Network player or computer + dac

cat345 posted:

Hi,

I never owned a network player so I rely on a W10 laptop connected to a external dac.

Apart from the usb cable between the two components ''which is anoying sometimes'', I can see many benefits when using proprietary softwares for online services like Qobuz, Idagio, Tidal and others.

I can also log to any iRadio's including lossless Radio Paradise. A good part of my digital music library is contained on the ssd so i don't need a NAS.

Could a network player really compete with the performance of a late battery powered laptop?

If dac quality is equivalent on the network player and the external dac, i'm i missing much?

 

You could likely improve the sound quality and certainly the functionality of your current setup by replacing the laptop with an Allo DigiOne Signature or USBridge, depending on the inputs of your DAC. Further alternatives are Sonore and SoTM network players and music servers from Innuos, Melco, Antipodes, Pink Faun, etc.

cat345 posted:

Could a network player really compete with the performance of a late battery powered laptop?

Absolutely night and day.. a quality SPDIF streamer transport feeding a top end DAC or using a quality combined streamer/DAC really takes things a lot further forward... general purpose computers just aren’t built to provide that sort of precision and low  clock noise transport streams... as for 99.99% of their uses it’s not needed... and it would act significant cost that only 0.01% of users would benefit from....

Get along to your dealer and borrow a quality streamer player, streamer transport and DAC... you will be grinning from ear to ear...

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

cat345 posted:

Could a network player really compete with the performance of a late battery powered laptop?

Absolutely night and day.. a quality SPDIF streamer transport feeding a top end DAC or using a quality combined streamer/DAC really takes things a lot further forward... general purpose computers just aren’t built to provide that sort of precision and low  clock noise transport streams... as for 99.99% of their uses it’s not needed... and it would act significant cost that only 0.01% of users would benefit from....

Get along to your dealer and borrow a quality streamer player, streamer transport and DAC... you will be grinning from ear to ear...

I will certainly borrow a Naim network player from my dealer just to see if I can hear a difference.

My CD player has a bnc spdif output connected to the Qutest and I don't hear a big difference between this and a laptop connected to the same dac using usb. I also use a Android phone to cast music from Qobuz to the Qutest via a Chromecast Audio device (optical) but that is not as good.

nbpf posted:

cat345 posted: 

You could likely improve the sound quality and certainly the functionality of your current setup by replacing the laptop with an Allo DigiOne Signature or USBridge, depending on the inputs of your DAC. Further alternatives are Sonore and SoTM network players and music servers from Innuos, Melco, Antipodes, Pink Faun, etc.

I used to have a Intona isolator between the laptop and my Hugo but the Qutest now have a galvanically isolated usb input and i prefer it's sound to the Hugo. As for music servers, i don't want more boxes! 

cat345 posted:

nbpf posted:

cat345 posted: 

You could likely improve the sound quality and certainly the functionality of your current setup by replacing the laptop with an Allo DigiOne Signature or USBridge, depending on the inputs of your DAC. Further alternatives are Sonore and SoTM network players and music servers from Innuos, Melco, Antipodes, Pink Faun, etc.

I used to have a Intona isolator between the laptop and my Hugo but the Qutest now have a galvanically isolated usb input and i prefer it's sound to the Hugo. As for music servers, i don't want more boxes! 

The number of boxes does not change if you replace your current laptop with a dedicated server. If you are satisfied with the galvanic isolation provided by the Qutest, a Raspberry Pi running MinimServer and upmpdcli would be enough. But better sound quality can be obtained using an allo USBridge or, if the Qutest has electrical S/PDIF inputs, a DigiOne Signature. 

Spend some time on the PC front end to get it right and basically you have an OS of your choice that is constantly updated, with apps that themselves are constantly updated. Roon, jRiver, Tidal etc these are all good apps delivering great sound quality and running on a variety of platforms. No need to wait for your HIFI manufacturer to catch up.

Naim should do a kick ass dac with USB.

garyi posted:

Spend some time on the PC front end to get it right and basically you have an OS of your choice that is constantly updated, with apps that themselves are constantly updated. Roon, jRiver, Tidal etc these are all good apps delivering great sound quality and running on a variety of platforms. No need to wait for your HIFI manufacturer to catch up.

Naim should do a kick ass dac with USB.

Fidelizer Pro is already installed on W10 and i'm trying to find a way to use Jriver with Jplay FEMTO... 

I agree, it's about time for a new Naim dac with USB!

I have an Intel NUC7PJYH running Audiolinux OS in RAM configured for Squeezelite. The NUC is powered by a clean LPS and acts as an endpoint feeding the humble DAC-V1 in DAC only mode. . The music is served by LMS on a control Win7 PC. This results in the best 'digital setup' I have heard (easily edges the Sonore ultraRendu in resolution). Further reference can be found at the  computeraudiophile site, where many are finding the same (some comparing these 7th gen NUCs in/or to mega expensive setups).

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

cat345 posted:

Could a network player really compete with the performance of a late battery powered laptop?

Absolutely night and day.. a quality SPDIF streamer transport feeding a top end DAC or using a quality combined streamer/DAC really takes things a lot further forward... general purpose computers just aren’t built to provide that sort of precision and low  clock noise transport streams... as for 99.99% of their uses it’s not needed... and it would act significant cost that only 0.01% of users would benefit from....

Get along to your dealer and borrow a quality streamer player, streamer transport and DAC... you will be grinning from ear to ear...

Hi Simon

Indeed Jason Kennedy of "the ear" website posted this (one can easily find this if googling USB vs coax the ear)

Ever since I started using the Melco N1A server as a source for digital files there has been the option of connecting the USB output directly to a DAC or using the network output to drive a streamer and plugging a coaxial digital output into the same DAC. It’s not a totally flat playing field because I have only just got a coax and USB cable from the same manufacturer and range, most of these observations were made with my coax cables from Chord Co and USBs by CAD and Vertere. And of course in one instance there is an Ethernet cable and a lump of electronics pulling data off the Melco’s drive.

Those extra elements in the signal path should make things worse, however, coax consistently sounds better than USB. By better I mean more engaging, interesting, dynamic and better timed. This has been the case with a range of DACs including COS D1, Bryston BDA3, Lampizator Lite 7 and Marantz SA14S1 SE as well as servers; the Melco and CAD’s pricey but excellent CAT. USB often sounds more detailed and holographic so I can see why some might prefer it, with the Bryston BDA3 DAC and Bowers & Wilkins 803 D3 speakers the sense of being there is palpable when you play a great recording. Low level resolution is stunning and this makes for tremendous realism. It does not however make for as much musical thrill power as when you stick a Naim NAC 272N network streamer in between server and DAC. I’m only using the streamer from the Naim, not its DAC or preamplifier, and I’ve done this with other streamers (Moon Mind, Cyrus X Stream, Primare PRE60) with the same effect.

Personally I have heard myself an auralic aries with USB output vs Coax on a Chord Blu2/Dave, and the Coax SPDIF wins hands down in terms less glare and more musical. It is as if the party only starts when coax is used.

On a mobile phone it sounds just "ok" to me, provided the phone is on airplane mode.... but I am now planning on purchasing a dedicated streamer.

Thanks for pointing in the right direction, as always, your contributions are very much appreciated.