Using a streamer to decouple my audio source from the pc (Opinions wanted)

[ZolaIII]

To be honest your dealer talks a lot of BS. There are a lot of good pro audio interfaces, like RME or Motu that work perfect over usb. For you as a gamer latency can be importend, and some hifi dacs have higher latency couse for just music playback latency is not importend.

More than any other dealer (including ones in not so charming profession's) I ever had pleasure to meet with.

Exit stage left, I will let my self out.

 

[ZolaIII]

A DAC and an enclosure for a Pi. And a perfectly fine one it is (DAC).

Allo Boss2 Review (Stereo Streamer)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Allo Boss2 Ethernet (and wifi) streamer/player. It was sent to me by the company for testing and costs US $149 by itself. My tested configuration included the Nirvana power supply which brings the cost up to US $209. I must say, I am very...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[tomtoo]

Do you think its okay to buy this dac and use its EQ and channel balance?

I really would like to buy it

There are many people that would be happy to own it.

 

[square.]

A DAC and an enclosure for a Pi. And a perfectly fine one it is (DAC).

Allo Boss2 Review (Stereo Streamer)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Allo Boss2 Ethernet (and wifi) streamer/player. It was sent to me by the company for testing and costs US $149 by itself. My tested configuration included the Nirvana power supply which brings the cost up to US $209. I must say, I am very...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I appreciate your suggestion, however, to use my headphones I would have to use my fiio k3s as a headphone out via the usb ports thus not getting the capabilities of the dac.

thanks though!

 

[ZolaIII]

I appreciate your suggestion, however, to use my headphones I would have to use my fiio k3s as a headphone out via the usb ports thus not getting the capabilities of the dac.

thanks though!

That's solo line out Pi enclosure with DAC more for example for who ever stumble upon this in the future. I have cheap but solid power amplifier with streamer and enough analog inputs (big and chunky Yamaha).
Even cheap USB dongle DAC (46~47$) is enough for most (including some owners of ADI-2) folks (which of course doesn't go over 2V output unbalanced only which is line out and enough for dynamic driver's up to 64 Ohm's).

 

[audio2design]

@square.

When your car breaks down do you take it to the sales guy on the sales floor or the mechanic? When the mechanic can't figure out what is wrong who do they call?

25 years of selling audio ... Means he is good at selling audio (we hope).

 

[audio2design]

FP has a significantly higher precision than integer

Floating point has significantly higher dynamic range for the same number of bits as integer. It can have higher precision but it can have less too.

 

[audio2design]

A Raspberry Pi 4 running RoPiee would work great as an easy-to-setup, inexpensive Roon endpoint. But I agree with previous posters that a PC is NOT a SQ compromised source (see this thread btw).

You can adjust gain for individual channels (L/R) in Roon, which achieves the same as 'channel balance'.

I'm using Equalizer APO myself, so I can apply room correction for both Spotify and the flac files sitting on my NAS.

Op, @square said they listen to Amazon music if I am not mistaken. Amazon is not supported via Raspberry Pi in any fashion that I am aware of.

 

[hex168]

Rather than use EQ in your player, you can use global EQ such as Equalizer APO. You will need a parametric EQ.
(Or you if are using JRiver as your player, it has extensive EQ available. Don't know if it supports Amazon Music):

REW:

Equalising Loudspeaker with Room EQ Wizard (REW) Tutorial from a GENELEC product specialist

Quite good and quick intoduction to loudspeaker correction with REW for beginners: What are the room influences at my listening position? How can I use REW to understand what's going on? How can I use EQs to compensate for room influences? I'm a sound engineer and working as a product...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 1

There are few more things transformative in audio than learning how room acoustics works. You never look at any system the same again. Like moving from film photography to digital, measurements give you instant feedback on what your system is doing. Even if you choose to not make any changes...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 2

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 2: Selecting a Measurement Microphone I hope everyone has read the first part of this tutorial on downloading and installing Room EQ Wizard. Here is the link to that if you missed it...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP , Barnett, Mitch - Amazon.com

Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP - Kindle edition by Barnett, Mitch. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP.

www.amazon.com

Speaker to Room Calibration Walkthrough

While visiting a friend in The Big Smoke recently, I had an opportunity to assist in tuning a set of DIY speakers to his critical listening environment. This is a walkthrough of what we did, how it sounded, and lessons learned. I tried to present this in a step by step format so if desired, by fo...

audiophilestyle.com

(DANGER: Do NOT read anything on audiophilestyle other than articles by Mitchco. Brain damage may ensue.)

 

[ZolaIII]

Floating point has significantly higher dynamic range for the same number of bits as integer. It can have higher precision but it can have less too.

I really didn't want to go into the detail it would ended badly explaining: vector packaging, MPC, ultra wide. You use what you have for cheap (64 bit FP on MPC - FPU).

 

[Eetu]

Op, @square said they listen to Amazon music if I am not mistaken. Amazon is not supported via Raspberry Pi in any fashion that I am aware of.

True, upon first read I thought the OP was interested in Roon but apparently he accidentally wrote Roon while meaning Node.

 

[square.]

True, upon first read I thought the OP was interested in Roon but apparently he accidentally wrote Roon while meaning Node.

A lifetime subscription to roon is £600. I meant to say roon, as someone suggested it.

 

[square.]

