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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
60 responses Add your response
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,450 posts
 
Well, it better be...that's a 10K CD/DAC player. Since I already own two red book players, I wouldn't consider Romulus. But, Pandora signature begs for consideration :)

I would be try out the Sonos mod first and run it through my Classe pre-amp.

Here is my top five pics for a DAC-
Aesthetix Pandora
Playback Designs MPD-3
Ayre QB-9 DSD
BMC Pure DAC
?
Thank you for your feedback, much appreciated.
jl35
3,982 posts
 
Agree. I just got the Wyred modified Sonos and the sound is superb running through the DAC in Aesthetix Romulus.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,450 posts
 
"The Cambridge audio 851N you were asking about is a 851D with a cxn streamer built in"

Sonos provides great functionality and convenience but from what I read so far, the issue lies with it's mediocre Cirrius Logic CODAC and the associated high jitter clocks. I am tempted to try out Wyred 4 Sound mod for $550.00 before I dive into Azur 851N. I don't think any external DAC would help the sound until digital out path is upgrade within Sonos.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,450 posts
 
"I have a question for you regarding your goals"

I don't plan to stream music I already own. The idea is to explore without shelling out $15-20 for SACD's or CD's.

It seems lot of folks have good experience with Tidal.
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?
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
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,450 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.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,984 posts
 
+1 for Tidal.
elevick
2,636 posts
 
I stream all day, every day at work. Going through a 192 Musical Fidelity V Link to my Schiit Bifrost. The quality is usually amazing. Tidal is really clean and detailed. Some radio stations stream in high def as well. Some claim to stream in high def but I always lose the signal. Other stations that are not high def still can sound amazing when compared to Amazon or Spotify.
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
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