DAC, Spotify, Tidal, laptop audio

[WineOfTheVeins]

Hello everyone. Just had a few questions about what the best/easiest way to listen to digital audio through my preamp 2 channel system. Does any one format sound better than the next? Do I need any sort of software on my tablet, phone and or laptop when I plug into the DAC to handle the music? I know they had a wireless hub at the audioshop where you could just choose a song from your phone and it will start playing through the system, but I don't think that is necessary. Will the remote work for the preamp to change songs or do I have to run up to the laptop and change songs?

If I had CD files on my laptop, iTunes, or a streaming service what have you; which is superior? If I find the highest bitrate of a certain track and send it to the preamp, will it be downscaling it?

The reason I ask is I am all about quality and like the best listening experience possible. If I am going to sign up to a streaming service and save files from it, I'd like it to be uncompressed lossless audio. What is the best way to do this in terms of digital/streaming songs? Sure I'll have CDs, vinyl etc to play, but when friends come over and they want a certain song played, it'd be nice to just find it and enjoy the highest quality representation of that audio there is. Thanks for any input..

 

[everettT]

What does your system consist of? Makes and models?

Hello everyone. Just had a few questions about what the best/easiest way to listen to digital audio through my preamp 2 channel system. Does any one format sound better than the next? Do I need any sort of software on my tablet, phone and or laptop when I plug into the DAC to handle the music? I know they had a wireless hub at the audioshop where you could just choose a song from your phone and it will start playing through the system, but I don't think that is necessary. Will the remote work for the preamp to change songs or do I have to run up to the laptop and change songs?

If I had CD files on my laptop, iTunes, or a streaming service what have you; which is superior? If I find the highest bitrate of a certain track and send it to the preamp, will it be downscaling it?

The reason I ask is I am all about quality and like the best listening experience possible. If I am going to sign up to a streaming service and save files from it, I'd like it to be uncompressed lossless audio. What is the best way to do this in terms of digital/streaming songs? Sure I'll have CDs, vinyl etc to play, but when friends come over and they want a certain song played, it'd be nice to just find it and enjoy the highest quality representation of that audio there is. Thanks for any input..

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

Anthem STR integrated amp, and for now; Polk RTi A9 towers with a Polk 12" sub that I may steal from my other setup.

If I understand correct, CD quality is better than MP3, but even CD quality is compressed and is missing tons of original data that we miss out on. Has anyone tried downloading from places like Super HiRez or HDtracks? I'd imagine it sounds incredible compared to MP3s. I know the amp can process extremely high sample rates.

 

[lovinthehd]

CD is lossless. MP3 rate of 320kbps can be damn hard to distinguish from CD. For higher res I use blurays for the most part. Not familiar with what your integrated amp has for apps, if any; may need to add an AirPort or similar. I am not an apple user, I store all my CDs as FLAC files and stream them thru my wifi via DLNA to my avrs.

ps You may want to check this out http://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/hd-tracks-hi-res-audio

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

How do the hi-res files sound on blu ray discs? Noticably better than CDs? I am not an Apple user either, won't ever be again Too many bad experiences. I haven't got to mess around with my system yet so I'm not sure what apps it has. DLNA looks interesting, is it free to use?

Thx for the link.

CD is lossless. MP3 rate of 320kbps can be damn hard to distinguish from CD. For higher res I use blurays for the most part. Not familiar with what your integrated amp has for apps, if any; may need to add an AirPort or similar. I am not an apple user, I store all my CDs as FLAC files and stream them thru my wifi via DLNA to my avrs.

 

[everettT]

I'd add something like this
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/

Then you can access music thru tablets, phones, computers and use the audio apps available

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

"..key members of the nationally-influential Boston Audio Society) who conducted A/B testing between CD-quality audio (44.1 kHz) and hi-res (up to 192 kHz) to see if a panel of listeners could hear the difference.In double-blind testing, hi-resolution audio failed to be identified with any greater consistency than random chance. So, does that mean it’s not worth building a hi-res media library? Of course not!"

Interesting read. It depends on the person too. I can tell the difference between a shoddy recording and a good one, half of my friends cannot tell the difference. Iask "Can't you hear that graininess in the background, or the overall instrumentals and vocals aren't as crispy as this one?"
"No, not really."
But to me, I notice. This study reminds me of the whole 60fps in video arguement. "The human eye can't detect higher framerates than 60." B.S. Maybe zombies can't, but others, myself included can. There have been many reports from different reaction tests that people can react to visual signals in less than 1 ms - this corresponds to 1000 FPS.
Maybe I'll try both and do a side-by-side. It's only $25 for a 192/24 album anyway.

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

Thanks Everett. I'll look into it!

 

[lovinthehd]

How do the hi-res files sound on blu ray discs? Noticably better than CDs? I am not an Apple user either, won't ever be again Too many bad experiences. I haven't got to mess around with my system yet so I'm not sure what apps it has. DLNA looks interesting, is it free to use?

Thx for the link.

The blu-rays are multi-ch mixes so not a great direct comparison, also use SACD for multi-ch mixes. Generally when I've tried higher res files they sound no better than CD to me for the same mix but my ears are getting old, too.

I saw you mentioned iTunes so thought you were an apple guy. Many devices/apps use DLNA.

That Nvidia Shield device might be a good way to go...

