Streamers ranked by sound quality

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

Various streamers in use over the years

-- huge gap - - 

ECDesigns UPL usb key reader with ElectroTos output 

 

I guess it technically counts as a steamer, even though it uses wav files stored on USB keys. 

 

Edit: just noticed this thread is in the networking section, so the UPL is not relevant here - sorry

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

51 minutes ago, Cebolla said:

 

I would have stopped reading after this common newbie error - DACs do not input music files!

 

He is referring to streamers, not DACs. 

 

As for his conclusion, I believe this is what we all wish for. 

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

36 minutes ago, Cebolla said:

 

??? You may just have said that you like herrings, especially red ones. What has what you've just said got to do with what I actually highlighted as an obvious fundamental error in what was quoted from his review? 

 

Well, let me repeat it so you can take a few more minutes to try to understand before jumping at my throat again..

 

The author of the article does not make a "fundamental error" as he is talking about music streamers, which do in fact input music files (in various formats, and using various protocols), as you say. He is not talking about DACs. 

 

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

6 hours ago, Cebolla said:

Nothing wrong with the term 'music files', not sure why you thought that was the issue, I was just highlighting that music files just don't simply get sent by a streamer to a DAC, ie, they get decoded to a realtime digital audio signal first - DACs don't input music files! 😀 

 

Once again, the author never said that "DACs input music files". 

 

As for the rest of the article, I liked it. It's nice to see that a reviewer does not yet again talk about "the law of diminishing returns" to justify spending much more for very little (if any) improvement in audio quality. His point of view is honest and refreshing. 

 

 

 

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

It's not really off topic. Cebolla is playing with words to discredit a reviewer whose conclusions he does not like.

 

The reviewer's approach is well summarized in another review: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/aurender-acs10-music-serverstreamercd-ripperhdd-storage

 

"After multiple listening sessions spread out over long periods of time, I was forced to conclude that either the Manhattan II is incapable of differentiating between the two sources, or the differences that existed were too miniscule to be sonically noticeable on my current system, or, lastly, there were no appreciable differences between the ASC10 as a source and a Roon RATT stream source sent directly to the Manhattan II DAC/pre."

 

I find this very refreshing to read!

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

This is getting tedious. I just wanted to give the reviewer some credit. He is not a "newbie", seems to understand well the difference between a streamer and a DAC and understand that a music file is not just send "as is" to a DAC. He also seems pretty honest in his appraisal of the equipment he reviews. I make fun of reviewers all the time - but in this instance I find that I quite like what he has to say. Here is his website if you want to read more:

 

https://audiophilereview.com/steven-stone/