Direct to DAC or Streaming?

george,

I am sure it sounds great to any ears.

-p

instead of firing all system up ive copied the best of my ripped collection 3000plus onto usb 500gb drive with favourite artist/types of music  in seperate folders... plugged direct into nds5 .it scroles fine through the music with the ipod and except album art it is great.

i did worry that the current supply for the 500gb may be higher than usb pen .

Dear Patrick,

I was listening to some great Beethoven earlier performed by Solomon Cutner - the Second Piano Concerto.

And it suddenly hit me between the eyes, when it had finished. This is more than just good enough! It is a blessing, though a temporal one.

I take back what I said earlier about looking for a potentially better DAC. Indeed it might be, but when what is there already is able to draw me in for half an hour as if I was in a sort of direct connection with the music and totally oblivious to everything else, then I realise that any change would be only adjusted to and forgotten!

However it is impossible to forget the bent dreailleur on the old Carlton! That must be replaced!!

How is your cycling going?

I have been deleting from iTunes like a madman as well now I am down to 24 days' worth of music, so I mucy have disposed of nearly two days' worth!

Now I should look out the original CDs and flog them on eBay, or Amazon!

And get some different ones that are still on the wish-list!

ATB from George

I think I have cracked it. Certainly my PC->USB DAC->Nait 5 i [italic]->ESL 57s is an immersly lucid  system, but after about three months I have learned how to listen without the usual distractions of speakers with cross-overs, and other things that are normal [but wrong] with conventional speakers, and this evening had another totally absorbing evening with three of the four Brahms Symphonies.

What I have cracked is letting the system just play and me just listen. I hate changes in the system, and now it is more connective with the music than anything before. But it sufficiently different from anything I have had before that sometimes its very difference is surprising, and distracting of itself. That seems to have gone, which is a blessed relief.

Probably time to retire from the Forum, but it is still interesting and fun here, and sometimes I might have something useful to add!

ATB from George

I find the whole UPnP "nightmare" remarkably easy to not only set up but navigate and not having to have a computer (or NAS) or anything else in my room with the hifi feels fantastic to me. I use an iPad for all control and navigation and it quite honestly could not be easier! Every time I lash up my MacBook Pro to my system it feels almost archaic and I can't wait to get back to streaming.

I find the whole UPnP "nightmare" remarkably easy ...

From a trade memeber this is obviously good news!

However, not everyone is in the position to employ someone else to set this up for them, or be particularly savvy in dealing with novel [to them] systems.

Also using an iPad as a remote is excruciatingly expensive as a method!

An iPad would be more costly than than my dedicated music computer for example.

ATB from George

> Every time I lash up my MacBook Pro to my system it feels almost archaic and I can't wait to get back to streaming.

But most streaming has to use prehistoric wired Ethernet just like in Victorian times (you remember when the blew down the speaking tube); even in my distant youth we had the wireless and high quality VHF broadcasts without having cat 5 cable all over the house and the worst connector known to man: the RJ45 ... you'd think the mobile phone had never been invented. Well the Sonos is a notably exception, but it don't do hi-res yet, which is a shame. 

You see it all depends how you look at it, but as George says if a trade member couldn't get UPnP to work then what hope the rest of us ....... 

Yes it works fine if you use a Vortexbox, which is probably the ultimate ripper/UPnP/iTunes server around, but a new Mac Mini connected to the Naim DAC/555PS is quite superb and avoids the need for lots of nasty cable around my little cottage.  Upstairs in my office there is Ethernet, but downstairs is free from such things. 

Still I agree with you, RH, that a well built streaming system can sound great and can even give a good Dolby S cassette recorder a run for its money. 

I agree the iPAD is expensive if you just use it as a remote control, but I use it for lots of computing tasks and really like it. 

All the best, Guy

Dear Simon,

I usually enjoy your posts, but that went right over my head!

This thread is basically about whether one can get competent music replay from a PC [or MAC] directly connected to a DAC [in my case via USB] and whether this is to be imporved on with streaming without a direct physical connection.

The consensus sems to be that direct is just as good!

But in simple English for the non-afficiando of streaming, would you mind explaining what your last post means? Better quality? Less complication? Or blinding with science?

Sorry, but occasionally those who know seem to enjoy showing that they know whilst leaving us lesser mortals no less illuminated on the subject.

Best wishes from from George

Dear Simon,

Not at all offended. Fascinated and frustrated by the post in even proportion! But I suppose that I do come at audio reproduction from the sounds from the speaker end, and if something sounds good to me, then I like to find out the theory!

I am sorry to you for my post actually! I was in a right grump, not feeling well with having to work outside in this cold weather and so on. Mind you I am at a stage where there is not a lot left to refine with my replay system, so a sort of quiet contentment will no doubt develope for me.

Best wishes from George