Do I Need a Dedicated Streamer?

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.

@ghdprentice

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.

This is a pursuit better pursued by listening than applying logic…

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.

I’m not aware of evidence that rules out difference in sound between streamer models, but counting on this piece of kit in a music playback chain to make a “next level” difference in sound is a pretty dubious gamble based on how streamers and human hearing work.

I’m also not aware of a streaming service that discloses source info for each track/album it provides; this is not an insignificant detail since a huge number of albums have been remastered. If you are being provided with recent remasters or files that are otherwise likely compressed in dynamic range by your streaming service, then your source files are where the most considerable improvement could be. Either that or equipment to properly process your digital signal specific to your room (DSP), but to get either of those as turnkey would be very expensive.

There are presently no published / accessible studies that demonstrate audible differences between streamer models (vs., e.g., speakers). In buying a streamer, the only surefire thing you pay for = software support and the pleasure of the user interface (touch screen and/or smartphone app), and you hope that the manufacturer keeps up with iOS / Android updates if using a phone app.

I’ve had that very investment (trusting a company to keep the user interface up to date) go bad on me, which is why I now stick with open source for a transport OS. I will not use a streaming service that doesn’t provide source/master metadata for its music catalogue. If you’re unwittingly feeding remastered files of compromised dynamic range into your system, it would a fool’s errand to try to improve things with a fancy streamer. 
A good question to ask before trying to take your system to the “next level” is “What do I perceive to still be missing?” based on noteworthy experience(s) from music in your life. Otherwise it can be putting money on the fork with which you stab into the dark ;)

Interesting conversation. @benanders @yage what streamers have you owned/used? Yage it looks like you’re using a Raspberry Pi in your main system - I’m assuming this is still the case, yes?