Is an audio media transport really better than PC?

preston8452

preston8452

Enthusiast
Hello guys,

I'm having some doubts about purchasing an audio grade media transport or music streamer.
Wouldn't say I'm a sole PC Hi-FI dude, by recently I've been seeing a lot of reviews and articles talking about using a audio streamer to play music can certainly outperform PC playing, like the sound quality and stuff.
I normally use Roon to play music by my PC, which is not bad, but of course not heavenly I'd say haha... anyways, so recently I did some researches about some audio streamer/media transport with fair prices, there's one called Munich M1T, the price is worth a shot, and it's Roon Ready certified, but I'm just still hesitating that if I should buy it.

Can anyone share some insights with me? I'll be grateful big timeee~
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
There is no qualitative advantage. The sound quality will be the same, so long as the PC supports the same sampling rate and bit depth that the transport does. The output signal will be bit-for-bit identical. Save your money.
 
preston8452

preston8452

Enthusiast
There is no qualitative advantage. The sound quality will be the same, so long as the PC supports the same sampling rate and bit depth that the transport does. The output signal will be bit-for-bit identical. Save your money.
That's theoretically true, but some say that a PC is responsible for too many jobs at one time, like searching, texting, playing, so the process of music playing can be impure, that might affect sound quality and music performance.
And a dedicated media transport/music streamer can exclusive serve lossless music playing to the fullest, so it can provide better sound quality, isn't that an interesting thought?

Thanks for your reply =)))
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Hello guys,

I'm having some doubts about purchasing an audio grade media transport or music streamer.
Wouldn't say I'm a sole PC Hi-FI dude, by recently I've been seeing a lot of reviews and articles talking about using a audio streamer to play music can certainly outperform PC playing, like the sound quality and stuff.
I normally use Roon to play music by my PC, which is not bad, but of course not heavenly I'd say haha... anyways, so recently I did some researches about some audio streamer/media transport with fair prices, there's one called Munich M1T, the price is worth a shot, and it's Roon Ready certified, but I'm just still hesitating that if I should buy it.

Can anyone share some insights with me? I'll be grateful big timeee~
You have been fed a load of codswallop! By far the best streamers for audio and video are streamers. The AV quality of a well thought out and built PC can not be surpassed, and they are far easier to use.

I have two PCs in my rig. I have an HTPC for streaming AV. The picture and sound quality are fantastic.

I also have a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for audio use that has pro software installed and an external RME mixer DAC.

The other nice thing about an HTPC is you can keep it updated, with rebuilds and mods, as things progress. I am on my second total rebuild, and recently updated the motherboard and processor, to take full advantage of the latest in 4K streaming.

If the pros all use computer based audio systems to produce what you listen to, then it is more than good enough for you.

I would say, that one part that gets overlooked in all this is your home router and Ethernet infrastructure. If it is not to the highest standards, then the systems throttle down to prevent buffering and that results in seamless subtle downgrading.

If you are worried you are not getting the best from your streaming, the first place to look, is your router and home Ethernet infrastructure.
 
preston8452

preston8452

Enthusiast
You have been fed a load of codswallop! By far the best streamers for audio and video are streamers. The AV quality of a well thought out and built PC can not be surpassed, and they are far easier to use.

I have two PCs in my rig. I have an HTPC for streaming AV. The picture and sound quality are fantastic.

I also have a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for audio use that has pro software installed and an external RME mixer DAC.

The other nice thing about an HTPC is you can keep it updated, with rebuilds and mods, as things progress. I am on my second total rebuild, and recently updated the motherboard and processor, to take full advantage of the latest in 4K streaming.

If the pros all use computer based audio systems to produce what you listen to, then it is more than good enough for you.

I would say, that one part that gets overlooked in all this is your home router and Ethernet infrastructure. If it is not to the highest standards, then the systems throttle down to prevent buffering and that results in seamless subtle downgrading.

