Old phones as streaming sources

@soix 

I didn’t actually make such a blanket statement, no.  I can imagine there are $10k DACs that do a poor job of cleaning up noise on the incoming digital signal, in which case I would definitely recommend a well-engineered, noise-free streamer (though I would never recommend an Aurender or its ilk as I think they are dramatically overpriced for what you get).  

In your case, you have a Denafrips ddc which cleans everything up before your NOS dac, which makes a lot of sense.  You also didn’t spend a bunch on a streamer, opting for the zen, which seems smart to me (I have one in one of my systems too btw).  But frankly, you could prob go even cheaper - e.g. RPi) if you wanted - I did that exact experiment.

Finally, I would note, as discussed in another thread, that Benchmark, who makes some of the quietest, most resolving DACs and amps extent, have said that streamers don’t make a difference with their DACs.  Re rocking on, I’m more of a jazz dude, but I appreciate the sentiment.

though I would never recommend an Aurender or its ilk as I think they are dramatically overpriced for what you get

@mdalton Yeah, that’s just absurd IMHO.

You also didn’t spend a bunch on a streamer, opting for the zen, which seems smart to me

Yeah, I didn’t but even without the DDC I heard a huge improvement over an iPhone/iPad.  Hey, but if you think an iPhone is a great streamer then you do you.  If you can’t hear the difference I feel pretty sorry for you.

@soix 

of course you heard the difference without the ddc!  that was precisely my point!  your dac is not immune to noise.  so there was an obvious difference between the phone and the zen.  that’s what I would have predicted!

@soix I respect your contributions to other threads but frankly in this one you have not brought much to the table other than relying on cost and other peoples opinions to support your view. I was already aware of those items before I started the thread. You said you used an iphone and did not like it, did you try some of the things mentioned in this thread to optimize it before you wrote it off?

You are right noise is an issue but if you shut down un-needed services on the phone you are left with a capable battery powered streamer. You can't get a more quiet power supply than a battery. I'm not saying it is the ultimate streamer but I suspect it may be better than many.  You made an earlier comment

the iPhone is not a great streamer — in fact it pretty much sucks IME.  It’s functional but so is a Toyota Corolla — doesn’t make it a great car.

That's a pretty good analogy because I think the Corolla is a great car if you are looking for reliable, economical transportation. It does everything a Lexus does for a lot less and allows you to put your remaining money to use on something you consider more worthwhile. You do know that frequently more than half of the materials cost of a piece of hifi gear is in the case, right? For some that is worth it ,for others there are better uses of the dough.