Point of higher priced streamer?

Yeah... our friend audio2design has big ego-boner. But we already knew that since he was posting under those now banned handles, AtDavid, Dannad, Roberttdid, and more

You mean like when someone makes a statement like this arafiq, using fancy sounding terms like "computational theory" which is totally meaningless within the framework of delivering a bit perfect data stream? .


It sounds impressive if you want to reinforce a bias.

I'd suggest delving a bit more into computational theory and architecture before making this claim. I.E., "the network is the computer" and processes within the computer are analogous to/similar to the OSI layer system used to deploy WANs/LANs.

Of course when you then start going on about transcoding which is a cmpletely different discussion from bit perfect delivery ..... We already recognize more likely and mundane issues such as O/S transcoding for data rates which need to be addressed with the right software choices to ensure bit perfect delivery of the uncompressed audio data file to the DAC, which for all the flowery words presented is still child's play.

mgrif104

Thank you for your streamer journey.  Many of us do not have the ability to compare audio products in the real world because of a lack of available local sources.  Hearing from someone such as yourself, and not a professional reviewer, carries more weight with me.  I enjoyed reading your response.

This has been enlightening. I am software guy but new to audio. Have learnt a lot on this thread and special thanks to @nquery for great explanation and which makes complete sense to me. 

The point of a high end streamer is simple: Power supply, parts quality and build quality. This simple formula can be applied to all things in audio. In general, these 3 simple things equal improved sound quality. How much of an improvement is relative. The only way to tell is to purchase a few units under the retailers exchange policy and audition them and judge for yourself. Of course the retailer will not like you if you create open box merchandise but active listening in your environment is the only way to tell. Since you are streaming from an iPad, any airplay device will work fine. The most cost effective is a used last generation airport express using a special optical cable with a 3.5mm connection on 1 end. This output is supposed to be bit perfect to 44.1 and it supports gapless playback. With the optical connection the sound will be good. If memory serves me, Stereophile had the APE in its list of recommended components. The drawback with airplay and the APE express is that you are limited to 44.1 . If you want to do Hi Rez streaming then you would need to look into a better streamer. I used the APE for years on 2 systems with excellent and reliable results: I did upgrade both units with Marantz & Pioneer Elite streamers & there was improved performance with Airplay and they both support Hi rez. If you can hardwire to avoid wi-fi, you will get even better sound.