2. digital
  3. 133527-107843

Does a streamer do anything to the data that Tidal provides?

I have been streaming Tidal to my HiFi for the past 4 years with a streamer and a DAC connected to my amplifier (Raumfeld streamer to Musical Fidelity DAC and also Musical Fidelity Amp). I also have an all-in-one system for my summer house (Naim Muso Qb). So, I know the basics and I am only interested in streaming from Tidal.

What I struggle to understand is, what the streamer does apart from transporting the digital signal and therefore why it could make sense to invest in an expensive streamer.

I understand what Digital to Analogue Conversion does and that it makes sense to ensure a good quality, but isn't the streamer just a transporter of data? Does the streamer do anything to the data that Tidal delivers apart from receiving them and sending them to the DAC? 

Thanks in advance, Michael 
mtraesbo

Showing 2 responses by mikhaelkuz

mikhaelkuz
56 posts
 
+1 on Aries.
I purchased Auralic Aries Femto to streamline and simplify my music listening - but some of my gear already had streaming capabilities. I was never satisfied with minim server on my NAS and used JRiver. To my surprise Aries also greatly improved sound quality. The most glaring difference in quality was AES/EBU out from Auralic compared to OPPO 105 SPDIF out (I for years use Jriver and BubbleUPNP to play my collection via OPPO).
In fact, to my amusement OPPO-105 as a DAC (I am not using it now in that capacity, but it is still a pretty good one) sounded better when fed from Aries then if used build-in streamer. Dunno why.
To sum up I do not believe that "all streamers" are the same and "digital is digital". Will the  difference in sound justify the price - it is a different story.
mikhaelkuz
56 posts
 
@jaaptina -agree with you totally, and was in the same "streaming is streaming" boat, and was also very surprised on a difference quality streamer makes.
I read a lot of explanation why - and found most of them unsatisfactory, but fact remains. IMHO (and I am not an expert) no matter how everyone claim to be jitter-immune, reclocking, restoring and bla-bla-bla -  somehow corrupted output signal from poorly made steamer simply cannot be restored to a proper quality, with all audible (clearly) issues follow. I cannot however back this up with calculations or empirical data.
More to discover