I use a Metrum Hex Dac fed from a MacBook Pro using USB. The Hex does not do DSD
Alan
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,937 posts
 
+1 for Tidal.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,081 posts
 
Alan,

Thank you for your feedback. That's one heck of DAC you got, I am going to check out Tidal soon. The market is flooded with DAC'd and everyone seems to claim theirs as 'best'. I am hoping for couple of more recommendations before I make my purchase.

Someone also recommended to check out Ayre QB-9 DSD.
dsremer
210 posts
 
The Cambridge audio 851N you were asking about is a 851D with a cxn streamer built in. As of now it does not support Tidal but should in the near future. This is a very nice DAC for the money... I have run Tidal via Sonos through a number of different DACS with the P.S.AUDIO direct stream being the best that I have used. The Cambridge Audio will support dsd via its usb input
Dennis
disclaimer I am a Cambridge Audio Dealer
zd542
5,339 posts
 
"Someone also recommended to check out Ayre QB-9 DSD. "

Ayre makes some of the best sounding digital products I've ever heard.

I have a question for you regarding your goals. You say that you have a good collection of music already. Are you looking into something like Tidal to listen to the same music you already own on other formats, or to listen to music that you don't already own?
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