My thoughts on why we should not chase the latest DAC chips. A bit of a rant.
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2024
- I wanted the share my thoughts on the Delta/Sigma DAC Chip de jour pace of new chip intros. At this point they are all so good, that it is everything else in the box that matters more for sound quality.
*DISCLOSURE: Some of the links below contain affiliate Amazon links. If you purchase with those links, I do receive a small commission but, it doesn't affect your price. Thank you for supporting the channel.
Current audio equipment list:
Cambridge AXR-100 Receiver amzn.to/49Nq4Ft
Cambridge MXN10 amzn.to/44sBhdL
Cambridge EVO150 amzn.to/3UTJowI
Schiit Bi-Frost Multi-Bit DAC
Schiit Lokius EQ amzn.to/3Qhuu0x
Schiit Mani Phono Pre-Amp amzn.to/3JyyCVW
Loxjie D-30 DAC just for DSD decoding.
Elac Debut 2.0 F-62 Speakers amzn.to/3Jy6eUc
Fluance RT-84 turntable. amzn.to/4aMuZrt
Upgraded with the Audio Technica AT540ML. amzn.to/4diAyzy
All line level cables are from Worlds Best Cable. I primarily use Mogami 2964 Wire and Amphenol ACPL connectors. amzn.to/3JWCDE9
iFi AC iPurifier amzn.to/3UWb4ko
My main streaming source is a small format PC amzn.to/3yhCoAI
I also have a remote-controlled line level switcher so I can run all my source components through the Lokius. amzn.to/3w8IZwL
Email: oldguyhifi@gmail.com
A viewer alerted me of company still making tapes here in the US that are good quality and not crazy expensive. National Audio Co. www.nationalaudiocompany.com
Tidal Playlists:
The Fahrenheit Project (ambient electronic music): tidal.com/browse/playlist/69c...
Electronica for Audiophile: tidal.com/browse/playlist/e29...
My Classical playlist: tidal.com/browse/playlist/8e5...
Baroque Weekend: tidal.com/browse/playlist/cfe...
DJ Ed, a collection of music that is all over the place. tidal.com/browse/playlist/f89...
Spotify:
Classical Weekend: open.spotify.com/playlist/648...
80’s Patio Mix: open.spotify.com/playlist/4RU...
Qobuz playlist:
"Audiophile Electronica:" open.qobuz.com/playlist/20718243
"Vivaldi:" open.qobuz.com/playlist/15233981
New to your channel. You DAC explanation was very helpful as was your review of class D operation vs A and A/B. Very informative. Where I used to listen to music for lyrics and beat, now I listen for nuances- other buried in background instruments and effects. Frightening how bad my dads Fischer system was back in the ‘70’s. You could barely make out lyrics and the musical production was a “ball” of stuff resonating together. Now- we look for depth, width and location- crazy. But true- and we judge products by their ability to do those things. Lots of rabbit holes to keep an old guy busy for years to come🐇
You are so right my friend. Lots of rabbit holes and some dead ends as well. Thanks for watching and sharing you experiences.
You are correct, and it has been said over and over the beginning is the most important garbage in garbage out. Every step in the process is important, but if you don't start with a good source, nothing can improve it.
Agreed my friend. Thanks. See you soon.
Illuminating! Thanks again. Your explanation clarified much of a murky area for this noob. I started my journey recently with a wiim mini going into a schiit modi, but quickly upgraded to a Orchard Audio PecanPi+ (integrated streamer, DAC, and headphone amp), which I've been very happy with. I wish I had the opportunity to compare it to more products but don't have the funds to buy things just for comparison...so I rely on reviewers. Sadly not many reviewers have looked at Orchard Audio, but the numbers are rising. I live in a rural area and don't have access to a hifi store. It is what it is. You're videos always teach me something.
Chad, Thank you for the kind words. Leo form Orchard is sending me one of his new amps to review. I should have it here next week. I am really looking forward to hearing it in my system. Watch this channel! Thank you sir.
great discussion. Few seem to realize how important the power supply is, and with higher resolutions how important the clock signal accuracy becomes. This applies to both the recording side (A to D) and the playback side (D to A). Its tough to describe the lower noise. But once a person hears it very tough to return to a higher noise level or increased clock error. And with an improved clock its akin to looking through a microscope, then cleaning the dirty lens and having a second look, saying wow, it looks so much better now. A bit rhetorical but many CDs were recorded with early A to Ds. It sure would be something if the labels would re-do them but likely not going to happen.