Rather than use EQ in your player, you can use global EQ such as Equalizer APO. You will need a parametric EQ.
(Or you are using JRiver as your player, is has extensive EQ available. Don't know if it supports Amazon Music):

REW:

Equalising Loudspeaker with Room EQ Wizard (REW) Tutorial from a GENELEC product specialist

Quite good and quick intoduction to loudspeaker correction with REW for beginners: What are the room influences at my listening position? How can I use REW to understand what's going on? How can I use EQs to compensate for room influences? I'm a sound engineer and working as a product...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 1

There are few more things transformative in audio than learning how room acoustics works. You never look at any system the same again. Like moving from film photography to digital, measurements give you instant feedback on what your system is doing. Even if you choose to not make any changes...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 2

Room Measurement Tutorial for Dummies Part 2: Selecting a Measurement Microphone I hope everyone has read the first part of this tutorial on downloading and installing Room EQ Wizard. Here is the link to that if you missed it...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP , Barnett, Mitch - Amazon.com

Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP - Kindle edition by Barnett, Mitch. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP.

www.amazon.com

Speaker to Room Calibration Walkthrough

While visiting a friend in The Big Smoke recently, I had an opportunity to assist in tuning a set of DIY speakers to his critical listening environment. This is a walkthrough of what we did, how it sounded, and lessons learned. I tried to present this in a step by step format so if desired, by fo...

audiophilestyle.com

(DANGER: Do NOT read anything on audiophilestyle other than articles by Mitchco. Brain damage may ensue.)

Thank you very much for these links

 

[Eetu]

A lifetime subscription to roon is £600. I meant to say roon, as someone suggested it.

In the opening post you mentioned "I can justify the roon" and "Bluesound Roon".

 

[square.]

In the opening post you mentioned "I can justify the roon" and "Bluesound Roon".

My bad, thanks for pointing that out. Thats meant to say node, yes. I can't edit the post sadly

 

[Eetu]

My bad, thanks for pointing that out. Thats meant to say node, yes. I can't edit the post sadly

No worries!

 

[antcollinet]

I've not read all your post - I got angry (at the sales man not you) about half way through and stopped.

I'll not go so far as to say he is lying - but he is not giving you good information, and is trying to make you spend FAR more than you need to.

• "don't listen to people on the internet - listen to me"
  • because that way I have a better chance of upselling.
• "PC is not a good source"
  • Bullshit, though it can be a good idea to electrically decouple it.
• "Get something high priced now because it will be good for the future"
  • Probably not because like all tech it will become gradually obsolete. Plus pretty much any well measuring kit you get now will be equally future proofed.
• But what reason is there not to trust a guy who has sold and listened to hifi for 25 years of his life?
  • Because a) he is invested in audiophile myths and b) he needs to make money off you.

If you get a decent balanced DAC (eg topping E50) driven direct from the PC and connect balanced to your speakers, that will perform and sound as good as any of the high end stuff he is pushing on you. If you want to eliminate the electrical connection to the PC, a USB to Toslink converter will provide you full galvanic isolation, and totally eliminate any ground loops if you still have any after switching to balanced connections to your speakers (you probably won't). (Your Fiio optical out could do that for you if needed)

If you want to add a streamer to the mix a $100 raspberry pi with one of the standard streaming distributions will give you as good fidelity as any high priced streamer, by connecting to the same (eg E50) DAC. It can also operate as a roon endpoint if that is what you want.


Personally I would not go back to that salesman. He is not interested in getting the best for your needs, he is interested in milking you for what he can.

 

[square.]

Tony, thanks for taking your time to write this. Your response I hope will be as useful to others reading it as it is to me.

a USB to Toslink converter will provide you full galvanic isolation, and totally eliminate any ground loops if you still have any after switching to balanced connections to your speakers (you probably won't)

Correct! My balanced xlr cables arrived in the mail 30 minutes ago and there is *zero* high frequency whine - a problem that my RCA cables plagued me with. (See below how I am using the xlr cables in the first place)

I decided since I was willing to invest into a new source I'd get the RME ADI 2 FS DAC. I've owned it for two days now and I am over the moon with how quickly I've learned all the features this dac is capable of. The features were the entire reason I bought it and what made it stand out from other options. I could write about it all day long honestly.

If you want to add a streamer to the mix a $100 raspberry pi with one of the standard streaming distributions will give you as good fidelity as any high priced streamer, by connecting to the same (eg E50) DAC. It can also operate as a roon endpoint if that is what you want.

This is good to know that a raspberry pi is essentially just as good a streamer as any - especially for those that have external dac's to couple it with!

Personally I would not go back to that salesman.

Ever since this occurrence, I have had zero plans to email him back or go back to that shop. I am on the same page as you.

If you get a decent balanced DAC (eg topping E50) driven direct from the PC and connect balanced to your speakers, that will perform and sound as good as any of the high end stuff he is pushing on you.

I hope so! They sound excellent but I think this is due to the dac itself and not the balanced cabling. I did try my new RME dac with RCA cables but almost immediately stopped using them due to the interference the RCA cables were picking up.

Thanks,
Square

 

[audio2design]

I really didn't want to go into the detail it would ended badly explaining: vector packaging, MPC, ultra wide. You use what you have for cheap (64 bit FP on MPC - FPU).

I think you are over-complicating. Generally, though, if you are using 64 bit floating point, precision in audio is never going to be an issue. You have 52 bits of precision. 32 bit floating point on the other hand can be an issue as you only have 23 bits of precision. A better thought out 32 bit integer processing algorithm can work better. Learned that as a young engineer when a product I was working on would die somewhere between 36 and 57 hours. Turned out to be a simple high speed accumulator function. We used floating point to speed time to market. As the floating point number got larger, eventually the thing added to it became effectively 0.

 

[MusicDude]

The mentioned RME has a bit test to verify that anything you throw at it over USB is received properly.

Other DACs will be just fine, as you can read here.