What is the point of a streamer?

[BenLaw]

...wittering DJs, banal phone-ins, adverts every fifteen minutes...no thanks.

That's not my experience of radio. Can you only receive commercial stations in your area?

I removed that before you even posted the reply because I knew someone would come back at it. No, I can just as easily receive BBC transmissions, but, unless I'm listening to Radio 4, I find nealy all DJs to be an unwanted interruption to the music. Most of the DJs I actually did value the contribution of are now dead.

Maybe there's a correlation 😉 For God's sake don't start liking any more DJs!

 

[manicm]

Streamers came alone, then DACs came alone. Then the purpose of the streamers does not look that important when most DAC'S has got multiple inputs direct from PC.Example, USB INPUT,Opitcal, & others.

A DAC is categorically not a streamer, though some can play rudimentarily from USB. A DAC alone will not be able to scan your network for music, whereas a streamer will. And of-course most streamers contain a DAC.

 

[manicm]

Anyway coming back to Chebby and Rega:

'Streamers and music-servers are still too complicated.' - in the main absolutely, although Sonos seems pretty simple.

'Why not the simplicity of just a laptop computer and a DAC?' - complete horsepoop cos in this basic configuration I still have to get up from my God-forsaken couch to change music!

 

[Alec]

I don't care what you use but aren't there probably quite a few people posting on PCs, who don't wan't a PC on all the time...

G'night.

 

[nads]

Streamers came alone, then DACs came alone. Then the purpose of the streamers does not look that important when most DAC'S has got multiple inputs direct from PC.Example, USB INPUT,Opitcal, & others.

A DAC is categorically not a streamer, though some can play rudimentarily from USB. A DAC alone will not be able to scan your network for music, whereas a streamer will. And of-course most streamers contain a DAC.

DAC were about when i was looking at the Arcam Alpha CD transport. streamers as such had not been thought of. and the net was just starting.

what makes a streamer is the UI if it is poor people will just not get on with it.

I love the people talking up another RF network into their over crowded homes.

wifi bluetooth Sonos "mesh" all just RF signals fighting with each other.

most Wifi network should be able to manage 20 devices. from TV and BD to squeezeboxes or iProducts etc.

 

[manicm]

Returning to Chebby and Rega:

'What's the point of a streamer?' - well I discovered streaming over 30 years ago when my older brother invented it; he'd lie on the sofa and I would gladly change the cassette tape around for him. (At the age of 3/4 the sound effects of Dark Side Of The Moon scared the damned hell out of me, but luckily I think it was CSNY on the cassette).

Now do you get streaming you silly little Rega engineer? 😛

 

[andyjm]

I also have the finest multi-room system money can buy and there's no argument about that.

By what measure?

Sonos is by far the simplest multi-room system to install and setup - no experience required unlike e.g. Linn. And while high-end makers like the Scottish company and Naim require Ethernet for their best, Sonos has been designed ground-up for wireless connection. And their technology has improved with each release, albeit probably still not 100% immune from radio/micro wave interference, but it's probably pretty robust now (lhc will know better).

Sonos is a lot more robust than the flaky Squeezeboxes, and unlike the latter has full NAS support as well. Sonos is the de-facto 1st class wireless multiroom system, no doubt about it.

If ease of use and a robust radio topology are your criterea, then I would agree.

Sonos is a lifestyle product, and very good at the market it aims for. I often recommend it to friends who aren't technically savvy.

However, if you want flexibility, HiRes support, access to one of the best sounding streamers made (although the 'Transporter' is now end of life) then squeezebox is your choice.

If HiRes matters to you it is worth noting that the Sonos hardware platform seems unable to support 24/96, so it is likely that Sonos HiRes is a long way off, and / or will be incompatible with existing installations.

 

[paradiziac]

Streamers are for people who want to play music from files but who don't want a computer on/next to their hi-fi.

Though if you use a Mac with an iPhone/iPod touch it's a really different experience to having a noisy old desktop PC whirring away in the corner of your living room spewing loads of HF noise into your mains.

I really admire those who go to the trouble of ripping 1TB of music to a NAS to use with their streamers and then running Cat5 cable all over the house....

 

[Overdose]

I really admire those who go to the trouble of ripping 1TB of music to a NAS to use with their streamers and then running Cat5 cable all over the house....

Cat5e and Cat6 data cable are not particularly susceptible to interference by design, unless the cable is in particularly long runs (50m and above) and in close proximity to high voltage sources (1Kv or so) and even then, the signal will either pass or not. The signal degradation would cause a drop out, but no affect quality. These drop outs or packet losses are very infrequent even if the above failings of installation are evident.

For home installations where such conditions will not present themselves, ethernet cable is perfectly adequate for the job.

 

[amcluesent]

and then running Cat5 cable all over the house....

I also use solid-core CAT5 for speaker cable!

 

[SteveR750]

I use a PC simply because it saves money. I need a decent laptop anyway for other reasons, so for £30 it works as a perfectly good source, and cannot justify spenidng a heap of cash on another box that does it no better. I do have the luxury of being able to leave the laptop next to the system most of the time, and gizmo remote app is as convenient and effective as any dedicated piece of hi fi kit I have owned.

 

[CnoEvil]

I use a PC simply because it saves money. I need a decent laptop anyway for other reasons, so for £30 it works as a perfectly good source, and cannot justify spenidng a heap of cash on another box that does it no better.

