Is computer audio a bust?

Fidelizer opened my eyes with respect to computer audio. JRiver alone didn't do a whole lot for me in terms of sound quality. Running fidelizer made all the difference in the world and encouraged me to go down the computer audio rabbit hole. Now I'm running Audirvana on a mac mini while my cd player is literally sitting by its lonesome in the spare bedroom. Audirvana will soon have it's own file management and will no longer be tethered to itunes. Can't wait.

ANyone who has an Amazon Fire TV device already, or thinking of getting one, I am getting very good results from that running Plex ($5 app for Fire TV) to stream same .FLAC files as my current Squeezebox system that I have run happily for several years now.

Amazon Fire TV ($99) is a fairly decent powered, Android computer specialized for streaming high res audio and video. It has toslink out that can run into most any DAC. PLEX connects to PLEX server you run on your computer file server.

An added benefit of PLEX is that you can access your media (video, photos, music) from anywhere with an internet connection. I use an Ipod with good quality earbuds at the local pool for example and sound quality is top notch.

Its all very good stuff. Not a bust by any stretch.

Alex wrote:
"Steve, but I thought you are using one of those third-party off-the-shelf modules in your current products too, thought with improved clocking and power supplies?"

You would be mistaken. All of my interfaces are custom designed by me.

I have modded many CD transports in past years. Some of these became references. None of them hold a candle to my computer audio interfaces. It helps to have 30 years of digital design experience in the computer industry.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"According to Steve Nugent, wireless/ethernet is supposedly a superior interface in terns of jitter"

True, but still only as good as the designer designing it.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

"Does having a asynchronous USB help with jitter and obviate the need for reclocking or SPDIF converters, as claimed here?"

It does eliminate some sources of jitter, namely the computer clock, however jitter can still be introduced by common-mode noise and RFI. The master clock and the associated clocking circuitry in the interface is also critical to getting a good result. The design will determine whether Async USB interface is good or not. There are a lot of mediocre ones out there.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio