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"Real" streamer vs. Bluetooth adapter--what's the advantage?

Hi folks. Please explain this to me in simple terms.

I’m currently streaming from a Galaxy 8 phone, Idagio and Amazon HD, to Audioengine B1 adapter connected by digital cable to a Hegel Rost integrated.

Suppose I got a ‘real’ streamer—Bluos or Cambridge or Marantz. Since I would be using a phone app to tell the streamer what to play, why would the sound quality improve? I’d still use the DAC in the amp, since I reckon that will be better than the one in a $1k or less streamer.

I’m pretty certain I’m missing something, but like the entanglement of sub-atomic particles, I just can’t get my head around it.

Any insight gratefully accepted.


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arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,595 posts
 
Since I would be using a phone app to tell the streamer what to play, why would the sound quality improve?


This is the same as using your TV remote to change channels or adjust the volume. The actual picture and sound quality is handled by the TV, the remote has no bearing on it. 

Get a Bluesound Node 2i, but make sure you DO NOT play via the bluetooth interface, or even Apple Airplay. Using direct ethernet or wifi  with the Bluesound remote app will give you the sound quality that will be substantially better than the other two options.
bluemoodriver
193 posts
 
One of the beauties of the BS Node is that it allows so much experimentation on both the input and output sides. You can feed it by Bluetooth or Airplay, or direct.
I wouldn’t worry about using Airplay, if using it suits you. Airplay is lossless and serves up 44/16 red book - and nobody has been able to prove that higher rates or resolutions give audible differences.
Bluetooth on the Node is the aptX HD standard so if your phone is up to it this is “Hi Res” 24 bit. So actually “better” than Airplay (and standard CD) if you believe you can hear difference above 44/16.

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jallan
254 posts
 
Agree that Bluesound Node sounds better with Ethernet connection, made a noticeable difference with it in my bedroom system
vinylshadow
400 posts
 
I just got a Bluesound Node 2i as it has TIDAL select so I can use my Android as the controller through the cloud to the Node 2i.... I'll be using WiFi and from all that I researched and read users posts, there are no sonic advantages to an Ethernet connection vs. WiFi.
billzame
69 posts
 
Bluetooth is a compressed format so sound quality would be better if you are feeding your DAC directly from a streamer.  Apple Air Play is uses your WiFi network and is not compressed.  I don't know if it is as good as direct streaming but it is much better than Bluetooth.  One of the advantages of Air Play is that some streaming services (e.g. Primephonic, which has an enormous classical catalog) use only Air Play or Bluetooth.
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