Do I Really Need a Dedicated Streamer?

@tubeguy76

S.M.S.L Sanskrit 10th MK II

It’s the best measuring cheapest one that looks good in my rack. Cost about $120.

My other system uses the DAC of my Paradigm preamp because it supports Play-Fi. Doesn’t measure as well, but still beyond the capability of human hearing.

As to the you don’t have the equipment or the ears posts ... been hearing that stuff for over 35 years since I took my first two blind tests and saw the golden-ears crash and burn. Learned how human hearing measures and human psychology works. Read Harmon Kardon’s data and stopped trusting anyone’s opinion and started trusting the facts.

And yes, DACs can sound different if the analog section is programmed to sound different. But that is a design flaw. You can see how this is done in the book Schitt Happened. The proper conversion algorithm was figured out long ago. I’ve programmed several types of conversions myself. There’s almost never a reason to deviate from the standard algorithm.

Oh, and my "steamer" is $179 Windows laptop and a $30 Echo streaming Amazon Music HD.

Congratulations @jssmith ! You have achieved musical nirvana…enjoy it to the fullest!

@jssmith I didn't know that Dac manufacturers were using an analog computer for their output stages.

@invalid they don’t. But you can still program it if you really try. 

Pretty sure the measurements are taken using the analog output as input and are not done in digital domain.  Analog out is why it’s a DAC and not just a D.   So there is that.