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Point of higher priced streamer?

Hello,
Assuming I have separate DAC, and I just want to play songs from iPad by Airplay feature.
In this case, I need a streamer to receive music from my iPad -> DAC.

What’s the point of high price streamer? I’m bit surprised that some streamers are very high priced.
From my understanding, there should be no sound quality difference.
(Streaming reliability and build quality, I can see it but I do not see advantages in terms of sound quality.)

Am I missing something? If so, please share some wisdom.
sangbro
thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

sangbro OP13 posts12-21-2020 10:11amWhy do you think I’ve not tried that?

I compare some but don’t hear the noticeable difference.

Then why worry? You tried it for yourself, did not hear any difference, case closed, no "higher priced streamer" for you. Simple. Again.

Although, from your post nine days ago here (https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/basic-dac-streamer-questions)

First of all, please be generous about old fool’s first step to the digital source.

I’m planning to switch to the digital source, and I’m looking for a product like Matrix Element X.
(It’s like Lumin X1 - DAC / STREAMER / Have its own Pre-Amp)

Do you actually have a DAC? How can you possibly know what is all there is to know on "high priced streamers" in nine short days?


three_easy_payments's avatar
three_easy_payments
2,097 posts
 
My Lumin U1 sounds orders of magnitude better than my Node2 when streamed through the same DAC. This should be impossible according to many posters here. I had 60 days to return the Lumin U1 but of course I kept it. It also handily beat out an Auralic Aries G1 streamer...all using the same outputs. Look, I return gear that doesn’t make a difference in my system and keep the components that do. I don’t want to waste money and I have zero expectation bias. Many professional reviewers note the exact same thing. Line noise can absolutely get transferred through these devices if not designed correctly. It’s not all about 1’s and 0’s as people like to ignorantly reference all the time.
cleeds
6,067 posts
 
mgrif104
Expectation/confirmation bias goes both ways. All devices were level matched. I went in a skeptic.
I think that explains many audiophiles and that many of us are inherently skeptical. There was a time I found it difficult to believe that a cable could make a sonic difference. But my dealer at the time put a pair of Fultons in my hand and told me to try them at home. And so I became convinced.

I bought an Aurender N100H as a more elegant solution to a Raspberry Pi, which I was using with the DigiOne hat. It was easy to A/B the two by feeding the same file from each into my DAC - the outputs inherently equal in level - and the difference was more than enough to warrant the Aurender’s cost. Of course, that’s a subjective evaluation; for someone else the price difference might not be worth the expense.

I grew weary of the Aurender’s rocky software updates, intolerance of power outages and indifferent support, so I upgraded to a Bryston BDP-3. For a while I had both connected to the system and in A/B’ing the two I found subtle differences. Again, I realize it’s subjective for me to characterize the differences as "subtle." Someone else might consider them major differences, or perhaps hear no difference at all.

Technical explanations for these differences are really just a matter of curiosity to me.  Because of my own first-hand experiences, I tend to ignore those who insist that there can be no difference.
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
I know one reason the Node2i may not measure up to other streamers: the power supply. It is a small SMPS. That's why there are upgrade kits being sold which are more robust and use a linear PS. Even with the stock PS, a higher quality power cord is an upgrade. 

The Node is built to a certain price point, has good sound, and doesn't claim to be more than it is. I haven't compared mine to other streamers, but in combination with a very fine DAC, my CD playback is superior.


djones51
4,947 posts
 
All the streamer does is deliver the packets to the DAC. It's purpose no more affects the packets of audio data than the miles of cables, myriad of switches and routers affects the packets delivering this post from my keyboard to your screen. Sangbro just get whatever streamer that has the options you want and forget about it. I've  used streamers from raspberry pi4 to Lumin, Bel Canto, Auurender, Auralic and others not a dimes worth of difference when level matched .
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