2. digital
  3. 173744-96

Playing CDs sounds better than Qobuz — dammit

I’ve built a decent HeadFi rig over the past few months and am quite happy with it streaming Qobuz as a source via my iPad/iPhone.  I recently brought my CD player into the rig as there are some reference CDs I need that aren’t available on Qobuz.  Well, I made the mistake of playing some CDs and compared them to Qobuz, and in every case the CD sounds better — specifically a quieter background and more transparency overall.  I’ve got good cables from the dongle out of my iPad to the USB cable that runs to my DAC for streaming, so let’s leave cables out of the discussion for now because I think this goes deeper than that.  Needless to say I’m pretty disappointed right now because I’ve enjoyed not spinning discs over the past year or so and certainly don’t wanna go back to buying CDs again.  Ugh.

So, what I’m thinking is that streaming over WiFi through my iDevices may be the bottleneck.  IF that’s the case and I need to up my streaming game, what would be the cheapest way to go to overcome the bottleneck?  My thought is going hardwired (which I can do) to something like an iFi Stream or maybe a ProJect Streambox, but just wondering if that’d get it done?  Something else?  I need something pre-made and won’t wrestle with doing a Raspberry Pi with hats, etc. as I have no patience for configuring/troubleshooting tech.  Thanks for any advice/thoughts. 

soix
maynardewm
3 posts
 

@soix significantly? I have never heard or experienced any "noise" using a MacBook connected to a DAC to play music or in music production connected to audio interfaces when I operated a recording studio. Like I said, there’s maybe, MAYBE a difference in sound quality that is almost imperceptible between a high end CD player connected to the same DAC as a MacBook, but there certainly isn’t any "noise" that I can hear at least. The DAC is receiving data from the laptop, not audio. I’m not sure how 1s and 0s could be made noisy.

soix OP
8,707 posts
 

 

 

Like I said, there’s maybe, MAYBE a difference in sound quality that is almost imperceptible between a high end CD player connected to the same DAC as a MacBook, but there certainly isn’t any "noise" that I can hear at least. The DAC is receiving data from the laptop, not audio. I’m not sure how 1s and 0s could be made noisy.

@maynardewm The “noise” from your very noisy computer absolutely transfers to the digital signal through the USB cable. You won’t hear “noise” per se from your computer, but when the digital hash is removed by using a better streamer built specifically to minimize noise in a streaming signal you’ll immediately hear what you’ve been missing by using your MacBook as a source. If you doubt me, there’s virtually no one on this entire site who’d choose a laptop as a source over a dedicated audio streamer, and it’s not a close call. Likewise, nobody here who’s interested in better streaming performance uses a computer, and the only ones who do typically use a heavily-modified computer that’s used only for audio and not for running any other programs that contribute to adding noise to the digital signal. Like I said, just try a dedicated audio streamer and see what you think. You won’t go back.

Also, SPDIF and AES/EBU digital cables are generally preferred over Toslink.  If you want to try an excellent one that’ll very likely blow your Toslink cable outta the water buy this used cable (I own it BTW and it was a revelation), and if you’re not thrilled you can just return it as I think the very reputable seller has a 14-day return policy.

https://tmraudio.com/accessories/digital-cables/acoustic-zen-mc2-coaxial-cable-mc-2-1m-digital-interconnect/

 

 

ghdprentice
6,388 posts
 

@soix

 

+1

Noise in audio is something you have to learn to hear. Decades ago it ceased to be hiss or anything you point to, but it is the noise floor. It is obvious indirectly in not having a dead quiet background that you can fall into. It can be very bad and cause fatigue while listening. Your eardrums are bombarded by it, but without practice you will not hear it.

bikefi10
35 posts
 

@Maynardewm Both my Node 2i and cd player run through the same J2 Geshelli dac which has many good reviews putting up againest dacs 3 x its price $250.00.

I do like analog sound so Ill probably go with R2R dac down the road. 

Ive read many do big upgrades to dacs while still using their Nodes.

Yes, Im sure a streamer 3x cost of Node would be an improvement.

ozzy62's avatar
ozzy62
2,841 posts
 

3x the cost of the node is still not a terribly expensive piece of gear in this hobby. But well worth the cost. I went from a Node to a Lumin and was delighted.

More to discover