Sorry for my ignorance, but is the SQ something you hear, or measure?
How much difference in Sound quality can be expected from different streamers?
I would appreciate very much in obtaining advice on the SQ from different Streamers. I am currently using a good quality vintage DAC (Altis Reference) connecting to Roku 4 (using its Tosslink out to a simple coaxial converter which connects to the coaxial “in” of the DAC). When comparing the SQ of the exact same artist/music through first CD setup( CECTL0 connecting to the DAC) or second setup (Oppo 105 to DAC) vs ROKU 4 accessing Tidal Master level at 48KHz, both CD systems provided better SQ with CECTLO the best. I was reading with interest on the forum (4/2/2021) on DAC and found out that the SQ from different decent DAC does not appear to vary too much; the new DAC may offer connection convenience, but not necessarily SQ. More likely, different CD player or Transport can provide a more obvious difference in SQ than different DAC, like what I had experienced. Thus I am very interested to seek advice from those who had experience in comparing different streamers. Can high end streamers when accessing Tidal Master level produce much better SQ than Roku 4 if connected to my DAC(at sampling rate of 48KHz)? If so, which ones would you recommend?
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- 36 posts total
+2 to what @worldwidewholesales said. To put things in context the listenable FM station in Miami have dwindled to useless so I began to investigate streamers in the late part of 2019. I think it’s fair to say I have a high resolution system in which many of my components have been with me for decades and survived many shoot outs. Being new to streaming it came down to a Node 2i with 30 day satisfaction at Brands Mart or a Cambridge CXN v2 with 60 days satisfaction guarantee at Music Direct. I went with the Cambridge and it needed a long burn in. With it’s RCA outputs and very high grade RCA cable (and power cord) it sounded quite good. .It has an excellent internet radio search with 20 presets you can tag and change as desired. Broken in it’s sound was quite good, not quite Sony XA 5400 ES good (3 years running a Stereophile A+ player) but still very satisfying. Last December I decided to upgrade the system with a Benchmark DAC 3b, also a Stereophile A+ rated component. I also upgraded power conditioning to Audioquest Niagara and all other power cords to noise drain in the system. I spent much of the last 6 or so weeks auditioning digital 75 ohm cables. Pay attention to Cory Greenburg on this.To the people who say you can’t hear differences in SQ between streamers, cables, interconnects, tubes, power cords and the like I say, respectfully, the resolution of your system is insufficient to judge components let alone cables. For those that say the Node and a DAC I say get the Cambridge and work on your system. The Cambridge is plenty good out it’s RCAs after burn in. If you haven’t auditioned speaker cables, interconnects, power cords and so forth you are not ready to think about an external DAC. When you are it's coaxial 75 ohm not Toslink. Build you system from the wall out, step by step. |
- 36 posts total