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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:

  1. The services being streamed (Quboz, Spotify, Tidal, etc.)
  2. The USB DAC - Drivers must exist for each chipset.
  3. The user interface - iOS, Android, web
If you are an audio manufacturer, say, Parasound or Ayre and you want to make a streamer you have to solve all of these issues. Those require developers. OK, so you pay your Android and Tidal developer. They go away, and Tidal adds a new feature or a new service like Amazon streaming comes in. Got to go find developers again.  Apple releases a new iOS and your old Android app is now dead. What are you going to do?  This happens with some frequency and all but the most basic of apps "rot" over time.

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?
erik_squires
erik_squires OP
16,123 posts
 
So, for now, I use a discontinued Chromecast Audio with iFi reclocker. Both the reclocker and power cable upgrade for the CCA dramatically improved my system. I’m happy with this setup for now as I don’t really know how a more expensive streamer will compare.


My experience with reclockers aligned closely with ASR’s findings: Great DACs don’t need reclockers. I also found that, as you might expect, the quality of those tiny devices as digital sources was mediocre.



Best,

E
melvinjames
416 posts
 
For small manufacturers I think Sonore is doing a great job so far. Their Sonic Orbiter OS is Linux-based and in constant development. They release minor updates online and major updates with the purchase of a new microSD card which sells for under $30. The microRendu was launched 4 years ago (I believe) and is still supported.

Their hardware development hasn’t slowed either. They continue to push the envelope in this space to many accolades.

classdstreamer's avatar
classdstreamer
172 posts
 
My experience with reclockers aligned closely with ASR’s findings: Great DACs don’t need reclockers.
Good to know. I've heard some say that more expensive DACs will have jitter reducing (reclocking?) built in to their various inputs. Now that I have a reclocker, I know I'll be testing it with future streamers and DACs. 
erik_squires OP
16,123 posts
 
Good to know. I’ve heard some say that more expensive DACs will have jitter reducing (reclocking?) built in to their various inputs.


Not really how it works. I mean, expensive is a relative term. Look at the Stereophile jitter measurements for Mytek Brooklyn (~$2K) and the dCS Bartok (~ $16k). Their jitter performance is equivalent.

Both have excellent jitter reduction, but they don’t necessarily rely on sample rate conversion, which some re-clockers (Wyred4Sound’s Remedy for instance) do.

Part of this is also time. As we’ve moved forward in time even inexpensive DACs now provide excellent jitter rejection. Not true of every DAC, of course, but for isntance the Topping DX3 is an under $1k DAC with excellent jitter rejection.
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