ARE SUPER EXPENSIVE STREAMERS REALLY WORTH IT


Folks I am confused why some streamers need to be so eye wateringly expensive. I appreciate the internal basics need to be covered such as a high quality, low noise power supply and a decent processor speed etc..  but that is not rocket science.

So my question is could a decent streamer outputting its data stream via I2S to a good quality DAC receiving the I2S stream be a more cost effective way of rivalling let’s say a streamer costing 5k upwards.

I have heard and digested the argument for expensive streamers quality being centred around the management of the data timing via a quality clock circuit but there are very reasonable in relative terms, DAC’s out there that have dual super high quality temp controlled clocks within, at least the equal or arguably even better than the say a 5k streamer with some sporting dual high end DAC chips etc.

So could utilizing a good quality streamer and a separate high-quality DAC connected via I2S indeed offer significant benefits and potentially reduce the need for a very expensive streamer.

I say this with the knowledge that I2S is designed to preserve and separate the Signals so avoiding the timing issues connected with multiplexing. I2S (Inter-IC Sound) separates the music signal from the timing signal, potentially eliminating jitter or at the very least greatly reducing the possibility for the pesky music killing jitter which we all could agree would lead to improving overall sound quality.

Wouldn’t this separation ensure that the timing information is more accurately preserved, even when compared to a high price streamer, leading as clean or cleaner and more precise audio data output. With I2S, the DAC can use its own high-quality clock/s to synchronize the data, which will reduce jitter and improve sound quality.

Could this possibly mean that even if the streamer has a less advanced clock, the DAC’s superior clock can take over, ensuring best  performance.

So bang for buck would it not be advantageous to investing in a high-quality DAC and using a good but not necessarily top-tier streamer to achieve excellent sound quality without the need for an extremely expensive streamer. Surely the DAC’s performance will play a crucial role in the final sound quality.

Play gentle with the pile on please....................

nubiann

I was running Roon on a Mac mini using USB output to my Wavlet II DAC. I narrowed my dedicated streamer choices down to a HiFi Rose RS130 vs Aurender n200 and for me chose the HiFI Rose because it looks much better esthetically and supports Roon.  Noticeable sound improvement but not major. I’m still happy with my decision and can direct stream from Spotify now.

No one has really convincingly explained this.

And even after decades of research and millions of dollars spent nobody can explain how turtles can use Earth's magnetic fields to return to the beach they were born, after swimming thousands of miles away from it.

But they do. 

When I furst upgraded my DAC from a Lumin X-1 to Lampi  Pacific with a Synoogy 8tb and Lumin U2 I was terribly disappointed in the Lampi.  I felt the sound of the X-1 was really close to the Pacific.  After researching many Servers/Streamers, I came across Lucas Audio, a small company out of Poland.  I talked to Lucas Domansky numerous times and he created a server for me.  

It was night and day better once I plugged the Lucas Audio server into my system.  Without a doubt, the money I paid for the Lucas Audio server was worth every penny/dollar that I paid.  I have since acquired the Lampi Horizon and the Aries Cerat Kassandra DAC's but I will never replace my Lucas Audio Server.  

They are both extremely important, but in my case, it is 60% Server and 40% DAC.

All of your various streamers are just generic PC boards running a custom front end app on top of Linux.  Theyʻre just computers dedicated to running that one app.

 

But go ahead and drop $5k on something youʻll be trying to unload for $1800 in 3 years.  

My media manager is a miniPC ($130) I got from Amazon, with 128G drive (for Linux) and 8G memory.  I have an external USB drive ($100) containing the music data.  It runs Ubuntu Linux (free) and JRiver ($30).

All of your various streamers are just generic PC boards running a custom front end app on top of Linux.  Theyʻre just computers dedicated to running that one app.

@russbutton  No, that’s an oversimplification and there’s absolutely more to it than that.  Power supplies, galvanic isolation, clocks, etc. can all make significant improvements over a basic computer as most people here have found.  At least try a good streamer before you just dismiss them out of hand.