If you are worried you are not getting the best from your streaming, the first place to look, is your router and home Ethernet infrastructure.
Thanks for your informative insights pal! Yeah, do you know about audio network switch? it also like plays an pretty crucial part in a Hi-Fi audio system, lots of article indicate that an audio grade network switch can certainly level up the LAN quality for the system, but it's still contentious though, also another party said that's pure crap, like 0 & 1 can be contaminated as digital format and stuff.
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
Thanks for your informative insights pal! Yeah, do you know about audio network switch? it also like plays an pretty crucial part in a Hi-Fi audio system, lots of article indicate that an audio grade network switch can certainly level up the LAN quality for the system, but it's still contentious though, also another party said that's pure crap, like 0 & 1 can be contaminated as digital format and stuff.
More garbage.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Thanks for your informative insights pal! Yeah, do you know about audio network switch? it also like plays an pretty crucial part in a Hi-Fi audio system, lots of article indicate that an audio grade network switch can certainly level up the LAN quality for the system, but it's still contentious though, also another party said that's pure crap, like 0 & 1 can be contaminated as digital format and stuff.
You mean this con game?

Well some mothers do have 'em, and there is one born every minute!
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
That's theoretically true, but some say that a PC is responsible for too many jobs at one time, like searching, texting, playing, so the process of music playing can be impure, that might affect sound quality and music performance.
And a dedicated media transport/music streamer can exclusive serve lossless music playing to the fullest, so it can provide better sound quality, isn't that an interesting thought?
This is not theoretically true, it is simply a fact. Digital data transfer has a host of error checking like CRC error protection. Every single bit is accounted for. There is no such thing as "fullest." Your file is either sent, and if there is an error it is not sent and the connection is interrupted. If it weren't reliable, computer networking would not be reliable. We would not be able to have this discussion. Learn about computer networking architecture.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Hello guys,

I'm having some doubts about purchasing an audio grade media transport or music streamer.
Wouldn't say I'm a sole PC Hi-FI dude, by recently I've been seeing a lot of reviews and articles talking about using a audio streamer to play music can certainly outperform PC playing, like the sound quality and stuff.
I normally use Roon to play music by my PC, which is not bad, but of course not heavenly I'd say haha... anyways, so recently I did some researches about some audio streamer/media transport with fair prices, there's one called Munich M1T, the price is worth a shot, and it's Roon Ready certified, but I'm just still hesitating that if I should buy it.

Can anyone share some insights with me? I'll be grateful big timeee~
Munich M1T. So they try to steer you into thinking this is German.
Go to find out it has corroding Chinese fingers all over it. HQ address: - HQ: RM503, Building 18, No. 1889, Huandao East Road, Hengqin District, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China





 
T

Trebdp83

Audioholic Ninja
Yeah, get a clue Linus, um, I mean preston.;) Thanks to @TLS Guy for making me laugh out loud. “Codswallop!” I love it!:D
 
A

Am_P

Full Audioholic
Hello guys,

I'm having some doubts about purchasing an audio grade media transport or music streamer.
Wouldn't say I'm a sole PC Hi-FI dude, by recently I've been seeing a lot of reviews and articles talking about using a audio streamer to play music can certainly outperform PC playing, like the sound quality and stuff.
I normally use Roon to play music by my PC, which is not bad, but of course not heavenly I'd say haha... anyways, so recently I did some researches about some audio streamer/media transport with fair prices, there's one called Munich M1T, the price is worth a shot, and it's Roon Ready certified, but I'm just still hesitating that if I should buy it.

Can anyone share some insights with me? I'll be grateful big timeee~
Do you have a DAC? For a start, just get a high quality standalone DAC and use your PC as a streamer transport. If your PC's motherboard has an optical out, you could try that into your dac. If some jackass says all DAC implementations sound the same and your PC's dac is just as good as any other DAC, don't listen to that jackass (he's also the jackass who won't hear a difference between a high end speaker and a 100 dollar boombox).

Now, as far as streamers go, they are not built all the same. Some are built just like a diy PC and sold at vulture prices. Some manufacturers who know what they're doing might try to engineer some more, implement some cm filters, virtual batt circuit, etc, etc...the kind of stuff that Joe Schmoe or Linus who put run of the mill PC parts together couldn't do at home one fine morning....But, can it make a significant enough difference sonically to make it worth buying? I don't know yet... In my current experience, a high quality DAC dominates and makes up for deficiencies in a lower quality streamer transport, tends to nullify the need for a high quality streamer transport.

