Streamer opinion.. Pease comment on validity.

I went from an Oppo Sonica streamer dac to a Lumin T2. I hear a much more detailed and natural portrayal in my streaming playback.

I totally believe this. From my own listening the Oppo DACs were severely overrated, but it's hard to tell from this experience if this is due to the streaming or the DAC. My guess is the latter. :)

Best,


E

Thanks all for the comments. I beleive this thread has shed some light on a topic that has been wondered about by many members looking to buy a streamer. It definitely has for me. For myself, the system I have warrants at least a mid level streamer to take advantage of my systems already open /airy sound.

Anyone looking to part with one let me know. (Oops, am I allowed to say that? ;) 

PK

I have a Node 2 in a system going into an outboard DAC. While it’s a killer device for the price, it sounds “flat” relative to my Aurender N100 and Auralic Aries G2.

I've read this before, and it is fascinating to me that if the data is 1's and 0's and both are being fed into the same good DAC, that one will sound noticeably more open and spatial.

Does anyone have a technical explanation?

It’s a good question.  I lack the technical knowledge to comment on why.  But, I can comment on what.  And, the difference is pretty easy to hear - and it was validated by a dealer who carries the Node, but not the streamers I have.  I brought them in to audition on their system.  

Perhaps it’s similar to cables. Why do digital cables, speaker cables and analog interconnects sound different?  Heck, why do power cables sound different?  Though some doubt these differences, an audition reveals otherwise (I acknowledge the presence of confirmation bias).  But, the differences I hear were pretty clear - and confirmed by someone who didn’t want them to be there.  In audio, everything seems to make a difference.  Unfortunately....

WRT the OP’s original request:

"Pease [sic] comment on validity"

... yes that commentary is all pretty much valid.

Keep the streamer part separate from the DAC discussion. Companies selling integrated streamer + DAC are doing just that: integrating two different functional components and related processing in one box. The streamer piece is an appliance (as stated in your referenced post) and it’s largely a commodity: getting data ’over the wire’ is a well-understood process, the data is digital, and the error correction at the receiving end is well-established and stable technology. "Audiophiling" the streamer is just the latest in the long-standing industry tendency to mystify and ’subjectivize’ a measurable process that ultimately has little to no measurable impact on the sonic result. For profit.

Profit is fine. It’s necessary for most businesses. Just don’t mislead or otherwise bullsh!t along the way.