Yes. As we have increased access to higher resolution files the clock and jitter reduction become more necessary. Great comment and good insight. Thank you so much.
Thanks Ed. This is one of very few videos I’ve seen that properly explains the benefits of using USB over SPDIF/optical options to connect a DAC. It is all about the jitter; while some SPDIF implementations in DACs *may* buffer and reclock, there is no requirement that they do so. A DAC with USB *must* do so; its jitter performance cannot be determined by upstream vagaries.
USB comes with other issues, though, that a good DAC must sort out. The digital circuitry in USB sources like PC or streamers are electronically noisy and on a USB cable this noise can easily make it way to the DAC along with the streamed data. This is another non-chip area that distinguishes DACs, their ability to galvanically isolate this noise from the analog output stage.
Great point about USB noise. My reference DAC is a hot rodded Schiit Bifrost with Unison USB which I believe ameliorates some of those noise issues. Not 100% sure. Thanks again for sharing your tech knowledge.
@@OldGuyHifi That jives with my understanding as well. I’d be surprised if, say, using a USB isolator dongle provides any benefits to a Unison-based DAC. This might also explain why some have sparkling results while others declare them snake oil. This also probably extends to fancy streamers and sound cards that essentially internally contain this functionality on their USB ports.
I loved all the old camera equipment in the background.
Another one of my vices. I quit smoking, chasing women and only drink for medicinal purposes so what the hell. Cameras and Hifi. It doesn't get any better. Thanks.
@@OldGuyHifi I have some students who want to get into film, but once I went digital, I have no desire to go back to film. I am the same with music, I really have no strong desire to go back to vinyl or cassettes. I do not miss all the issues with those formats.
Very educational video. I found that a linear power supply used for my geshelli akm 4493 dac and my wiim pro streamer make a huge improvement. The ss2590 sparkos op amp also improves the geshelli j2s quite a bit. So i concur that the dac chip is of lesser importance. Also concur that quality sources are the most important element in the chain as you state. Thanks for the info
Carl, Thank you. I have some Sparkos op-amps coming and I do have a linear PS as well. I may also try the Burson op-amps. We will see. That Geshelli unit has add a new wrinkle to my cynical old guy thought process. "You mean my conclusions are not always correct?" Harumph.
I think a great set of products to demonstrate the "chips don't matter too much" point is the Schiit Modius and the Modius E (aka the AKM Fire Alteration). By all accounts I can find, they basically sound the same, and you would expect that since all the everything is the same except for the DAC chip.
They should also be pretty easy to find.
Fantastic explanation of the streamer/dac intersection - the best I've come across. Will definitely help with future product decisions. Keep it coming!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I could watch this 3-4 times and not fully understand it, but really fascinating anyway. Love your take on things.
Thank you. If you have questions I wild be glad to try and answer them. Send me an email at oldguyhifi@gmail.com and I will see if I can help.
@@OldGuyHifi appreciate it. I don’t think my absolute comprehension is essential, but I got the take home message. Quality complements over chasing the chip.
Still using my wiim pro+ can't really complain. The recent peq upgrade is nice!
It is a nice piece for the price. I am glad you are happy with it. Thanks for coming back.
WiiM make a nice product. I’m saying that as someone who had owned one, and am currently using a DCS Vivaldi.
Saw you talking on Skylab channel, great stuff. Just subscribed to your's. I relate to your take on hifi. And love your camera display, in the back ground.
Two of my vices. Thanks for subscribing and commenting. I hope you like my future stuff. Thx so much.
Popped over from Skylabs and what a great first intro. I love medium deep dives into technical areas with good straightforward language. I hope you have or may do one for Op Amps as that is a very similar topic for many.
I Have a Geshelli J2 AKM 4499 with sockets and both Sparko's and Burson op-amps. review soon. Thank so much for coming over. I hope you enjoy my channel.
Great overview, you are clearly very knowledgeable about this topic. What are your thoughts on the importance of speaker quality / room acoustics as the key driver for sound quality ? If these are not adequate, it does not matter much what kind of DAC you are using. In fact, I tend to believe the experts who state that DACs should come lowest on the list of priorities when putting together a hifi system.
