....but this is far beyond me. At the end of the day, I am not really an audiophile so to speak. I like good sound and I am a discerning buyer, and that's about it. And because I don't own any audiofiles other than un ripped CDs and whatever I bought from I tunes, I am unsure about just how far to go. If Tidal and Quobuz fail or we get posted to a crappy place with crappy internet in four years, then a streamer becomes not so important.
I like the idea of file storage from a pragmatic perspective and it sounds good to me. I don't mind doing the ripping. But then I read that the way it is ripped and turned into a lossless files varies greatly. Apparently it needs to be read over and over in order to make sure no data is missing. Can my 2010 Macbook pro do this with the rght software? I have no idea.
It seems like the guys/gals in the UK who are posting here and on other forums live in stereo heaven. Not to meantion the sheer number of producers per capita. Boatloads of dealers and a good second hand market means you can try stuff and if you are not happy you have options. I mean if all I can get for my arcam A39 on a dealer trade in is 600 euros when I paid more than double then.... You get the picture.
I have now spent five hours in the demo room and learned that I like four different speakers and they have their strenghts and own price/quality ratios. That's four and only three brands. Who knows what I am missing. I think if I don't hear Dynaudio, Focal, Spendor and Dali Opticon, etc., maybe I am missing something? I want to do the same with the steamers, but there is always a problem: "we sell it, but don't have a demo piece," "t's at the other store, we just sold it." There is no way to explain how poorly the Linn Sekret performed alongside the Bluesound Node 2 yesterday. I have no idea what the settings are like,or if he did this: ANALOGUE OUTPUTS[/b] (RCA, variable/fixed level) - To connect to a preamplifier (or power amplifier when internal volume control is enabled) with unbalanced (RCA) analogue inputs. From Linn Website. it's more than double the price and had half the quality. So now all I have heard is my computer vs. sonos connect and node 2. I don't mind spending the money on a quality product but to make it happen--That's another issue altogether.
I am a scientist(chemist) by training, so ideally, everything needs to set up where there is only one independent variable and I am a little frustrated as you can imagine, and tha's why I have turned to the voices who know things like the people on this forum. If only the American preisdent would do the same.
Sorry for all the posts and questions.