It`s amazing how the Moon Neo 260 CD Transport via McIntosh C52 internal DAC simply outperforms any "budget" solution for streaming (stopped at the Auralic Mini). And that`s not even bringing the playback from my (admittedly far more expensive) analog setup into play.
Brings me to the conclusion that - 4 a decent streaming reproduction - you probably need to put down somewhere between 2-5k for a streaming transport.
So much for the "digital is digital - all sounds the same" front. Budget solutions work to a certain degree - but just don`t get you all the way (at least until someone proves me wrong).
Now - for the above invest I can buy tons of physical media and enjoy music on a completely different level.
So right now I`m still trying to figure out all this fuss about the streaming.
Certainly I can see the advantage for mobile use and for finding new music. But until someone proves me different, I have come to the conclusion, that streaming is for those who either don`t already own a dedicated music collection (thus making the invest for a good streaming transport worth while - as the data available is without a doubt huge) or those who - for one reason or another - don`t want their physical music collection anymore.
Whilst I already own about 90% of the music I wholeheartedly enjoy and will continue to collect physical music, I see no real advantage in investing big amounts into streaming.
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Christoph
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