2. digital
  3. 180198-96706

Streamed music sounds awful in my system and I don't know why ....

cd's spun in a transport are so much more satisfying.  Streamed content lacks body, bass, and correct timbre.

DAC is the Moon 780 driven by Moon's transport with Audience Front Row loom. Streamed source originates  from Windows Media Player platform into the same DAC 780 via CAT 6 cable hardwired into a Spectrum router.

If I wanted to upgrade the streaming experience, where would I start ?

Rest of system -Shindo Giscours pre-amp, VAC Phi 300 amp, Purist speaker cables feeding Wilson Sophia 3's.

Thanks for any guidance.

 

 

 

 

 

128x128dr-john
baylinor's avatar
baylinor
1,407 posts
 

@OP

As already told by many, obviously your issue is streaming from your PC, you need a separate streamer. However you don't need to pay 5k or more for it as many recommend. Take a look at my streaming setup in my system. Not counting the DAC, I have only around 2k in it including cables. And it sounds just great. As good as my vinyl rig and cd player, just a slightly different presentation for each. However I did spend a good sum of money building the proper listening room, so I don't have to buy top of the line equipment or accessories to make up for the shortcomings of the listening environment. Foundation first.

retiredfarmer's avatar
retiredfarmer
342 posts
 

Well you have found what  I have found it is plain and simple very hard to get a streamer close to a high quality  cd player. From what I have heard of streaming  and the cd player you have good luck finding something  as good. 

juanmanuelfangioii
958 posts
 

The Mind2 interface and streamer in your 780 are easy to use. Down load the app on your IPad and connect your 790 to your network wi-fi or Ethernet.

 

dougthebiker
210 posts
 

You’re getting a wide variety of advice here, some good and some bad.

with the price of the rest of your system, it would be a gigantic waste to keep an ordinary PC in the chain.

 I’ve found that Roon running on a separate dedicated server (like a Nucleus or NUC) feeding the player through Ethernet and the player feeding the DAC through USB is best.  AND turn off the Roon DSP and volume control in the Roon settings.  Makes a huge difference.

A quality Ethernet cable and USB cable help a lot, too.

yyzsantabarbara
4,796 posts
 

@dr-john You can use a computer to stream with amazing quality. The easier way is to buy a dedicated audio server (really a computer) as mentioned by many others on this thread and be done with. If you are a bit more technically oriented, then you can easily get a CHEAP computer based streaming system setup as I described previously (I did not dive deep in the description).

Most people on Audiogon go the dedicated audio server way and that is a great choice for most. Though this is not the way I do it.

BTW - I was also curious about the elephant in the room. Why use the Windows media server app if you have MIND2?

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