Rega Saturn R digital download stick to the DAC.

Hi Reubent. I was talking about downloading the USB driver file that Rega says has to downloaded to your computer . I was told when i get the cd player connect it to my computer with a USB cable so that the download file from the computer hard drive will move to the hard drive on the Rega ..Im brand new at streaming. This will be my first experience . Can you recommend any kind of streaming devices? or streaming services? 

Also Reubent what about the quality of the coax and or optical cables for the best sound quality.And what do i need.  Can you recommend any ? 

@tattooedtrackman - OK, now I understand what you are talking about. If you need to download and install a new driver on your computer, that really has nothing to do with the Rega CD player, per se. The driver downloads and installs on your computer, and it does not transfer anything to the Rega. It just sets up the computer to "speak" the language needed by the Rega to communicate over USB.

Do you have a copy of the driver on CD/DVD disc? If so, put it in your computer optical driver and run the install file found on the CD/DVD. If not, you will need to go to the Rega website and download the appropriate driver to your computer. Once the driver is downloaded, you will run the install file that downloads with the driver and it will install the driver to your computer. Once the driver is installed on your computer, you can connect your computer, using a USB cable, to your Rega Saturn-R. You will want to have the Rega turned off when you connect the cable. Boot up the computer, or at least make sure it is turned on and booted to the OS. Turn on the Rega and select the input you have used to attach the cable (for USB, it is input # 1 and you use the "input button" found on the top/right side of the Solaris remote. You should see  tiny "1" along the top edge of the display on the front of the Rega. There is a button along the top edge of the remote, middle button, that says CD/DAC. You will want to push the button to change from CD playback, to playback from the USB connect to your DAC. When everything is correct, the display on the front of the Rega will show the format of the source component. You will see something like 16/44K or similar. If you see the usual CD output "no disk" or the CD track information, you need to push the CD/DAC button again to select the fact that you are using an external source to connect to the DAC.

Once you see that the DAC in the Rega is connected to your source (computer) you can play anything on the computer that make noise, and you should hear it through the Rega instead of through the internal speakers in your computer.

Regarding what to stream, you can start with Youtube. Just do a search for any some on YouTube and it will likely be there. Play it and you should hear it through the Rega. Once you have everything working and want to try other streaming options, you can try Spotify (there is a lo-res free version with commercials). Once you have that working, you can subscribe to the commercial free version of Spotify, or you can subscribe to the higher resolution Hi_Fi version of Tidal. If you want the best sounding streaming service, Tidal is probably your best bet.

From there you can investigate other products such as Roon.

Good luck. You may have to fiddle with this stuff a bit to figure it out of you are not well versed in computers or computer audio. Since you purchased a DEMO (dealer demonstration unit), the dealer you purchased from, or Rega, should be available to you to assist with getting everything up and running.

Reubent my Rega should arrive in 2 days. I want to thank you very much in responding in great detail . Like i said im very new at this and i never thought i would even want to try streaming music, not with my 2000 plus cds and the sound quality of my Krell KPS 20i. Do you really think the music sounds better streaming? Also in your opinion that you do own a Rega Saturn R how much better is the music quality from streaming compared to hearing a cd on the Rega. I know it also depends on the equipment we have too.

@tattooedtrackman - I can't comment if streaming can/does sound better than CD. I don't use any hi-res, or even CD quality resolution streaming services, so I don't have a valid comparison. I can tell you that streaming lower resolution sources, such as iTunes, YouTube and the free version of Spotify, sound better through the DAC in the Rega than they do using the analog outputs of whatever device I'm streaming through.

Many people on this forum state that streaming the hi-fi version of Tidal sounds the same as their CD player or a CD transport though the same DAC. I would expect that to be correct.

Good luck with the new player. Enjoy!