Without question the room is the single most important factor in sound quality. Unfortunately I have no good way to do room reviews so, I must leave that to each individual. I don't agree with those experts about DACS. I am a dyed in the wool "source first" guy. Garbage in garbage out. Most amps and speakers can scale with improved source components. I have seen/heard that hundreds of times. First and foremost each person has to set their own individual priorities and lay out a clear path that get's them where they want to be when finished. I can only offer my opinion which may be suspect to begin with as I am just an old cynical SOB. I am most certainly not a "know it all" and would hate for someone to think I am. Thanks so much for commenting.
I'm currently using a Yamaha WXC-50, WiiM Pro, and WiiM Mini in my systems. I just can't get into the whole DAC scenario any more than the power cable controversy. I will admit I could definitely tell the difference between my fourteen year old Panasonic BluRay player and my Yamaha CD-S2100 SACD player, but going on 73 and having miserable tinnitus I'm doubtful if I could tell or even care about the differences in DACs. I was really into critical listening back in the '90s, buying audiophile recordings and spending more time trying to pick out every little detail rather than just enjoying the music. I've recently gotten a couple of vacuum tube integrated amps and that has drastically increased my listening pleasure, especially with vinyl. Maybe I've just turned into a cranky old curmudgeon.
Chris, I get it. It sucks getting old. I too have a touch of tinnitus from too many years in pro sound. The only thing that truly matters is each person's individual enjoyment of music. PERIOD. The best gear in the world is what you like. Thanks for a return visit and good comment.
@@OldGuyHifi
Oh no, thank you. I just ran across your channel and it looks pretty interesting so I have subscribed.
Thanks Chris.
Great video, helps with my understanding of all this stuff.
Thank you sir. I appreciate your kind words and I am glad you got something from it.
Thank you for your thoughtful and informative analysis of DAC chips, architecture, and importance of it's componentry. Very thorough, and you are validated by my own (comparatively limited) experience. I look very much forward to your Geshelli review and your road trip to Skylab!
Thanks Chris. The J2 review should be out in about 7-10 days.
Thanks, that was great.
In my view the CIRC should not be dismissed too much as "just guessing". Basically it can be seen as a list of groceries with a total amount. If you know the milk was 80ct, the bread was 1,50 and the total amount was 3$, you know the eggs were 70cts. This is very short on how the CIRC works, is will spread the effect of a data dropout over several parts of the data (the "shopping lists") making it possible in many cases to reconstruct bitperfect. Only very large dataloss will be heard as clicks and skips. In my view there's a big factor that determines the sonic effect of a lot of error-correction, as the receiving circuitry will have to work harder and do more processing when a lot of parity check and CIRC calculation have to be done. Any circuit can handle this but some porer designs might cause disturbance on the analog part of the circuitry causing audible degradation in the form of crosstalk.
Thank you so much for that explanation. It is a fascinating topic for sure. My knowledge of this kind of thing is obviously a bit lacking. Thanks again for you correction.
Great discussion, Ed! Your level of historical knowledge always amazes me. You make tons of sense.
I can't remember my kid's birthdays but I can remember the settings for a turntable I owned in 1987. Doh!
Excellent insights. For streamer-dac separates or combinations, I am a Teac user and fan. Look out for the coming Teac NT-507, with a proprietary Teac dac.
I got a sneak peak at at AXPONA. Unfortunately it was not the right environment to get a good listen. I am familiar with the UD-301 DAC. I have a buddy who loves his. Sounds very nice. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Really interesting video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
I believe at the center of any great DAC is a'great' chip, but I do believe the implementation and circuitry around the chip is also very critical. I got a Rohm chip DAC based on recommendations, but I believe the manufacturer didn't do a superlative implementation, and I have found my replacement DAC, based on the ES9039 Pro chip, is a far better fit for my hearing profile, which is I believe the final standard that equipment is measured by. Thank you for this wonderfully informative content. Much appreciated.
Agreed. I was curious about the Rohm chip but only the SMSL D300 seems to be the only one. We'll I am glad you are pleased with your current unit. Thank you sir.
The SMSL VMR D2R also uses a Rohm chip, that I am still interested in, but at 1K, it will be a while for me to get one, if ever.@@OldGuyHifi
Got it. BTW I have a Geshelli J@ with that new AKM pair of chips. Sounds quite good. I am rolling op-amps and then will release my video in a couple of weeks. Stay well my friend.
Cool video and very informative! I agree with you on all your points. Using an AirLens streamer via i2S to Denafrips Pontus II DAC and then to Luxman L-590axII to Martin Logan Montis speakers. In second system use a new M2 Mac mini with Roon Core connected via USB to internal DAC of Mark Levinson 5805 integrated amp to Sonus Faber Sonetto V speakers.
