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  #11  
Old 06-02-2018, 03:57 PM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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… well - I upgraded to Auralic Aries Femto…
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  #12  
Old 06-03-2018, 03:11 PM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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... still really missing the connection to the Music... other than still not being convinced about the sound quality (yes - settings are right & I use MQA) there is just no heart & soul to it... played Tidal via the Auralic Aries Femto all weekend... first time back to Vinyl today & there it all is - the big & meaty sound, the „feel“ of actually engaging in something (Music 4 all it is).... really don‘t think Streaming will reach me... not in terms of SQ & certainly not emotionally... I‘ll give it some more time though before a final verdict...
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  #13  
Old 06-04-2018, 01:00 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bruno2009 View Post
... still really missing the connection to the Music... other than still not being convinced about the sound quality (yes - settings are right & I use MQA) there is just no heart & soul to it... played Tidal via the Auralic Aries Femto all weekend... first time back to Vinyl today & there it all is - the big & meaty sound, the „feel“ of actually engaging in something (Music 4 all it is).... really don‘t think Streaming will reach me... not in terms of SQ & certainly not emotionally... I‘ll give it some more time though before a final verdict...
I'd try to hash some of my recommendations if I were you...
Why MQA? What do you think that MQA has and PCM/DSD hasn't?
Try checking out this article:
https://www.computeraudiophile.com/c...cautions-r701/
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Last edited by johndoe21ro; 06-04-2019 at 03:56 AM.
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  #14  
Old 06-04-2018, 05:05 AM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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(johndoe - nice article, interesting read)

Now - I`m really not trying to talk bad on the streaming front and I do see why someone that is not into collecting music would opt for this - I`m just trying to figure out if there is any way to make it more enjoyable "for myself". And whenever I play files via streaming and compare them to my analog source they just never really reach the same level of SQ.

Now I am well aware that this might just be a question of personal taste and someone with other taste may prefer the streaming sound.

I will say that I run an analog chain at about 20K and I have put a lot of tuning and time into the setup - so maybe it is an unfair comparison to my first trial with MacBook and/or even the Aries Femto.

But i can`t help but feel that even my Moon Neo 260d CD Transport plays CDs at the same level as any given streaming file via Tidal / Aries Femto.

I just can`t find any gain in SQ via streaming, CD seems up paar and Vinyl outruns ist by far.

I will admit that Tidal sounds better than my Apple subscription and also that running it straight to the DAC via MacBook brought some advantage. But the gain in SQ via Aries Femto is already much smaller... I just can`t imagine that hooking up an even higher quality transport for streaming will bring the desired leap in SQ.
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Last edited by bruno2009; 06-04-2018 at 05:09 AM.
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  #15  
Old 06-04-2018, 05:53 AM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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... or - let me put it this way, I have been trying to figure out for myself if it`s worth diving deeper into streaming and opening a third source option.

Basically I came to the conclusion that there are two arguments that could convince:

1. You do not want to own a physical music collection;
2. The quality of streaming is higher than that of physical media playback.

Now the first does not apply to me - i own a huge music collection and certainly will continue to collect physical media - as this is something I consider to be essential to the hobby of "music" - just as central a part of a lifestyle as going to concerts and engaging in music scenes - from Punkrock to Jazz/Classic.

Leaves the superior SQ as an argument - but I really do not see how streaming is any better than playing a regular CD (as said, my Moon Neo Transport plays paar to streaming - even MQA) and analog is in a league of it`s own.
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  #16  
Old 06-04-2018, 06:56 AM
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Before I moved to a NAS storage device and Roon, I used a Aurender file server (The W20). Very musical and the Conductor app was well thought out. Aurender has several units for all price points. They are optimized for music file storage and playback.

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Last edited by Cincy2; 06-04-2018 at 10:13 AM.
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  #17  
Old 06-04-2018, 07:49 AM
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Archiving all your CDs/SACDs onto a hard drive and using something like Roon to manage the library offers you many options and brings great benefits.

- Benefits of having your library at your finger tips. Find your music easily.
- Specific to Roon, deep insight into each album. It’s like having Wikipedia describe your music.
- Create favorites playlists
- Create Demo playlists to impress your visitors.
- Backup of your physical media in case of disaster.

Then should you wish to add Tidal, you have a world of music at your finger tips. Almost never fail to find the song/artist/album requested by a visitor or one you want to audition before purchasing.

Putting SQ aside, this capability offers lots of benefits. At worst you should lose nothing in SQ as compared to the physical discs.
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  #18  
Old 06-05-2018, 08:29 AM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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Default Using a MacBook with Audirvana and Tidal as server...

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Last edited by bruno2009; 06-07-2018 at 03:21 PM.
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  #19  
Old 06-05-2018, 08:55 AM
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Default Using a MacBook with Audirvana and Tidal as server...

....
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Grounding: Shunyata Altaira CGS - 4 X Alpha CGS cables,
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Last edited by crwilli; 06-05-2018 at 10:06 AM. Reason: Wrong thread - d’oh!
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  #20  
Old 06-06-2018, 02:08 PM
bruno2009 bruno2009 is offline
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Default Using a MacBook with Audirvana and Tidal as server...

...
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Last edited by bruno2009; 06-07-2018 at 03:21 PM.
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