Oh, that hurts! 😉

 

[tino]

In addition to playing music, I prefer the onandoffability of a streamer. You switch it off instantly or pull the plug and then back on again without complaint. It does not ask me how it wants to turn back on and if I would like to check everything because last time it didn't shut down in a less than perfect way. And never tells me that I haven't got the latest version of Flash of Java, when all I want to do is listen to a tune on the radio. At the end of the day streamers are just dedicated music appliances with an embedded computer and DAC. I don't need one to surf the net or run a spreadsheet on.

 

[MajorFubar]

Though if you use a Mac with an iPhone/iPod touch it's a really different experience to having a noisy old desktop PC whirring away in the corner of your living room spewing loads of HF noise into your mains.

I agree. I have my Mac mini on my AV cabinet and I hardly know it's on. If I had some noisy Windows laptop or tower unit sat there doing an impression of a knackered old fan from an industrial air-conditioning unit, I'd happily put an axe to it. When it comes to being noisy, both lterally and electrically, not all computers are built equally.

 

[Covenanter]

Just out of interest (and in total ignorance of this subject as my posts prove :rofl: ) are any streamers oriented towards classical music where things come in movements and you want to play say 3 or 4 "tracks" in succession.

Chris

 

[tino]

When it comes to being noisy, both lterally and electrically, not all computers are built equally.

Exactly ... the embedded computer in my streamer doesn't emit any fan / hard disc wooshes, whirrs and burps.

 

[John Duncan]

Just out of interest (and in total ignorance of this subject as my posts prove :rofl: ) are any streamers oriented towards classical music where things come in movements and you want to play say 3 or 4 "tracks" in succession.

Chris

Yes, any that support 'gapless' playback. I know Cambridge and Naim ones do (now, or at least with firmware updates), and I'm fairly sure that Sonos and Squeezebox do as well. Can't speak for eg Denon and Marantz.

 

[The_Lhc]

I use a PC simply because it saves money. I need a decent laptop anyway for other reasons, so for £30 it works as a perfectly good source, and cannot justify spenidng a heap of cash on another box that does it no better.

Oh, that hurts! 😉

Well, it might if it were true...

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

If I had some noisy Windows laptop or tower unit sat there doing an impression of a knackered old fan from an industrial air-conditioning unit, I'd happily put an axe to it.

I just hate generalisatoins because most of the times emotionally charged negative generalisations can't warp the reality quite considerably. while what you wrote is true in most cases it's not always so. small format fanless Windos PC anyone? even better solution with their passive cooling than your Mac mini, which sports a fan - can't deny it.

When it comes to being noisy, both lterally and electrically, not all computers are built equally.

well, Macs use switching power supplies so I don't know how they should be any better than any other power supply used for computers.

 

[Overdose]

If I had some noisy Windows laptop or tower unit sat there doing an impression of a knackered old fan from an industrial air-conditioning unit, I'd happily put an axe to it.

I just hate generalisatoins because most of the times emotionally charged negative generalisations can't warp the reality quite considerably. while what you wrote is true in most cases it's not always so. small format fanless Windos PC anyone? even better solution with their passive cooling than your Mac mini, which sports a fan - can't deny it.

When it comes to being noisy, both lterally and electrically, not all computers are built equally.

well, Macs use switching power supplies so I don't know how they should be any better than any other power supply used for computers.

I believe the comparison was between a relatively quiet Mac mini and a relatively noisy (audibly) tower/desktop Pc.

SMPSs are not audibly noisy and if their use impeded data transfer due to any other type of induced 'noise', they wouldn't be used in computers of any description. SMPSs are widely use in audio and like anything, if correctly implemented, cause no poroblems.

Generalisations indeed!

 

[paradiziac]

Relax everyone!

Nobody's saying Macs are the absolute best or only solution, just that they work pretty well and overcome most people's objections to a computer in the living room. If like me, you need computers for other things anyway, it's well worth considering before you drop a comparable amount of money on a streamer.

 

[Overdose]

Relax everyone!

Nobody's saying Macs are the absolute best or only solution, just that they work pretty well and overcome most people's objections to a computer in the living room. If like me, you need computers for other things anyway, it's well worth considering before you drop a comparable amount of money on a streamer.

+1

 

[Alec]

Major, you have amazing hearing, or little experience.

 

[amcluesent]

are any streamers oriented towards classical music

Yep. Squeezebox is ideal for this. You can start playback at any track and it'll then play the subsequent tracks(movements) no problem. Also very flexible on how it handles (with plug-ins) genres, composer, soloist, orchestra etc.

 

[MajorFubar]

I just hate generalisatoins because most of the times emotionally charged negative generalisations can't warp the reality quite considerably. while what you wrote is true in most cases it's not always so. small format fanless Windos PC anyone? even better solution with their passive cooling than your Mac mini, which sports a fan - can't deny it.

I didn't say all Windows computers were noisy. Nor am I interested in getting into a Mac vs PC war. I just said some computers are more suited to this kind of work than others, and that if I had a noisy old tower unit (yes I said 'Windows tower unit' because something like 99.99999% of them are Windows, not that it's probably relevant) whirring away in the corner like a knackered old air-con fan, then I'd happily put an axe to it. Any emotionally-charged negative generalisations were your interpretation. What I was trying to put across, obviously unsuccessfully, was that some of those people who won't even try using a computer as a music source maybe think all computers are noisy things with whirring fans because that's all they've known, and many are not, including some PCs. Hence why I said some computers are more suited to the role than others.