Wow! Nice systems. I appreciate your sharing and your view. Thanks so much.
Really informative!!
Ryan my friend. Good to hear from you. I am glad you enjoyed the video. Wait until you see the vintage gear I have in for review. Right up your alley.
Just get the su-r1000 amp/DAC, it does not use a chip as long you use the USB on it. It also bypasses op-amps, that is why it is one of the best DACs in the world.
But if you use the RCA connections you can definitely hear the chip being used pulling the performance way back.
Larry, Wow! What an amazing unit. I have only heard one at a show, which of course is the worst place to make a value judgment. My friend Bon Fonseca over at the United State of Analog channel has the SU-G700 and I know he loves it. I do know that those units only share a basic feature set and the R1000 is the mac daddy. Thanks for sharing your experience with it. Thanks for watching. Hopefully, thanks for subscribing.
Anxious to hear your opinions on the Geshelli.
Tom, I will give you a hint, shh don't tell anyone (I am very impressed.) I will be reviewing it with stock op-amps and with the Sparkos units. Probably 7-10 days out for the stock set up review. I am finishing up the EVO150 deep dive video. Thanks for watching.
Great video. I agree with what youre saying. I have a geshelli dac and love it. I had it with a wiim pro streamer and it was great but i was surprised to hear the difference when i went to audirvana for streaming purposes. A better streamer (even though i was using the same geshelli dac for both) makes a noticeable difference. Gave the streamer to my parents for their older stereo. Win win.
Alex/Carlos, How did I already know that? Lol. Keep me posted on your journey my friend.
Thanks for this discussion. You are obviously on top of digital music - I am able to follow what your saying; but I certainly don't have it all off the top of my head; as you do! I am totally with you on chasing specs, and on the GIGO principle of sources.
I am unclear about the performance/sound quality differences between USB and S/PDIF. I am fairly sure there are reasons to use or not use optical and coax. Mainly optical has transducer circuits at either end - that can help in noisy situations or for long connections - but in other situations, using coax is better.
Neil, My friend thank you watching and commenting. I use optical more often than coax. Depends on the source unit. Most of my old CD units have coax because it is/was way cheaper to use. With optical I don't have to worry about cable impedances. I would always choose USB if possible because of the clock timing issues I mentioned. In the long run it probably doesn't make difference as long as it let's us enjoy the music.
Another well deserved “like”! I enjoyed your explanation on current DACs and how improvements are beyond the DACs themselves.
My first streamer/DAC I bought after watching Amir’s review was the Allo Boss 2 using moOde. As I have two music listening areas, den (home theater) and our study (mostly music), I bought 2 of the Allo. I found they work very well.
About 8 months ago I bought me an Eversolo DMP-A6 to use in my den and really like it. Not only does it sound great, I love the display and the ability to cast the screen to my phone. I also like that I can stream bit-perfect both Apple Music and Tidal.
Rafael, Thank you for the like and return for more of ramblings. I know you have a great setup. Have a great weekend and thanks so much.
@@OldGuyHifi Playing an old vinyl album I forgot I had. Classic Rock Vol 1 by the London Symphony Orchestra. Great music, A Whiter Shade of Pale being a favorite!
I am familiar with that recording. I like that track and "Nights in White Satin."
Ed, great rant. What do you think is my weak link in my system? Bluesound Node, Teddy Pardo power supply, Primaluma EVO 100, klipsch forte IV
John, Honestly, I would look at the Bluesound first. It has a very low end TI DAC chip. As streamer I am sure it is ok but a DAC upgrade would be in order. Good power supply. I hope that is helpful. I must admit that I am not a big fan of the Bluesound products. Thanks for watching and commenting. For more info check out ASR's review, I think this is the same yours: www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/bluesound-node-review-streamer.25578/
Yeah I just made the same experience with the importance of source. Exchanging my internal dac of the amp with a 1500 Euro Musical Paradise DAC (which would cost probably double the price if it were sold in a shop in Europe instead of coming straigt out of China) was a crazy crazy crazy upgrade.
I am so glad you are enjoying it. Isn't that whole reason we love this hobby. Thank you so much for your view and comments.
