2. digital
  3. 169925-33880

Yet another question about streaming

Hi all,

I'm looking for a streaming media setup and there are 2 things I'm currently stuck trying to understand.  I'm hoping for opinions and advice. First thing: I've been looking at players like the new BlueSound Node and a couple of the Cambridge Audio pieces, the Azur 851 N and the CXN V2.  If I am planning to eventually buy a streaming DAC like the Chord Qutest or the Schitt Yggdrasil, how much does it matter which of the streamers I buy? Is there enough difference in the digital output of any of these players to change the sound coming out of the DAC? Second thing that confuses me: if I use one of these streamers to listen to a service like Spotify, what is coming out of the digital out?  Can I send that to my existing EAD DAC or will it come out in a format (like Mp3) that the DAC doesn't recognize? 

Thanks much for any thoughts or ideas.
Howard
howardlander
howardlander OP
10 posts
 
I think I explained the question poorly. I know the output from the Node will be digital. But what I don't know is whether or not my existing DAC ( an upgraded EAD 7000 series III) will be able to convert the input. I can't find a manual on line to tell me which protocols that DAC accepts. So maybe the question should be whether any DAC will accept the sirius or spotify protocol.
Post removed 
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,546 posts
 
Maybe I answered it poorly. There are NO protocols. Probably the reason there is nothing out there about ’em.

The only thing to consider are the DAC inputs. They just should match the player output. OR get a converter. You just can’t go TO USB. From it, no problemo.
sfar's avatar
sfar
1,758 posts
 
I'd also recommend the Bluesound Node. It has coaxial and optical digital outputs and almost any DAC you could buy will have one of those inputs, almost all DACs will have both. 
mahler123
3,260 posts
 
I think the OP is getting confused with HT like issues, where various AVRs or processors may not accept certain audio formats.  Generally this isn’t an issue with 2 channel DACs.  They all decode mp3, FLAC, ogg vorbis (Spotify).    The DAC is the bigger determinant of the sound, but sources matter, as in every other format, so yes there will be a difference between Cambridge, Bluesound, etc, just as no two turntables sound exactly alike.
  The terminology gets confusing.  Bluesound and Cambridge are essentially streamers, but they do come with internal DACs, and those DACs can be accessed by other digital components, so in a sense they can be referred to as “streaming DACs”.  Taking that a step further, a standard computer can also be a streaming DAC.
However, in Audiophilia, products that were created with the emphasis on the streaming capacity, and have DACs that have been added as a convenience or as an afterthought, are generally referred to a streamers.  If the emphasis is primarily on the DAC, and a streamer of lesser quality has been added on, we call them DACs.
if the emphasis is equal, streaming DACs.
  As mentioned above both Cambridge and Bluesound come with internal DACs.  These may not be as good as the DAC owned by the OP,but they aren’t bad.  Particularly if the source is going to be lossy, such as Spotify ogg vorbis, the OP may not get much improvement bypassing the internal DAC of the streamer.  So if for some reason the streamer and the DAC are incompatible just use the included DAC and rest easy
More to discover