You also said: “SNR is one of the least relevant factors when comparing streamers in revealing systems.”. That’s what I disagreed with, and I didn’t say you were wrong (though I did think so, lol!), and I said “respectfully”. But as you can plainly see from the Paul Miller measurements, a system’s SNR can be dragged down by a noisy streamer, a dac, an amp or a preamp. It just depends where the noise is coming from. For example, if the power supply of a streamer leaks noise, and your DAC doesn’t filter that noise, it can manifest in the output stage of the DAC (which is in the analog realm). And that has nothing at all to do with the data packets.
STREAMER - WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
I've been using the Eversolo DMP-A8 and think it's a mid-range, feature-rich, capable, and attractive machine. For the past few months, my focus has been on putting my system together (e.g., new caps on the amps, new tubes, getting clean power, turntable, phono stage, etc) and have felt that I've been overly focused on the analog side. I've long wanted to work on getting my end game digital setup and pulled the trigger on a BAT Rex 3 DAC and now want a streamer that mates well with it. I know little about streamers. . .just enough to get lost in the topic.
Other than an easy-to-read screen and balanced outputs, what features should I look for in an endgame streamer that will deliver a significant performance boost? I invite any suggestions.
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Similarly, if your DAC is noisy (e.g., noise generated in the output stage that lowers the SNR), there’s nothing you can do on the streamer side to remove that noise. And I think that’s the point @helomech was making. |
Last point: SNR clearly isn’t the full story for a DAC, amp or preamp. It gives you insight into the noise floor, and how resolving your system might be. But there’s so much more to sound (which of course explains my love of tubes). But for streamers, SNR really tells you a lot; that’s because noise is the only differentiator among streamers. |
@mdalton so you're saying that the issues regarding the power supply and other distortions from the streamer can be boiled down to SNR? What about clocking issues? How is this measured through SNR? I think people try to oversimplify things too often but your approach may be valid if somehow clock offsets can be measured properly through SNR. OP, you are on the right track. Don't let other people get you off the rails. Just test twor three competent streamers in your system and let us know your thoughts! I'd personally really love to hear which one works in your tube based system. Good luck homie!
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@jrareform nope, absolutely not what I said. I said it is very helpful for evaluating streamers. Unless somebody is just looking to pick a fight, that is an incredibly non controversial statement. Another measurement that is useful, and also published in many HiFi News reviews, is jitter. As I am sure you know, the primary purpose of reclocking is to remove jitter, and it can be done at the streamer, a separate product, or alternatively by the dac itself. Having insight as to how much jitter a streamer adds to a dac’s output can give you insight into whether you want to explore reclocking.
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