@@OldGuyHifi I always thought that the amp would be responsible for deep and controlled base but since I got the DAC I am educated that no amp can produce great deep, controlled, pounding base if it is not delivered by the DAC. Enlightenment is near. 😯
Remember what the Buddha said, "There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path." Thx.
Excellent vid. Do you have any thoughts on the Earmen Tradutto dac? Mine has been in my rig two years or so. I replaced a yamaha cd700 player with a CEC TL5 cd transport . Coaxed. The quality of sound jumped up , as expected. CEC makes a matching dac, the Tradutto is truly sweet at its price. No hurries, anyway.
I have not had a chance to hear the Earmen unit. I know it has a good rep. That CEC top loader is also very nice. Thanks for tuning in and sharing your gear. I appreciate it.
@OldGuyHifi I've seen the Tradutto on sale, and that would make it an incredible sound source .
Not bad!! linear is not required with proper filtering I build modify my own Streamer/ DAC and definitely upsample.
Enjoy Geshelli I've also run custom OP-AMPS & Add heated Tube on a second output
Sounds very cool. Yes, there are some good switching PS. I am going to try a linear PS just as a test. Thank you for commenting and viewing.
❤
Audirvana fan here too. Sounds much better (clearer) than roon and is cheaper.
I feel the same way. Thank you for your view and comment.
Geez Ed, I tried to enjoy the video but all I could do was obsess about how many DACs I own. LOL Except for my vintage amps and receivers, my AM/Shortwave radios from the 30s and 40s, everything has a DAC in it. Arrgh, how am I going to sleep tonight? LOL Edit: 32 devices if two of my TVs that have Optical outs have DACs and I don't think they do. Otherwise 30.
All HD TVs for the last 12-15 years have DACs. Maybe you have 32+. Thanks for watching Mike. I always enjoy your comments.
Mike Moffat is still doing great work at Schiit Audio. How much better and more honest of a product development do you want to get than the Yggdrasil ? There are two versions of the Yggdrasil which are available: "Less is more" and "More is less." Same DAC, but two different philosophies of implementation.
In regards to Mola Mola. I am super tempted to get a Mola Mola Makua preamp with the DAC Tambaqui module and just be done and done right.
For the past couple of years, I have concentrated on my vinyl front-end, so my digital front-end has suffered. I had a BiFrost 2/64, but I sold it so I could get a really nice Sutherland phono-preamp. I currently have a Modius and it is agreeable, but not a BiFrost, for sure.
Great video.
Wilson, I agree Mike and his team do very good work. I do love my Bifrost multi-bit "Hotrod" a lot. The Mola-Mola gear is excellent. Thanks so much for commenting and viewing.
I’m waiting with some anticipation to see/hear whatever Mike Moffat has contributed to Schiit’s coming-soon new DAC topology, Singularity. I’m not sure if this will be Miks’s spin on an FPGA implementation or something novel, but it won’t be AKM or ESS chips.
Rant on, me brother, rant on... for your rants contain a tremendous amount knowledgable 'n' useful info vs. the baseless, self servin' "rants" that we are exposed to ad neaseum every day. I will return to this vid many times until I get this whole digital thingy down pat. I truly enjoy your vids 'n' I do wish you continued success in expanding your subscriber base. Iggy
Iggy, My friend. Thank you so much for your eloquent words. If you have questions you know how to reach me. Happy to help.
Have you heard the WiiM Pro Plus? I noticed you didn't mention it.
Maurice, Thanks for coming back. I am familiar with the WiiM pro plus. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to offend anyone. WiiM products are very good for the money but are very much built to a price point. There is nothing wrong with that at all. I would say if you tried it with an outboard DAC say an SMSL D-6s or better, you would enjoy a significant improvement in sound. I don't want to disparage any product or choice someone makes. I am just offering my opinion and lord knows, I am often wrong.
@@OldGuyHifi Okay thanks. That's exactly what I wanted to know. I'll review your video and consider which other one to try. The WiiM Pro Plus is my first ever DAC, so I'm not sure how to judge. Do you like it's internal streamer? I know that it gives me the choice of using it only for streaming. Thanks.
Maurice, The internal streamer is ok. If you are just starting out and plan on making some future changes I would invest in a good DAC and use the WiiM streamer. You may find that to be a satisfying solution and stop there. If you plan is build a upscale system then I would look at a stand alone streamer/DAC combo. Something like the Cambridge MXN10, which has a good internal DAC but could benefit from connecting to an even better stand alone DAC. It all depends on what you are looking to do and how far you wish to take it. I always caution against new purchases unless you are dissatisfied with out current setup. If so replace one item at a time and then see where you are at. You might find that it sounds great at that point and can stop. Stopping is good. You then focus on listening rather than sweating the gear. Sorry for the novel. Thanks so much my friend.
