Music Streamer Quality


This may be a dumb question but does the quality of a music streamer ultimately affect the sound? So here's some detail. I currently have a Sonos music streamer fed into a Simaudio Moon 300D dac. In the interest of having higher quality sound I could upgrade the dac or I could buy a dac with streaming capability such as the Simaudio 280D. I'm looking at a R2R ladder dac but would have the same Sonos feeding it. Does that make more sense than something like the Moon device? I appreciate an comments.
128x128falconquest
@jmarshak well, two of the key software components are the user experience and whether or not your use cases and other components are supported.

Aurender, LUMIN, BluOS, HEOS, Sonos, etc. all have different user interfaces and support different features with their branded software. That can anything from box art to languages to device/app settings to widgets (control elements).

Some devices work with third party software and protocols, whether that be Roon, Tidal, Quboz, AirPlay, UPnP, OpenHome, SMB, SSDP, etc. And that compatibility may be better or worse, more or less reliable. If the product forces you to jump through a lot of hoops to do what you want, that's not as good as one that works with whatever you already have or use.

In terms of hardware, superficially there is the form factor and I/O ports, but past that are the actual design considerations such as internal shielding, circuit design, component choice, etc.

Hardware and software choices can have an impact on network quality and behavior (e.g. Wii versus Xbox or PlayStation, iOS versus some Android ).

One of the most fundamental choices a manufacturer needs to make is if the device will be more like a general purpose computer or more like a traditional CE device running embedded software. That has a large influence on the hardware and how things will work, before the user-visible software is ever considered.

I would add a third aspect which is manufacturer/dealer support. If a user runs into a bug or incompatibility, or has network issues, is the manufacturer able to provide high quality support? Is the dealer expected to support the user instead? Or some combination of both? The hardware and software will have an impact on how much support users will require, and the degree of sophistication needed to resolve issues by the support person and possibly also the user.
A streamer absolutely makes a difference. No question about it. There are people who would argue a streamer is even more important than the DAC.

You can choose to buy a good streamer, and try for yourself, or listen to the Archimago cult, who think that a Chromecast Audio would do just as good.
here is an Interesting article by John Darko.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJIj0Acq99o

I would say the Sotm sMS 200 non ultra would be better than the Aries Mini, not heard the SotM 200,  but judging by the distance the Sotm Ultra beats the Aries mini, I would bet the sMS 200 may possibly be better. I own an unused Aries mini and a used daily SotM ultra. just my opinion.
@nekoaudio - So Yes, definitely the UI, connectivity, compatibility, reliability, materials used, product features offered and support are all important consideration. And I am particular keen on the ’sound quality’ aspect of a streamer. I believe, (to your point) a big factor is again, ’clean power’ supply, isolation and jitter management. Even in as simple devices as [what I thought were] Streamers.

And @thyname to your point, coming from pure analogue rigs, I am one of those people who believe(d) in Chromecast [but I am working on my self to change that belief now :-) ] Problem is, I’ve tried Sonos streaming from Spotify vs playing CDs on Esoteric DV50 and DV60 players - found Esoteric sounded better then Sonos, but not by that much (using a PS Audio Direct Stream DAC). I found NO difference Streaming from Spotify via Sonos vs Cambridge Audio Azur 851N (using the Azur 851N DAC) , and NO difference streaming Spotify with the PS Audio Bridge II vs Sonos (using the PS Audio DAC). These were simple 16/44.1 AB tests. I am not sure if I compared everything according to the ’scientific method’ :-), but I couldn’t be that far off, keeping cables and downstream high res equipment consistent.
Perhaps, the reason why everything sounded ’close’ or ’simular’ is because I was using a really good Synergistic Research PowerCell, and dedicated 20A line which the PowerCell loves. So perhaps that helped with signal noise floor?.

@gawdbless thank you for sharing! Loved it. I did not know these simple customizations were so easy to find for the ResPi, I am going to try one!

@jmarshak 

You were streaming from Spotify on your tests? If so, I don’t think any of Spotify tiers does red book cd quality 16/44.1 you mentioned. Up to 320 kbps lossy.

Such a waste using such a good DAC with mp3

Try streaming from Tidal or Qobuz