Streaming Spotify


Currently I have a basic system consisting of pre-amp, ss-amp, Dynalab tuner. cd player and (2)speakers . Currently, I subscribe to a music streaming service mostly for running and workouts. Basic question: If I stream into the home system via my cell phone, am I missing out on better audio by not having a DAC connected to the cell? Would I bypass the pre-amp?  Does the pre-amp have a DAC circuit built in?

Thanks

128x128jmedici

Since you are talking about Spotify, I wouldn’t sweat it. It’s lossy audio so what does it matter?

Generally audiophiles prefer Qobuz first and then Tidal. I had Tidal for a year or so, my audio guy persistently pestered me to switch to Qobuz… I did, he was right.

First, if you’re not willing to upgrade your music subscription to Qobuz don’t bother as Spotify is a lossy, crap source and nothing can save it.  And yes, if you upgrade your streaming service you’ll need a separate DAC to get decent sound.  Next, do you need wireless control or can you go wired from your cell to a DAC?  If it’s the latter I have some good suggestions, but if wireless a Node 2i might be your best bet from a cost/benefit perspective, but you’ll still eventually want a better separate DAC if you want better sound. Hope this helps, and best of luck. 

Of all the audiophile hardware, the DAC has the least impact on your listening experience. With the right settings, a DAC will improve your Spotify listening experience. If your listening device (phone, computer, etc.) has a poor internal DAC that introduces a lot of static or noise, then an external DAC may be a much needed upgrade. If you want to stream Spotify to any device, you will need to convert Spotify songs to a format using a third party tool such as AudFree Spotify Music Converter.