Do I Need a Dedicated Streamer?
Hello everyone,
As the title states, I am still unsure of if I need a dedicated streamer and if it would increase the fidelity of my music compared to how I am listening at the moment. Which is using AirPlay 2 from my iPhone to my Hegel H590 Integrated amp.
I know that the DAC in the Hegel H590 is considered quite good and it was one of the reasons that I bought the amplifier to begin with. However, would I get a better input using a dedicated streamer for around $1000 (such as the Cambridge CXNV2 for example) or would I be better off leaving things as is?
I am just not sure if airplaying music to the Hegel is degrading the signal in comparison to a streamer that would pull its own data and send it directly to the amplifier? Also, would improving my router placement and wifi signal make any difference to the sound since my Hegel is hardwired using a mesh wifi system?
I am open to switching streaming platforms if I can gain something out of it such as resolution but I’m not sure if apple music is the issue in any of this.
If the answer to the title is a no. I am curious what I would need to take the quality of my listening experience to the next level or where money would be better spent to achieve that. I do have acoustic panels in my room and have done my fair share of research on speaker placement already.
The only thing that I have been considering in the near-future would have to be the isoacoustics gaia 1 feet.
My equipment:
Hegel H590 Integrated
KEF Reference 5 Meta
Metra Velox Speaker Cables
Thanks for reading.
Granted some of these streaming servers are overpriced. However holding up a PC and Windows as the magic answer and calling all others crappy, glitchy software uncovers a significant "knowledge gap" on your part when it comes to operating systems. |
Sure, sure, carry on bro! May the exquisite sound land on ya from the "streamer" like never before. |
Ok, there are getting to be too many “streamers are just PCs” in this thread. The proof to those of us that have tried most everything is the difference between a PC or MAC and a good (at the bottom end Blue stream) is simply startling. The difference gets bigger as you go to $2k to $5K to $10K to $15K, and finally above $20K, assuming you have a commiserate system. Common sense required here.. don’t pair a $2K streamer with a $1K system. Admittedly there are a few techies that have put thousands into cleaning up their network and PC and have gotten pretty good results… but this is a waste of enormous time and money for most of us (my career was in IT… like director of IT for global high tech companies… with the background to understand this stuff). Over the years I have modified PCs… shutting down all extraneous background tasks, using special software, running my Mac on batteries and until I bought a dedicated streamer the sound was ok, but my first dedicated streamer was finally like a piece of high end audio equipment. Each increment of investment (carefully researched to be best of class… Aurender) bested the lower level models. Like some folks pointed out, it’s the source! Unless it is noise free then the dynamics and noice floor are compromised. It is like every other piece of audio equipment… it matters. Just because it doesn’t sound logical doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
This is a pursuit better pursued by listening than applying logic… well unless you have a tremendous amount of experience with the high end. The first high end digital cable I stuck in between my transport and DAC about thirty years ago destroyed any desire for me to go out on a limb with logic on why it shouldn’t matter by logic. It just does, and every audiophile and high end audio company knows it. |
What @ghdprentice said. |
Clearly you're a smart person and had a lot of smart people working for you. Here's something to think about. You say noise is crucial to audio performance. Surely transmitting and storing audio data isn't as important as the data of the multinational corporations that you worked for. Yet did you ever suggest or did your team ever employ 'audiophile' servers, switches or cables in a corporate network? I'm guessing no. Commercial, off the shelf hardware is perfectly capable of storing data and transmitting it from point A to point B without errors - whether it's files, audio or video streams.
I agree that you can (and should) apply listening... but you also need to apply logic. Control the variables and make sure that it's a valid listening test with a level playing field. I think it's pretty reasonable that you should ensure that your outcomes aren't influenced by, say, the price or appearance of a component.
I think an important part of this is knowing your limitations. For example, having a good understanding of what jitter actually sounds like (link) or the audible effects of transmission errors in digital cables (link). Also understanding the limits of your perception of distortion (link) and noise (link). Even knowing the limits of your hearing acuity (link) and detecting frequency response deviations (link).
I sincerely believe that we need to use listening and logical reasoning to make the best decisions on what equipment is actually worth buying. |
