Point of higher priced streamer?

yyzsantabarbara1,914 postsI broke down and bought the UltraCap LPS 1.2 based on the comments here and the ASR links posted here. Let me see now if that was money well spent.

https://uptoneaudio.com/products/ultracap-lps-1-2?variant=6075727314979

The LPS-1.2 is a single output, 1.1-amp linear power supply intended for powering a wide range of audio and computer devices.  Examples include: UpTone's own ISO REGEN, the Sonore microRendu and ultraRendu, SOtM streamers, small DACs and headphone amps, USB>S/PDIF converters, specialty computer USB cards, SSDs, fibre media converters, PS Audio LANRover, SqueezeBox Touch, etc.

LOL!!! This is very funny. I totally missed this part. Hilarious! Especially if “backed” by the world famous & renowned ASR. How do you know? Or you just KNOW?

Please read the results  of the ASR tests of Roon's implementation of Chromecast Audio (CA) streaming, which are backed by actual experimental data.

Perhaps you don't understand the plots. Here are the conclusions:

“1. The CAST audio functionality of Google Chrome is horrid. There is no excuse for it to be butchering even simple 16-bit signals as it did. While audibly it is not as dire as it looks, I still would avoid it if you can.

2. Roon's implementation of Chromecast streaming is superb. It is bit accurate up to 24 bits and 48 kHz that I tested. Congratulations to Roon for job well done. I assume they received support from Google to implement it as the protocol otherwise is not open to the public.

3. The Chromecast output has more jitter than an audiophile/instrument grade Toslink output. This is evident when used with low quality DACs like Schiit Modi 2 Uber.

4. Using a well-designed Dac like the Topping D50, there is no difference at all between Toslink from Chromecast or higher fidelity sources. All the jitter is filtered out resulting in the performance of the DAC itself being the limit.

#4 is a great news here. It means that if you have a good DAC and use Roon, you can turn your DAC into a streamer/renderer using the Chromecast Audio. For just $35, that is a superb addition.  As such, the combination of Roon and Chromecase audio is highly recommended!”

By the way, there are multiple other sources that praise the CA as an excellent device for getting into streaming, for example,

http://https//www.whathifi.com/us/google/chromecast-audio/review

and specifically as a Roon streamer, for example:

http://https//community.roonlabs.com/t/chromecast-audio-sound-quality/45972

Forgive me for paying more attention to actual experimental data than to hearsay opinions, no matter how many LOLs expressions are used  to stress these opinions.

Paying $50 bucks to try out whether I like Roon or not, instead of spending several hundreds  of dollars on other streamers with doubtful performance improvements over the CA, such as the SOtM SMS-200 and the Sonore microRendu Streamers, makes perfect sense to me.

If you look at the J-tests for both the the SOtM SMS-200 and the Sonore microRendu Streamers, which are considerably more expensive than the CA, you can see that their noise performance degrades considerably if you use them with their stock switching power supplies. 

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-of-sonore-microrendu-streamer.577/

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/measurements-and-review-of-sotm-sms-200-network-player.1846/

@thyname1,055 posts

So @rhg you fully understand those plots, but you still don’t own any streamer (just ordered a CCA from eBay), and any DAC? Hmmmm....

You guys are pathetic. And you don’t even hide it anymore. Your kin makes me throw up. Have at it

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/chromecast-audio-sound-quality/45972/41

who reports on an actual a/b listening comparison between a Chromecast Audio with Toslink, MicroRendu and USB direct from Nucleus into a Hugo 2. It seems to support AS's assertion that "Using a well-designed Dac like the Topping D50, there is no difference at all between Toslink from Chromecast or higher fidelity sources. All the jitter is filtered out resulting in the performance of the DAC itself being the limit."

"@AndersVinberg

Ok, I did the comparison.
I have compared Chromecast Audio with Toslink, MicroRendu and USB direct from Nucleus into a Hugo 2.
I listened with headphones, the Audeze LCD-4z.

I found no differences with 96k content or with 44k content.
In fact, when using the remote to switch source on the Hugo, it switched instantaneously when going to USB (took about a second to lock onto optical), and once I had the album synced well enough that I heard no interruption or change, I had to check the color of the indicator light on the Hugo to see that I did in fact switch.
That is impressive with a $35 device.

One caveat: I did notice a bit of harshness on an EST track — the piano is a bit harsh and jangly on the beginning of Dodge the Dodo, obviously intentional because it is perfectly smooth at other points in the track, but I thought the CC made it extra harsh. Which might indicate that it has trouble with the complex high frequency tones of an abused piano. I could investigate more. And I never noticed it elsewhere.

But note that I did hear differences yesterday with the Bel Canto DAC 3, which is a fairly old device (about 2010, I guess). So this supports my standard theory that the importance of the quality of a producer depends on the sensitivity of the consumer, and the Hugo 2 is very new and brilliant..."