2. digital
  3. 173977-9627

A different world

For decades I have struggled to get digital even close to comparable to analog. Then finally a couple years ago after lots of upgrading and experimentation I succeeded. Streaming is equally satisfying with analog, very, very comparable. The full soundstage, instruments suspended in space, tonal balance, dead silent background, and details of brass cymbals … etc. Red Book CDs through my CD player are bested by my streamer with Qobuz or Tidal with hi-Rez versions.

 

A new world. It takes a while to get it. No longer confined to music you “own” to play over and over. Replay is supplanted by exploration. You love an new (or old album) and hit, “add to library”. It is yours.

So, HiFi+ magazine has an article on building a European 21st Century Jazz Library. I just start with the first album in the list and listen (add to library), the 2nd album (add to library), the third… the forth, fifth… a whole new category of incredible music to sit along side Miles Davis and Hank Moberly. Just a couple days in the life of a audiophile streamer. I could have never predicted this as a possibility ten years ago.

 

You love music? The goal of having an infinite audiophile library is now possible. It is possible at any high end level… just requires knowledge that it can be done… and I guess give up the idea that there is something special about your CD collection, or players.

 

I have a 2,000 vinyl albums, play them, usually one a day. They are fun, occasionally sound ever slightly better… but not significantly, I like them for nostalgic reasons.

ghdprentice
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,055 posts
 

@sandthemall

You have a very nice system. I see no reason why you can’t enjoy high quality streaming from existing system. If I may suggest, reach out to Upscale Audio to audition Aurender N100H or N150 with your Audiolab’s DAC. The Aurender conductor app is excellent and very easy to follow. Sign up for Qobuz 30 days free trial. If you love Audiolab’s internal DAC, the streaming experience by pairing with N100 or N150 should be just as good as CD playback if not better.

If you like what you hear, I will then suggest next steps to further improve your streaming experience by filtering noise on Ethernet line (very important and critical step in bringing out nuances you spoke in your reply).

sandthemall
543 posts
 

@lalitk,

Yikes that's quite a set up you have! I'm sure it sounds amazing! Great attention to detail. 

To tell you the truth, I'm afraid to audition it! But would like to try it within my setup. Will see if Upscale can accommodate me.

Will certainly reach out to you to when I get to that point. Thanks for the friendly offer and hope you'll forgive my ignorant first comment.

 

ghdprentice OP
6,363 posts
 

@lubachl

 

Yes, that is correct. When you hit “Add to your library” it is adding the album pathway to my library, not the actual files.. So if you end your subscription you loose access. I was not trying to mislead.

What my Aurender’s does is to create a consolidated library of all my music: by locating all files on the storage of my Aurender, my NAS, and all the albums I added from my streamer into my consolidated library.

 

This is so important, or you would hear all sorts of great stuff and never be able to find it.

The cost of my physical music library was $80,000, the monthly cost of my Qobuz subscription is $14.99. The ongoing cost is so inconsequential in comparison to collecting physical media, I think of it as free.

 

I have own an Aurender N100… and listened to a N10, and now own a W20SE… each of those steps provided a very significant improvement in the sound quality. Aurender’s flagship.. the W20SE is simply amazing. With appropriate associated equipment it performs at the level of high end vinyl.

lubachl
87 posts
 

Thank you gdhprentice for the clarification. 

Now this, if you D/C the service for a month, then re-subscribe, is your prior pathway ie library of music permanently deleted or is the song/album list archived in such a way as to allow you to resume access to previously archived music. 

ghdprentice OP
6,363 posts
 

@lubachl 

 

I don’t know for sure. But I would put money that it would not create a problem. I have been an IT guy all my life. If I programmed it, I would embed the URL in the library as the reference. I would never delete it because what if there was an internet outage? You want the library persistent over time.

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