Check in: How quickly are streamers and servers evolving?


This is a question for those who have been trying streamers and servers recently, watching reviews and product launches, or who just know their stuff and keep up with the technology. I am trying to separate market hype and churn from what is happening, technologically.

Many have said that DAC technology development has slowed down enough for people to feel comfortable spending real coin on a good DAC. Good to know.

So my question is: How quickly do you think streamer and server technology is evolving? Is it still a moving target -- in other words still worth being somewhat cautious about perhaps waiting before dropping serious coin as the technology is soon to change again? Or are we slowing down?

(For those who think these technologies can be accomplished in economical ways (Raspberry Pi, etc.), I'm still curious about your opinion about the speed of change, regardless of whether high dollar expenditures are unnecessary.)

Of course the other yet integral issue is how fast music catalogs are keeping up with the hardware changes to supply the new hardware with files that it can play. I just watched Darko discuss the Spotify move to CD quality (which he celebrates and for which explains the rationale), and it seems most of the music out there continues to exist at CD quality only, not higher resolution.

(Oh, and before someone chimes in with how analog beats digital so why bother...please don’t. I know you think that.)
hilde45
CD is dead. But, i would personally like for multichannel SACDs and blu-ray audio to explode, since i am a big time multichannel music connoisseur. As more mastering engineers get educated on mastering Atmos/3-D soundfields and folks get exposure to correctly mastered Atmos music, good ol’ stereo is going to sound like AM mono radio. LOL
@teo my question was not implying “good enough” or at least i didn’t meant to. It was simply about the rate of change. Only people with limitless amounts of money are able to waste it on a technology that is about to have an improvement only a couple of months later. We have all experienced the buyers remorse of buying a computer just before the same model got a chipset upgrade. But there are other things besides chips in these things and I appreciate the answers I’m getting because it is explaining the various elements that could change within the horizon of a buying episode.

It sounds like we disagree about one thing you mentioned. I believe that to be an audiophile means to seek out music that gives enjoyment within one’s budget and Steve Guttenberg has pointed out there are many ways to put together a delightful sounding system that is not “peak quality”. I think the hobby of audio has turned a lot of people off because they think they can’t afford it. But I think most of us know that smart investments can come at different price points and not all of them require some thing that is “peak quality.” You can do what you like and live as you like.
My Teddy Pardo power supply just made my Chord Qutest better at what it does. For $400, it was worth it.

Back to OP’s question...

I think streaming technology has hit a current plateau but may again improve.
Just hope things like the Lumin U1 mini come down to sub-$500 levels. That may be ineviable as streaming should be a commodity task.

Servers? Crap, that means PCs or Macs or a devive with NAS...Some people are into it and swear by it. But many also believe that the instant access of streaming and now availability of full rez music, just makes it a more efficient option.

After so many years in this hobby, and as i get older, Im just not chasing that last 5-8% of audio fidelity. More music and less tweaking and that’s why I am a big proponent of streaming over servers and CD/LPs.

Seeking that last 5% gets you on the AudioFool merry go round.
Just makes you dizzy, that’s all.
Streamers and servers are rapidly evolving, and at an increasingly rapid rate. According to the latest projections within as little as five years they could even be close to where records were in 1950.
@millercarbon Not all of us can live in the 1950's. "Get off my lawn you kids!" LOL!