Computer Audio..Stream or download?


Fellow Audiophiles,

Until now, i never cared for music streaming or downloads, simply because of compression. I owned fairly large selection of CD's, SACD's, DTS and DVD audio discs. DTS and DVD audio are long gone and SACD's are now pretty much limited to classical titles. I have been watching the digital trend pretty closely..it seems that we have evolved from digital downloads to now streaming. For sake of convenience, i have installed Sonos in couple of rooms. In my HT setup, Sonos just couldn't live up to high standards set by Krell and Raysonic. The streaming from Spotify, Amazon and Rhapsody is just average (flat and dull most times).

I am looking for ideas and feedback based on your experiences with high-res downloads. I am only interested in listening to high-rez / DSD64 or DSD128 files.

Please respond with your recommendations on DSD software and DAC's/Players.

MY Equipments:
Classe SSP-800 / CA-2200 / CA-5200
Krell Cipher
Raysonic CD-128
B&W 803s/804s/HTM2s/SCMS
Audience Au24 SE - IC's, Speaker, Power and Digital Cables
Audience AR6-TSSD/AR2-TSSD
128x128lalitk
Hello again,

What a relief to know that I can capture all the music off my olive and transfer it to Aurender.

After reading your feedback, it's given that you cannot eliminate pc or Mac from a typical setup if you want to manage your music library. I am sure it will all make sense once I have all the hardware together.

I am leaning towards Mac-mini solution for its small size and aesthetics. I love the apple look. Mac mini and USB drive will look cool with rest of my 'silver' components.

I found this article at ps audio - http://www.psaudio.com/ps_how/how-to-build-a-music-server/

Check out the JCAT USB cable.

Thanks again for taking the time to demystify the complexities of digital world.
Latlik- In case no one else mentioned it, you might also want to try spending some time at computeraudiophile.com.
Hey Lalick,

No prob - glad to help. If you are going apple which is great to use and I agree for the reasons you stated and Jriver works well with them as well but there are other solutions that the apple folks like better than Jriver and others can speak to it but even with Apple I would go Jriver.

JCAT is part of JPlay which when I used a pc for source was great but it was pc based and not for Apple. The JCAT cable is made to go with their matching pc usb card pc which can be battery power driven which is good stuff for a pc source. If you are going to use a usb cable between aurender and modright Dac their are much better options IMO. I use a Tellarium Q Black Diamond USB cable I bought off the U.S. Distributor Fidelis in NH they are also US distributor for Harbeth speakers and Palmer tables. Great stuff. The Tellarium Q is more money but so much better than the JCAT cable. I like it better than the Locas Design Group Cynosure and the Light Harmonic Light speed single headed cable. I think of all the light harmonic is best if you go with double headed and have battery power to drive the power leg but for plug and the Tellurium is my choice. All of them will crush the JCAT but cost more but worth it. Thought to throw some ideas for you. The Wirewold Platinum and the Audioquest Diamond are common and more money and also better than the JCAT.
Fsmithjack,

My entire rig is on Audience Au24SE cables. I find their cables very neutral, transparent and frill free. Their newest entry, Au24 USB got a steller review from Robert Harley recently. I will check out Tellurium Q as well (and i heard of the brand before). Since I bought Audience cables, i never had the need to look at another brand (trust me they are that good).

Thank you,