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....................
Yes, half of us keep saying this and the other half clearly do not. They instead "decide" what will sound best, or what will not sound better. Seems really odd in a "sense-based" hobby that one refuses to use their senses. Imagine someone calling themselves an artist yet refusing to look at the painting. |
@antigrunge2 +1
No surprise a company like Grimm that engineers its own clocks for others and who developed their own power supply tends to have nice sounding streamers.
And as a result it is reported the Grimm machines do not improve substantially with cable and filter changes as much as other streamers can. |
While I agree with Grimm design principles I don‘t believe that Roon is the best sounding software. Certainly in my comparison on InnuOS Zenith Mk3 InnuOS Sense 3.1. beat it hands down. That said, an integrated server/DAC/Preamp seems to allow for simultaneous clocking of in/output and analog conversion while obviating cable interferences,coloration, and long transmission paths between stages. More specifically Roon‘s software is substantially more processing intensive than Sense, which is a function of allowing renderer and server separation, more soohisticated library management and DSP plug-ins. This in turn requires more high powered processors which generate more heat and noise through larger PSUs |
I’m with you. Squeeze/squeezelite provides for a higher level of resolution, less congestion, and better defined bass from my streamer versus Roon. But sometimes that extra richness Roon offers is welcomed. Through the dashboard via the app I can actually view the cpu processors usage and memory usage for both the server and the players while I listen with my K50 . Typically playing Squeeze they are at 0% after the first 20 seconds where it runs up to 20% or so, (buffering I assume) and with Roon I have seen it can take 20-50 seconds at the start of each song and then typically stays at 0%, but I have seen it waver more than Squeeze; maybe some background processes run at will; I don’t use any EQ or convolution or anything- everything that can be turned off or disabled it. memory is at 9% for the player and 4% for server regardless of software. But is Grimm, which has been optimized and voiced for Roon, better in my system compared to my streamer using Squeeze? I don’t know that answer yet. This isn’t my picture but one from Antipodes website, and the copy here is blurred and distorted, but gives you the idea:
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