Has this been invented yet...

[Jame5]

Hi everyone

I've not been on for a while and was just wondering if anyone has yet brought out a reliable way of streaming wirelessly from a laptop / pc to a DAC (i.e. digital file transfers wirelessly and the DAC "plays" the file and outputs the analogue signals).

Thanks
J

 

[Glacialpath]

I think there are some Bluetooth wireless DAC's around. Not sure if existing DAC will be able to be used the way you are thinking.

Others will know. Try looking up Wireless DAC on google.

 

[richardw42]

Yes, for a long time

Apple Airport Express

 

[davedotco]

Arcam AirDac?

 

[SteveR750]

Bluetooth streaming

 

[iMark]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirPort_Express

 

[iMark]

double post

 

[Jame5]

Thanks very much for the responses. A couple of follow up questions for those in the know:

Am I right in thinking that bluetooth streaming is lossy and unreliable?

As for wifi streaming, would I be right in saying that Apple somehow has a monopoly on streaming over wifi through its Airplay system? If what I'm reading is right, the only way of streaming losslessly over the Airport Express is with Apple Lossless files (I don't want to covert) and there is no USB output (rendering my current DAC useless).

There must be another product that allows lossless streaming over a wifi network, no?

 

[EvPa]

There must be another product that allows lossless streaming over a wifi network, no?

Well, you have SONOS' Connect but there is no USB-out either (only Coax and Optical) if you require one; its own integrated DAC is not bad at all though.

 

[Reijer]

Gramofon; WiFi in, analogue out.

https://gramofon.com

 

[iMark]

Am I right in thinking that bluetooth streaming is lossy and unreliable?

As for wifi streaming, would I be right in saying that Apple somehow has a monopoly on streaming over wifi through its Airplay system? If what I'm reading is right, the only way of streaming losslessly over the Airport Express is with Apple Lossless files (I don't want to covert) and there is no USB output (rendering my current DAC useless).

There must be another product that allows lossless streaming over a wifi network, no?

I don't think Bluetooth is particularly unstable. It is lossy though.

Apple a monopoly?. They were simply the first to combine Wifi and a DAC in one small box, combined with some networking tricks like sharing a USB printer on a network and creating your own Wifi hotspot when connected to a router via ethernet. It does seem odd that other companies haven't come up with their own solutions. IMHO the Airport Express is one of the best things Apple has ever produced. We have one that we bought about 7 years ago (1st generation, 802.11n). It comes with us on holiday so we can extend a Wifi network or we can create a wifi network if there is router with ethernet we can connect to. We have also used it to stream audio to the stereo in other peoples' homes. Here at home it is plugged in near the DAC and the green light is always on. *good*

Incidently, you don't need to convert your files provided iTunes can play them. AirPlay uses the Apple Lossless protocol for lossless transmission but it will convert other file formats (like AAC, AIFF or mp3) on the fly.

Doesn't your DAC have an optical input? You can bypass the DAC in the Airport Express by using a mini-Toslink to Toslink cable to connect to a DAC.

I can't think of any streaming solutions to USB.

 

[Jame5]

According to this ages old thread, Sonos won't support wireless streaming from a PC. From their silence I assume this is for reasons they don't want to share with users! https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/allow_sonos_to_monitor_what_computer_is_streaming?topic-reply-list[settings][page]=5#topic-reply-list

The Gramafon wireless solution seems to be reliant on cloud streaming services. Am I missing something?

 

[The_Lhc]

According to this ages old thread, Sonos won't support wireless streaming from a PC. From their silence I assume this is for reasons they don't want to share with users! https://ask.sonos.com/sonos/topics/allow_sonos_to_monitor_what_computer_...

If you mean they don't support audio playing on a PC to be sent to Sonos then yes, however it will play any audio files you have on the PC directly (you share the folder the music is located in) and it can play pretty much all the online services you'd use with a PC. The main thing it doesn't support that people mention is youtube. You could always take a line out from the PC into a Sonos device and then send that around to the other Sonos devices but that's not what you're looking for.

 

[Jame5]

@iMark. Thanks for the response. I don't use iTunes and I'd rather not go back to it, but thanks for the correction regarding file formats. No, my DAC is USB only, although I'd be willing to swap it out for a reasonably priced solution that allows me to play losslessly and wirelessly from my laptop (without using iTunes).

 

[Jame5]

Thanks LHC. I don't want to use Sonos amplification and speakers, but are you saying that if I used a Sonos Connect, connected by optical line out to a DAC (and otherwise non-Sonos system), I could stream direct from my PC (I'm assuming I'd need to use the Sonos App or whatever on a phone to select songs)?

 

[The_Lhc]

Thanks LHC. I don't want to use Sonos amplification and speakers, but are you saying that if I used a Sonos Connect, connected by optical line out to a DAC (and otherwise non-Sonos system), I could stream direct from my PC (I'm assuming I'd need to use the Sonos App or whatever on a phone to select songs)?

You could play your locally stored music files direct from the PC (and the PC only needs to be on, you don't need any annoying server software running or anything like that, a simple SMB (windows) share is all that's required). The Connect has a coaxial digital output as well as optical if you prefer and also has an analogue line-out if you haven't sorted a non-USB DAC yet.

The Controller software is available for Android, iDevices, Windows PC (note this is only a controller, you don't need it installed or running on the PC for Sonos to work, it's optional) or Mac.

Oh, bear in mind Sonos doesn't support hi-res audio, it's 16-bit, 48KHz MAX.

 

[cheeseboy]

if you don't want to go down the apple route, then you may have to look sidewards. Something like the LHC suggests, or maybe using a raspberry pi with voumio or rune audio and then sharing out the music files on your laptop.

 

[Jame5]

Thanks LHC. I got totally the wrong impression from that thread on the Sonos site - I thought they were saying that they can't stream anything straight from their PC. I just use standard CD res files, so I'm not fussed about the lack of support for hi res files.

Now I just have to go through a period of mourning for my HRT DAC, which has been great (except for this issue).

 

[The_Lhc]

Thanks LHC. I got totally the wrong impression from that thread on the Sonos site - I thought they were saying that they can't stream anything straight from their PC.

You can't send PC audio, ie anything from software on the PC that's making a noise (youtube, as I mentioned or game audio etc) to Sonos but audio files stored on the PC are exactly what Sonos was designed for (along with online services).

The other thing you can't do is use the Sonos controller to play Sonos synced music through the PCs own speakers, ie you can't make the PC a software zone, lots of people seem to want that as well, I don't personally see the point.

 

[Jame5]

Thanks very helpful. Not an issue that I won't be able to sync with laptop speakers!