Recent content by TimothyRias

Although that is a technically correct interpretation of the term streaming, the HiFi world seems to apply to more general (and possibly less correct) terminology of calling any device that converts a digital music file to a PCM stream and feeds that to a DAC (internal or external) a "streamer"...

It is worth to note that getting the metadata organized is not mandatory. You could simply rip the cd have the tracks numbered track 01, etc.and put it in the directory with the name of the cd. Most streamers will allow you to simply browse the directory structure without faffing about with the...

I agree, this product may not be for systems that include analogue sources. There is a reason this amp has no analogue inputs: it is a fully digital amp, in the sense that the DA conversion is happening as part of the amplification stage. (I am not even sure that you can call this an amplifier...

Unless you put in an SSD. >)

I don't really get all the nostalgia for CDs. I sort of get the nostalgia for vinyl (even though I have never owned, and probably will never own, a turntable), as it can actually sound different from CDs and digital files. But CDs and digital files (of the same resolution) will sound exactly...

A more reasonable comparison would be the 8200DQ vs the 8200CDQ, which is about 100 GBP difference. (The later literally is te former with a cd drive added.)

Decoding is not quite the same as converting. A 320 kbps ogg vorbis stream will always decode to exactly the same PCM stream. That stream can or cannot be communicated "bitperfectly" to the digital output. Of course, the lossy coding to 320 kbps has degraded the SQ much more than resampling would.

Obviously, the Rotel must sound better,... it is British! :) Truth be told the (possibly unconscious) bias ofWH towards British is HiFi is undeniable. (Obviously not having heard the D3020, I am in no position to tell whether they are right in this case or not).

Not sure how you view a soundcard outputting a 44.1kHz file at 192kHz without resampling. (You probably misread what I said.)

With those settings you will only get a bit-perfect stream if the file played back is 2 channel/24bit/192kHz. For anything else the system will remix/resample it resulting in a bit-stream that does not exactly match the the source file. Is this bad? Not necessarily. With decent interpolation...

Or you build the laptop into a chassis that stacks nicely with the rest of your hifi kit, and call it a streamer.

No. Every digital device used as a source needs to be connected to a DAC (either internally or externally). The only piece that needs an analogue stage is the DAC. What you completely seem to fail to comprehend is that everything the happens uptil the DAC is in the digital domain. No, it...

We you completely fail to grasp is that the only digital device that needs any analogue stage is a DAC.

In properly configured wired network, data stream reliability is a non-issue. And since it is dedicated hardware there is no other processes competing for hard drive access. (Which is the (potential) problem RAM playback software on a PC is trying to solve.) In short, both PCs and streamers...

Yes that is a valid option. It is nearly twice as expensive as it needs to be though. (The cheapest streamer boxes retail for about 150 euro, cheapest netbooks around 300.) Without substantial tweaking the netbook also will not work perfectly running 24/7. Wake-on LAN is probably not properly...