A/B Comparison On A Pair Of Moderately Priced Streamers

I have a Holo May KTE DAC, very happy with that. So getting a good DAC is paramount. Then I find all streamers sound different. I’m using a LUMIN U2 Mini, which I like a lot. The app is good too. It sounds a lot better with a cleaned up Ethernet connection.

"... my experience is upgrading a streamer is at least as impactful as upgrading a DAC."

So ... what you’re saying is that, given the same (uncompressed) source file, different streamers send different bits and bytes to the DAC? I can’t believe that to be the case.

One might be able to hear the dfference between compression rates, but even that is hard ... find out if you have a 100% score below.

My buddy works for a local dealer.  His advice to me was that the Auralic was a better sounding unit.  That being said, the sound comes mainly from the DAC.  The DACs mentioned here IMO just standard mid-level DACs.

Happy Listening.

Talking about moderately priced streamers, has anyone tried the Ifi NEO Stream?  It’s relatively new and I haven’t seen many reviews 

So ... what you’re saying is that, given the same (uncompressed) source file, different streamers send different bits and bytes to the DAC? I can’t believe that to be the case.

@rudyb You’re free to “believe” whatever you want, but there’s more to it than just sending “bits and bytes,” not the least of which is the elimination of noise, which is the mortal enemy in streaming.  Most people here will tell you streamers make a big difference in the ultimate performance of a streaming system, and I suggest you try it yourself instead of relying on a belief.