Laltik
”care to enlighten us with steps involved with cueing up vinyl”
Not sure where you are going with some latent snarkiness here, but my point was that when getting started with streaming, the frustrations can be so great for the average person, that even getting started with an analog system can be easier.
I am not a vinyl guy. Sold off my vinyl rig five years ago, got rid of the lps, and haven’t looked back. However, this entire thread is filled with people listing their myriad difficulties getting streaming right, going through multiple changes in streamers, WiFi routers,changing Ethernet connections, etc, getting components to recognize each other, etc. Advertisers try to make it sound simple, just plug and play, and that can make the purchaser feel like a nitwit if they encounter all the IT issues that routinely plague the work place and keep IT support people happily employed.
My offhand comment about vinyl (I dislike vinyl so much that I cannot believe I am writing something positive about it here) was that for a newbie it may be easier to initiate than streaming. Turntables can have cartridges pre mounted, and technically, that is the biggest obstacle. Keep in mind I am referring to starter turntables here, not some $50,000 bit of esoterica. Pop the platter on, the Matt, set the antiskate, make the connections with the preamp, perhaps adjust a cartridge setting on the preamp. I won’t get into the record cleaning, static, hum issues, etc...Again, the point being that even this cumbersome process can be easier than initiating streaming.
Newcomers to streaming should be aware that sometimes it works out of the box, and sometimes it can be a soul testing trial. If the person is really proficient in IT, that is a plus. For the rest of us, I would start with a dealer or company that has really good support. The normal progression, at least for me, when exploring a new technology is to start with an inexpensive component to familiarize myself with the technology, and then upgrade over time. With streaming this can backfire, as the cheaper equipment may not be well supported. Bluesound used to have good support, now, as they have gotten bigger, not so much. Dealers, particularly older ones who are used to dealing with traditional audio components, may not be very helpful either, and they can be loath to admit this. If purchasing from a bricks and mortar store, make sure they have some IT savvy people on site