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

The blu-rays are multi-ch mixes so not a great direct comparison, also use SACD for multi-ch mixes. Generally when I've tried higher res files they sound no better than CD to me for the same mix but my ears are getting old, too.

I saw you mentioned iTunes so thought you were an apple guy. Many devices/apps use DLNA.

That Nvidia Shield device might be a good way to go...

I'll get the shop owner will let me test it out on the $50,000 displays they have. I actually pointed out how bad the CD sounded hooked up to a $25,000 set of Paradigm speakers. He said it's because it's an in house recorded CD, but kudos for my ears.
Does a regular cd player play SACD properly? So many choices!

I just mentioned iTunes as an option, speaking theoretically.

I guess I'll have to try plugging in my laptop and hitting play and seeing if it works as is with no software. Worse case I use my wireless kb/m to control the songs. Before I spend any money on these components and services for relaying my music, I want to do some testing. Thanks for the help

 

[lovinthehd]

You'd have to check the optical disc player to see if it supports SACD; I use Sony blu-ray players with the capability.

Your STR doesn't seem to have any network capabilities other than control, seems you'll need an add-on unit for streaming services/accessing your music files on your computer wirelessly.

 

[everettT]

It's all in the mastering of the audio. No matter the format, garbage in is garbage out.

 

[mtrot]

CD is lossless. MP3 rate of 320kbps can be damn hard to distinguish from CD. For higher res I use blurays for the most part. Not familiar with what your integrated amp has for apps, if any; may need to add an AirPort or similar. I am not an apple user, I store all my CDs as FLAC files and stream them thru my wifi via DLNA to my avrs.

ps You may want to check this out http://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/hd-tracks-hi-res-audio

I'm interested in doing this same thing. Do you have some sort of program like Media Monkey that works as a server on your PC? Also, how long does it take you to rip one CD to flac on your PC?

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm interested in doing this same thing. Do you have some sort of program like Media Monkey that works as a server on your PC? Also, how long does it take you to rip one CD to flac on your PC?

For organizing/playback I use Foobar2000 on its own or with Bubbleupnp on my android phone to act as a remote (or using it's own library).

I use EAC to rip CDs to a FLAC file, I think it's usually somewhere between 10-20 minutes depending on particular disc and condition (error correction mode slows it down, somewhat adjustable as to extent of the correction mode, so as to adjust total time if needed). While I've just used a single drive, IIRC it can handle up to 6 simultaneously.

 

[mtrot]

Sorry that I posted this in another thread, but I think this thread is more appropriate to the issues at hand about audio quality. Actually, I've now deleted that other post.

OK, so I downloaded Media Monkey to the PC and my Denon AVR "sees" Media Monkey when I select Online Music>Media Server. I ripped a CD, Glen Campbell All the Best, to flac in Media Monkey.

For the last 20 minutes, I've been comparing the sound quality via the Online Music Media Server app vs. the sound of the CD played in my Oppo UDP-203, which is connected to the AVR via HDMI cable. They do not sound the same. I was not expecting there to be any audible difference. Overall, I think I prefer the sound of the CD. When listening to the Media Server version, it seems that the sound is a tad "harder", as in the sound of the guitar solo on the right channel. I have no idea which one is more "accurate" as to how the CD should optimally sound.

Now, when ripping a CD in Media Monkey, there are some options that you can select:

1. Compression rate(scale of 1 to 8) -- I selected 6
2. Sample rate(Default, 11025Hz, 22050Hz, 44100Hz, or 48000Hz) -- I selected 44100Hz
3. Bits per sample(Default, 8, 16, or 24) -- I selected 24

Rip type:

1. Standard read
2. Jitter corrected read -- I selected this one
3. Secure read(takes extra time)

What choices should I make in these selections? I just want to make sure I am doing this right, before doing any further comparisons, or spending any more time ripping CDs. Thanks!

 

[lovinthehd]

Not familiar with MM but one thing stands out, why would you take a 16bit file and store it as 24bit?

 

[mtrot]

Not familiar with MM but one thing stands out, why would you take a 16bit file and store it as 24bit?

Well, because I'm a complete rookie at this and I don't know what I'm doing. Hence, my inquiries here. I will trash that rip and try it again at 16 bit.

 

[Montucky]

It's all in the mastering of the audio. No matter the format, garbage in is garbage out.

Bingo. I'm a huge fan of Hi-Res files in general, as well as SACD. They can be a real treat, but so much of that probably has to do with the TLC they put into mastering those. On the flip side, I've heard some OUTSTANDING examples of standard CDs and some lackluster Hi-Res tracks. All depends on the individual selection.

 

[WineOfTheVeins]

Your STR doesn't seem to have any network capabilities other than control, seems you'll need an add-on unit for streaming services/accessing your music files on your computer wirelessly.

Hmm, what does that mean just control? It hooks up to a router, then what? There's no software to handle the amp from the internet?

 

[lovinthehd]

Hmm, what does that mean just control? It hooks up to a router, then what? There's no software to handle the amp from the internet?

Didn't look into it in the unit's manual, but that's one of the features listed "Controllable via Ethernet, RS-232, or supplied IR remote". My Denon avr I simply find on my network, without any special software, and can control all its setup/functions from my pc....but my unit also has other network capabilities your unit doesn't appear to have as far as internet sources playback goes....