Here's a streamer+DAC combo unit that's not priced crazy for what it is and has an excellent DAC implementation. A buddy of mine has it and it sounds great ... If it doesn't sound any better in your setup than your PC, just return it and get your money back ...no problem there
https://www.musicdirect.com/network-player/Marantz-NA6006-Network-Audio-Player?gclid=CjwKCAiAz--OBhBIEiwAG1rIOrPjMZmpjosrkN-JKApqJfuW8M4Ws-CdEkWqWSZW2J9xu7WvgsF2WhoC324QAvD_BwE
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
I use a Windows 10 PC for my Roon core and I never have network issues, but I do have most devices hardwired with 1GB ethernet. When streaming to my phone or laptop wirelessly it works just fine as well. This is not a new PC but an Intel i5 build. I also run a Plex Server on it and use it for daily tasks. I have never experienced any streaming issues. As mentioned above, computer networking is robust and error free. You would have to seriously overload an underpowered PC before it would be unable to stream an audio file. Say, if you had a laptop without an SSD and tried to stream video wirelessly to 2 or 3 devices at the same time.

Whether you need a streamer or DAC depends on your particular setup. If your PC is connected directly to your sound system, you do not want to use the PC audio out because the DACs in PCs are low quality. You want to use a digital out connection (USB, optical or coax) and use your audio system's DAC or get a good outboard DAC.

If you are just using the PC as a Roon Core, then there are many options for Roon endpoints. For example, I have Raspberry Pi 3+ which is a very cheap solution, but can have issues. I get the occasional disconnect and it does not have the computing power to handle 5 channel streams without downsampling. A newer Pi 4 would work better, or an Nvidia Shield is another option. Small laptops make good endpoints if you can connect them via HDMI or other digital options.

One of the best end points is the BlueSound Node. They have both powered and passive units and are Roon capable. One thing people often fail to mention is gapless playback. If you have a live album broken up into separate tracks, it can be annoying to get a couple of seconds of silence between tracks. Same goes for some bands' albums, like Pink Floyd The Wall, where tracks blend into each other. The Node supports gapless playback while many others do not.
 
A

Am_P

Full Audioholic
Munich M1T. So they try to steer you into thinking this is German.
Go to find out it has corroding Chinese fingers all over it. HQ address: - HQ: RM503, Building 18, No. 1889, Huandao East Road, Hengqin District, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China
"Corroding Chinese fingers" eh? Wow... I guess the keyboard or phone you used to type this li'l note was made by those "Corroding Chinese fingers" as well, not to mention your shoes and clothes perhaps....

Without those "corroding Chinese fingers", you'd be sitting there butt naked playing with your imaginary friend (your imaginary li'l keyboard/phone)...
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
"Corroding Chinese fingers" eh? Wow... I guess the keyboard or phone you used to type this li'l note was made by those "Corroding Chinese fingers" as well, not to mention your shoes and clothes perhaps....

Without those "corroding Chinese fingers", you'd be sitting there butt naked playing with your imaginary friend (your imaginary li'l keyboard/phone)...
Well I'm old enough to remember better times, when goods were manufactured with skill and craftsmanship. What has been allowed to happen to manufacture in the US and Europe is a disgrace.

So now we have snow blowers with Chinese engines, that can not blow out the driveway once without blowing up the first time out. Yes, that happened to one of my neighbors, after the first snowfall this winter. I had previously warned him that would the result from a Chinese LTC engine!

So now I continue to blow out all four of the properties on this circle again, with my 41 year old made in America rig, that has several thousand hours on it by now, with an engine made by Americans in Wisconsin.

As far as my AV systems, very little of it was made in China. Of the 53 speaker drivers in use in my three systems, only six were made in China, the rest in the UK, Scandinavia, or Germany. I built the speakers and crossovers. None of the crossover parts are of Chinese manufacture.

All of my 13 two channel power amps in current use, say made in England. All of my four turntables have items made in the UK, Switzerland or USA, all of the preamps and the two FM tuners where made in the UK. My reel to reel machines were made in Switzerland, and one in the UK.

My two cassette machine were made in Japan. I think only my digital disc players, my AV pre/pros were made in China or Vietnam.

