The OP has a knack of over analyzing things...that’s all I am going to say.
Streamers and bit rot.
In audio land, I see streamers as being complicated and subject to what we call "bit rot" in the software industry. It really means that over time, the code that used to work may no longer work because the environment around them is moving on. It doesn't mean the code becomes buggy, but fails to keep up. A modern streamer has three different areas where code must interface to the outside world:
This is very different than the software-less EE world in which your core expertise may lie in. I mean, even if you use some microcontroller to handle your inputs/levels and bass management it's still a lot simpler, and fewer lines of code to manage and keep up.
So, my dear fellow A'goners, what brands to you trust to keep up and how did you solve this issue?
- The services being streamed (Quboz, Spotify, Tidal, etc.)
- The USB DAC - Drivers must exist for each chipset.
- The user interface - iOS, Android, web
This is very different than the software-less EE world in which your core expertise may lie in. I mean, even if you use some microcontroller to handle your inputs/levels and bass management it's still a lot simpler, and fewer lines of code to manage and keep up.
So, my dear fellow A'goners, what brands to you trust to keep up and how did you solve this issue?
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Kalali As for updates, even a $500 Bluesound Node2/2i pushes updates to their devices regularly with no issues.Yes, I have the 2i and when their is a new update I am notified when I go to the Bluesound OS on my cellphone, a quick download and I have the new software update. For those of us living in the sticks, not near any brick and mortar shops, is this generally how all the streamers work? |
@erik_squires, Insightful observation. It seems to me that all forms of digital playback are subject to early obsolescence. CD players, DACs, and yes, streamers, become outdated much faster than amps, preamps, speakers, etc. For those of us who are not in the "money is no object" class, it becomes a bit of a dance trying to figure out how and when to buy and sell digital equipment so as not to loose the value of our equipment by holding it too long. In other words perhaps we should embrace the buy but don't marry mindset advocated by Kalali. I bought a Sony HAPZ1-ES in 2014 and promptly sent it to ModWright for modification. The Sony probably was at or near the beginning of streamer/server technology. I bought it for and used it as a server, rarely using the streaming capability. At this point, my perception is that it is most certainly obsolete as a streamer. I have an extensive music library, which is not going away, so I just don't really care about that functionality being obsolete. However, if I wanted to sell it, I'm not sure I would recover but a fraction of my investment, so I'm left holding one more Dinosaur that is way too good to just give away. I am considering purchase of a more up to date streamer/server and external DAC. If and when I do buy, I will probably buy used, hold for a couple of years, and hopefully resell while there is still a reasonable market. I expect that digital playback is going to continue to rapidly evolve and mature at a rapid pace for the foreseeable future. It is just the nature of the beast |
It seems to me that all forms of digital playback are subject to early obsolescence. CD players, DACs, and yes, streamers, become outdated much faster than amps, preamps, speakers, etc Thank you, but I think of those, DAC's are now the most stable. We can buy a Theta Casanova and it will play 96kHz/24 bit still. :) How old is that? 1990's or so? Admittedly, DACs over the last 15 years or so are much better with much lower jitter figures. I just looked at your streamer, it looks great! Shame it doesn't have digital inputs. :( I think the suggestion above to go with some thing that uses a shared as opposed to proprietary software stack is a very good one. I use Roon, but BluOS seems to be good too. |
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