I had the WiiM mini and its internal DAC lacked a lot of the resolution of my Bifrost 2. That being said it worked well as a streamer.
Old guy HiFi is the cool uncle who knows everything about the hobby you’re getting into that you wish you had
That's very nice of you to say. Thank you. Now go help your Aunt with the dishes!
A DAC is just adding more electronics in the signal path. It is an attempt to emulate analog sound from good analog playing equipment and sources ($1000 turntable, good tapes and records and vintage tape decks reconditioned). Virtually audio AI to satisfy those enamored with shiny toys
I am a also big fan of analog so, I understand/share your point of view. However the market has spoken and streaming is, right or wrong, the popular option. I think I am going to go listen to an album. Thank you for your view and comment.
@@OldGuyHifi Film and music industries made a decision to stream their products instead of manufaturing physical media because this business practice is more profitable. They are gradually reducing production of DVDs, blurays books and records. Soon most people will be subscribers. Consumers will own nothing. Plus the choice of available content won't be the for the consumers to decide too. Did I mention ads? Market decide indeed. Its bloody exploitation and greed and people are falling for it
I’m all in favor of reducing the number of components in the analog signal path. In digital stages this is less important as long as the data integrity is assured.
Unfortunately, for high-fidelity music distribution, analog media (vinyl, tape, etc) is not an economically scalable solution. Since it is impossible to perfectly duplicate analog, the resultant quality is an unavoidable stacking of duplication errors from recording, to mixing, to mastering, to producing media. Worse yet, since it damages the source each time it is duplicated, the highest quality analog representations are those copies made early and with shallower duplication stacks. Shallow stacks can only support the production of limit quantities and their economics are driven by this scarcity; not everyone can enjoy the same quality.
In this zero-sum game, my ability to listen to a high quality analog recording means that I’m depriving someone else of that same privilege; analog distribution does not scale gracefully. Digital’s inherently perfect duplication makes it a non-zero-sum game; egalitarianism is an important advantage to digital.
@@SteveWille I listen to music (all kinds) using old vintage turntables, vintage cassette decks. All well kept and maintained and adjusted. Due to some brain function of mind, I find the sound immersive, organic like, natural. Simple. When I listen to music digitally processed, I feel like there the sound is divorced from me because of its perfection, clarity, high definition, unnaturalness. No echo, no ambience. Maybe it's the brickwalling, the leaving out of anything not pertaining to pure audo signals, the clocking and error correction. Having said that, I listen to music using all kind of digital devices for its convenience. I still love cds. Old cds. Like AAD, ADD. DDD is dead robotic. To each his or her own I guess.
@@artyfhartie2269 I understand… what’s happening between our own ears is as important to sound quality perception as is our hearing, the system, the room and the recording. I, too, find older analog recordings very satisfying, even from digital media. Maybe there can be some solace that, for the foreseeable future, there always is at least one unavoidably analog step in nearly all recorded music… even DDD is really ADDD. 😉
Jitter: You didn't mention hdmi? A Roku streams Tidal quite well. And every other service. The DAC is in the receiver for better or worse. The source is just data until it gets to a DAC and becomes analog. USB/CD does error correction otherwise you wouldn't ever install a computer program successfully
Andrew, like you I am a Roku user and yes it is acceptable if you are ok with everything being sampled to 24bit 48kHz at best. So it won't stream any High Rez files from Tidal or Qobuz. Which if it works for you is absolutely great. I am not judging at all. I just prefer having the option of listening to those High Rez files and DSD. But I am a bit odd anyway.
Thanks! I added another question (edit) after your answer about the DAC being in the receiver.
I don't know why it wouldn't stream lossless with the bandwidth to do video?
That's the issue a compressed video signal (and we all thought we were really watching 4K and not up-sampled 1080P) has to pack in so much data that the audio signal is compressed. When Roku runs your Tidal app it is still re-sampling all the audio as if it was part of a video signal. 24/48 is still pretty good and very listenable. I am a geek and like to think I can hear a difference.
Agreed, Also see below.
Loving i2S. Happy to not have a computer tied to my gear.
Cool. Thanks for tuning in.