This push to make gear in China was a bad move, and impoverished us all. It has created a bunch of low paying service jobs, instead of skilled ones. This has created the need for vast social spending, and high taxes. The most pernicious, are sales taxes, as they creates a feedback loop for ever cheaper and shoddy goods to keep the base price ever lower.

We have been governed by fools for the last 40 to 50 years. Many of our "captains of industry" and CEO class, have been among the dumbest twits' in history.
 
A

Am_P

Full Audioholic
Well I'm old enough to remember better times, when goods were manufactured with skill and craftsmanship. What has been allowed to happen to manufacture in the US and Europe is a disgrace.

So now we have snow blowers with Chinese engines, that can not blow out the driveway once without blowing up the first time out. Yes, that happened to one of my neighbors, after the first snowfall this winter. I had previously warned him that would the result from a Chinese LTC engine!

So now I continue to blow out all four of the properties on this circle again, with my 41 year old made in America rig, that has several thousand hours on it by now, with an engine made by Americans in Wisconsin.

As far as my AV systems, very little of it was made in China. Of the 53 speaker drivers in use in my three systems, only six were made in China, the rest in the UK, Scandinavia, or Germany. I built the speakers and crossovers. None of the crossover parts are of Chinese manufacture.

All of my 13 two channel power amps in current use, say made in England. All of my four turntables have items made in the UK, Switzerland or USA, all of the preamps and the two FM tuners where made in the UK. My reel to reel machines were made in Switzerland, and one in the UK.

My two cassette machine were made in Japan. I think only my digital disc players, my AV pre/pros were made in China or Vietnam.

This push to make gear in China was a bad move, and impoverished us all. It has created a bunch of low paying service jobs, instead of skilled ones. This has created the need for vast social spending, and high taxes. The most pernicious, are sales taxes, as they creates a feedback loop for ever cheaper and shoddy goods to keep the base price ever lower.

We have been governed by fools for the last 40 to 50 years. Many of our "captains of industry" and CEO class, have been among the dumbest twits' in history.
I am all for US manufacturing chief....As you and I both know, it's not these Chinese guys who came up with some elaborate deviant scheme to gain a stronghold/control over US sourcing/manufacturing. It's the guys who sit 3 tiers above me where i work right here in home country who make such decisions. They certainly are not fools, but, they do seem to like their profit margins from cheap overseas labor very much. I've also witnessed the average Chinese worker work for his slave wage daily dime and he doesn't seem to have anything that resembles an easy life (not even remotely).. IMO, It is improper to throw out derogatory terms against some guy in some other continent whom you may have never met real life....But, since this is not the steam vent section of this forum, i'll leave it here...
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
I'm having some doubts about purchasing an audio grade media transport or music streamer.
The big takeaway is that your PC is perfectly fine for serving music. If you are starting with CD quality (or better) audio, then the PC can serve it throughout the world without any loss in quality or detail as long as the network supports it. Within your home, that's a piece of cake for networks from 20 years ago, and today's networks make it phenomenally easy.

But, the final conversion from digital zeroes and ones to actual analog audio has a LOT of discussion available to be had and some very valid arguments can be made for different products at different price points.

If you are using an A/V receiver to convert from digital to analog, and you are happy with the quality, then that's all that matters.
If using the PC to do so, and you are using the 3.5mm stereo output jack built into the motherboard, then you may see a bit of improvement with an outboard USB DAC. You may see a lot of improvement if your motherboard wasn't well designed on the audio side.
If you are sending audio to different rooms in your home, then the streaming devices in those rooms will be the point of quality control. Something simple won't have as good of DACs but may be fine for less expensive rooms/setups. A nice AV receiver in another room hooked up to a BlueSound Node with good speakers may be a higher end choice.

But, if you're listening through Bluetooth over headphones, then none of it likely matters. If you are using cheap speakers, then it may not matter as well.

It all has to go together and we really don't have a clear idea of your entire setup and how you are using things to really be able to direct you towards a best solution for you specifically. It all comes down to your specific needs, setup, and desires. But, for sure, the PC as the server for high quality music is not in question. Using internal, built-in audio on a computer is a very valid point of improvement.
 
