DAC’s

When I play an LP and stream the same thing via Spotify, it largely sounds the same between LP, dongle, and RME.

I don't have experience with LP, so no comments. But try Tidal and Qobuz. The difference between them and Spotify is obvious. Mostly the upper frequencies and the tightness in lower frequency will be noticeable. If you are not able to detect it, that's ok. Just enjoy the music.

Even a difference between the dongle and streamer should come through. At least in my system it did. I moved from Auris BluMe, to Chromecast Audio to a Windows laptop to a Windows dedicated server. And each change upped the quality of listening experience.

@ghdprentice

There is nothing strange about holmz lackluster attitude towards streaming, here is one of his earlier replies in the thread,

“Yeah - I am not much of streaming guy”

@lalitk the context was that I usually stream to either find new LPs, or have easy listening stuff playing in the background.
I usually preface an opinion where I am perhaps conflicted with a disclaimer like that.

But as @tomic601 mentioned, the lockdowns were an opportunity to take another pass through the system. So when the old CD player barfed, it seemed like streaming was worth a look. As well as playing out CDs that I have previously loaded into the computer (iTunes library). And I got a few CDs that overlap with LPs as I can listen to those in a car or airplane easier than an LP.

holmz

You shouldn’t have to listen to any particular instrument to detect the difference between an iPad dongle and a $2K DAC. It should be obvious and overwhelming. Definitely, Spotify is not a high quality source. But even then… very unusual

@ghdprentice Well the iPad was streaming the Spotify, and the dongle was going into RCAs into the back of the system next to the DAC inputs.
If it is Spotify as the limiter, then it makes sense as to why a dongle and a DAC are not too different.
Thanks!

To give some more context, the PrimaLuna is a bit warm, but switching between UltraLinear (UL) and Triode is much more obvious.

@milpai OK I’ll have a futz around with some of the other streaming options like Tidal and Qobuz.

Watching @shtr74sims go through the process may give me some insights.

Spotify is like a set of bald Mohawk raised white letter tires on your Lotus…. Hopefully that translated ok Randall ;-) Best to you ! Turntable frowned upon in the airplane…made me laugh… @holmz 

Jim

@tomic601 yeah Jim… Got it.

I might get a fishing tonearm and see if I can get past the surf for the Whiting.
 

~Holmz, the last of the Mohicans.

@lpretiring so after 4 days so only maybe 20+ hours I can say with total confidence the R26 is the very best under $5K DAC I've had in my system so far including the Terminator II I sold recently to fund my purchase of the Lampi.

System:

Audioquest and Transparent cabling

Melco S100 ethernet switch

Singxer SU-6 DDC

Lumin P1 using fiber optic input

Gryphon Diablo 300

B&W 804 D4s 

Midrange, soundstage and imaging are very good, indeed the midrange is as good as the Lampi except for voices. The only thing is it's a bit light on bass, but it's early days, I will post again here or you can PM me so we don't hijack this thread. FYI I am using the I2S and COAX inputs so have not yet tried the USB or Ethernet implementations, I will get around to USB eventually but have no need to use it as a streamer.

I'm very surprised frankly, although I did read some glowing reviews of it, usually I'm left underwhelmed, this DAC is truly excellent value.