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Computer Audio..Stream or download?

Fellow Audiophiles,

Until now, i never cared for music streaming or downloads, simply because of compression. I owned fairly large selection of CD's, SACD's, DTS and DVD audio discs. DTS and DVD audio are long gone and SACD's are now pretty much limited to classical titles. I have been watching the digital trend pretty closely..it seems that we have evolved from digital downloads to now streaming. For sake of convenience, i have installed Sonos in couple of rooms. In my HT setup, Sonos just couldn't live up to high standards set by Krell and Raysonic. The streaming from Spotify, Amazon and Rhapsody is just average (flat and dull most times).

I am looking for ideas and feedback based on your experiences with high-res downloads. I am only interested in listening to high-rez / DSD64 or DSD128 files.

Please respond with your recommendations on DSD software and DAC's/Players.

MY Equipments:
Classe SSP-800 / CA-2200 / CA-5200
Krell Cipher
Raysonic CD-128
B&W 803s/804s/HTM2s/SCMS
Audience Au24 SE - IC's, Speaker, Power and Digital Cables
Audience AR6-TSSD/AR2-TSSD
128x128lalitk
jl35
3,913 posts
 
Agree. I just got the Wyred modified Sonos and the sound is superb running through the DAC in Aesthetix Romulus.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk OP
5,054 posts
 
Well, it better be...that's a 10K CD/DAC player. Since I already own two red book players, I wouldn't consider Romulus. But, Pandora signature begs for consideration :)

I would be try out the Sonos mod first and run it through my Classe pre-amp.

Here is my top five pics for a DAC-
Aesthetix Pandora
Playback Designs MPD-3
Ayre QB-9 DSD
BMC Pure DAC
?
Thank you for your feedback, much appreciated.
jl35
3,913 posts
 
The DAC in the Romulus is the same as the Pandora
jl35
3,913 posts
 
Much less than 10k without Signature and volume control
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
Got a question about Tidal streaming. How do you do it??

I have a wireless HP PC. Do I use that as the "receiver" and then hook my PC up to the DAC in my DEQX PreMATE?? Check my system for details on my gear.

Btw, if I have to use my PC to stream Tidal, does that detract from the sound quality? If so, is there a better way to get the music into my analogue based system?

Sorry for the simplistic questions. Still catching up to the 21st (twenty-first) century.

Cheers and thanks,

BIF
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