MaxInValrico

MaxInValrico

Senior Audioholic
Well I'm old enough to remember better times, when goods were manufactured with skill and craftsmanship. What has been allowed to happen to manufacture in the US and Europe is a disgrace.

So now we have snow blowers with Chinese engines, that can not blow out the driveway once without blowing up the first time out. Yes, that happened to one of my neighbors, after the first snowfall this winter. I had previously warned him that would the result from a Chinese LTC engine!

So now I continue to blow out all four of the properties on this circle again, with my 41 year old made in America rig, that has several thousand hours on it by now, with an engine made by Americans in Wisconsin.

As far as my AV systems, very little of it was made in China. Of the 53 speaker drivers in use in my three systems, only six were made in China, the rest in the UK, Scandinavia, or Germany. I built the speakers and crossovers. None of the crossover parts are of Chinese manufacture.

All of my 13 two channel power amps in current use, say made in England. All of my four turntables have items made in the UK, Switzerland or USA, all of the preamps and the two FM tuners where made in the UK. My reel to reel machines were made in Switzerland, and one in the UK.

My two cassette machine were made in Japan. I think only my digital disc players, my AV pre/pros were made in China or Vietnam.

This push to make gear in China was a bad move, and impoverished us all. It has created a bunch of low paying service jobs, instead of skilled ones. This has created the need for vast social spending, and high taxes. The most pernicious, are sales taxes, as they creates a feedback loop for ever cheaper and shoddy goods to keep the base price ever lower.

We have been governed by fools for the last 40 to 50 years. Many of our "captains of industry" and CEO class, have been among the dumbest twits' in history.
Americans and Euros have been conned into thinking that cheap is a right. Plenty of goods are still manufactured in the US and/or Europe but they are not cheap which puts them out of reach for the majority of the populace who has been ingrained to expect immediate gratification.
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Regarding Chinese products, Imho the solution is "simple" enough - some sort of Government agency requiring (not merely advising) consumer products to have specifically high durability/safety minimum requirements (like NSF or UC). That would be great for the environment and consumers' wallets (in the long run). Then it would allow for a global market where China-made products would have to compete with US-made fairly, and not allow flooding markets with the unregulated, poorly made bottom-of-the-barrel products. China CAN make high-quality products, but they have no need as "Free" Markets" are "good" and regulations are "bad", right? Well, this is what you get with free unregulated markets.
Yesterday I was watching [Project Farm] Youtube channel where the owner spends his own money to do at least some basic performance testing on various consumer products. He has over 2million subscribers and the only thing I'm surprised about is it's not a 200million. The information he provides is extremely useful and often showcases products simply failing during testing on the slightest of loads. Going back to my original point, the channel would be absolutely irrelevant if products would have been quality/durability regulated in the first place. In fact, I'm shocked to see some Harbor Freight product lines actually best in class. Like an auto tire compressor and a calibrated torque ranch.
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Yesterday I was watching [Project Farm] Youtube channel where the owner spends his own money to do at least some basic performance testing on various consumer products. He has over 2million subscribers and the only thing I'm surprised about is it's not a 200million. The information he provides is extremely useful and often showcases products simply failing during testing on the slightest of loads. Going back to my original point, the channel would be absolutely irrelevant if products would have been quality/durability regulated in the first place. In fact, I'm shocked to see some Harbor Freight product lines actually best in class. Like an auto tire compressor and a calibrated torque ranch.
I really like Project Farm and have recommended it to a number of friends.

What really stands out to me is that while the most expensive is often also rated the best... It is the cheap imports that often offer up the best quality for the money and American made products often don't offer up anywhere near the quality or the value of those imports. Then, sometimes they do.

It speaks volumes that it is NOT about where it is made. It is about how it is made. That's all that matters.

Haven't we been through this with Monoprice already? Don't confuse inexpensive with cheap. A quality product is a quality product no matter how much you spend on it.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
The push for Right To Repair legislation is a step in the right direction. If manufacturers are legislated to maintain parts inventory and design products to be repairable, there is some financial incentive there to produce better quality products. I've seen documentaries on appliances where someone owned an LG frigde that had the compressor break down after 3 years, just outside of the warranty. When the owner went to have it repaired, she was told that the compressor was no longer available! Totally unacceptable.
 
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