why expensive streamers
@soix and others
I am unclear about the effect on sound of streamers (prior to getting to the dac). Audio (even hi-res) has so little information content relative to the mega and giga bit communication and processing speeds (bandwidth, BW) and cheap buffering supported by modern electronics that it seems that any relatively cheap piece of electronics would never lose an audio bit.
Here is why. Because of the huge amount of BW relative to the BW needs of audio, you can send the same audio chunk 100 times and use a bit checking algorithm (they call this "check sum") to make sure just one of these sets is correct. With this approach you would be assured that the correct bits would be transfered. This high accuracy rate would mean perfect audio bit transfer.
What am I missing? Why are people spending 1000's on streamers?
thx
yes it sure does, thanks @nigeltheflash I hear a lot about timing, slow and fast, so I have to learn about the clocking part. I would have thought when analog is converted to digital and it becomes a stream, timing is encoded in the stream, the 0s and 1s. There is no layers of data, such as content and "pace" or whatever timing means, it's all one linear series. The DAC has to figure out how to unpack it. |
As you wish . . . @blisshifi eloquently summarized the analog electrical aspects of 1’s & 0’s in this post. Synergistic Research has understood these aspects for a while - and has created products around it. - - - - Pre: streamer - during the ethernet packets/frame stage. My router & access point each have dedicated clocks. A Synergistics Research digital power cord is delivering electricity to the LPS to my router. This SR cable accepts proprietary SR tuning modules. When different tuning modules are installed, the SQ changes.* Everything else in the digital chain remains the same. - - - - Post: streamer - during the bitstream stage. My streamer & DDC each have clocks. A Synergistics Research USB cable is delivering data between my streamer and my DDC. This SR cable accepts proprietary SR tuning modules. When different tuning modules are installed, the SQ changes.* Everything else in the digital chain remains the same. Also: A Synergistics Research Galileo digital cable is delivering data between my DDC and my DAC. This SR cable accepts proprietary SR tuning modules. When different tuning modules are installed, the SQ changes.* Everything else in the digital chain remains the same. Also A Synergistics Research digital power cord is delivering electricity to my DDC. This SR cable accepts proprietary SR tuning modules. When different tuning modules are installed, the SQ changes.* Everything else in the digital chain remains the same. - - - - A streamer’s SQ can differ if manufacturers implement different electrical properties within the component chassis. In other words, inside the box. Synergistic did it outside the box. Innovators. - - - - * UEF Tuning Modules work outside the signal path to contour the sound of your cables by changing the way your cables resonate. By altering the relationship between signal and ground resonance you take control of the sonic balance of your cables and in the process, the overall sound of your system. RED Tuning Module’s Sonic Characteristics:
BLUE Tuning Module’s Sonic Characteristics:
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noise is easy to measure, which is why I find it extraordinary when high $ streamers are advertised as lowering noise without any measurements/data to back it up. However, there are a few places where some analysis of the differences - or lack thereof - across different streamers - is done more comprehensively. These include hifinews (paul miller’s measurements sections of streamer reviews), archimago, goldensound, and, yes, ASR. (For a reaction to the point from @blisshifi, see Amir’s video entitled “Is digital transmission really analog?”)
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Oh no, "streaming" is a misnomer in that sense. It isn't linear at all. The data arrive in packets and they can arrive out of sequence, and perhaps even multiple times if errors are detected. |
