Anyone else feel like it’s the Wild Wild West?

+2 @fastfreight Great perspective on how/why to get started with streaming and highlighting how you can start cheap/simple and upgrade piece by piece and get to your nirvana at your own pace and also in emphasizing that EVERYTHING matters.

I wanted to try streaming but not spend a lot of money before deciding to really invest in the top tier gear.  I had purchased a Marantz SA-10 SACD player with a unique DAC that only accepts either coax or optical from a streamer, but not USB.  So I thought why buy a DAC when I only need a streamer.  So I backed into the ifi Zen Stream because it was the cheapest streamer-only with a coax output that had good reviews, and I even snagged one for less on ebay from a dealer. I also invested a little in a decent Canare coax cable. I, too, had to send a service request when I couldn't get it hooked up, which was never answered, but it turned out it was my ineptness anyway.  I got it up and running wirelessly but not wired, which turned out to be incorrect ethernet terminations in my home.  I guess my prior experience streaming was from my Mac to KEF X300A powered speakers with their own dac that sounded pretty good used as nearfield desktop speakers.  After playing the ifi through my Marantz and Luxman integrated Class A and Yamaha NS-5000's and comparing it to my cd's, it sounded pretty good with the free stuff from Spotify.  After visiting forums, I invested in ifi's better Elite power supply and that made a big difference I could hear in my "compact reference system", making me realize it is one of the reasons ifi can make such an inexpensive streamer is that the included power supply is noisy.  The better power supply I purchased was basically the same price as I paid for the Zen Stream, but I'm glad I could upgrade it and it wasn't built into the streamer. 

Now I'm about to compare wireless to wired and experiment with a streaming service and continue comparing to my cd's.  I guess the whole point is streaming is experimentation.  If you've been in this hobby for 55 years since you were a teen, the tech today is amazing regardless of what the format or equipment is.  And the stuff that sounds best is always going to be the artists and songs that are your favorites and when recorded technically in a way that you immediately can hear as superior.

@jderson

I hear you. Some People like to over complicate things. It’s a hard habit to break. Streaming is not so hard. Only when one becomes obsessed with always trying to find something better.

So I guess in some cases it is made out to be like the wild Wild West. Conquering new frontiers is a thing. Even Star Trek was conceived as Wagon Train to the stars. Shatner is famous for his overacting. It’s all good . To each their own

The wild Wild West was truly wild. There was a lot to conquer and master by frontier folk of various kinds.  People should admire that spirit even if at times it was to the detriment of others I suppose.  Talking about native Americans and wildlife  there.

Nowadays, in these parts, we have a bunch of OCD types always looking for trouble. People call them “Karens” now, which is not at all fair to people actually named Karen. I know some very nice real Karen’s. I suppose the wild Wild West had them too. Allegedly…..

CD is better than streaming in my rig.    Streaming makes choosing music simple.  Laziness has me streaming most of the time.  Took me a few years to understand ,try and implement.  My kit: Router , cat 6 unshielded , Uptone etherregen switch, cat 6 unshielded, Aurender, AUDIOQUEST Diamond USB cable , AUDIOQUEST Jitterbug, MSB DAC .  Sounds decent.  CD sounds more holographic , natural and non fatiguing.  My vinyl rig gathering dust.