I do not use Tidal or Qobuz. I suppose it’s OK to discover new music, but I find their sound quality doesn’t even complete with CD’s. I use Dragon also from PST > DS. On the streaming side I use Valhalla 2 USB > Matrix > Dragon to DS. I am considering AirLens also to eliminate a lot of boxes and cables. Streaming higher rate material brings me closer to analog. Speaking of analog, my Soundsmith Hyperion MKII is arriving Monday. We’ll see how much further this analog thing can go.
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Some of you have really high hopes for the AirLens. Considering the sheer number of devices already available on the market, I’m not sure where your high hopes come from. It will be far from the first device of its kind. I won’t redefine reality as we know it. I hope it works well and is a great success. But I don’t expect it to embarrass a Rendu device. I expect it to perform similarly.
Oh I just remembered. Galvanic Isolation. Wait, non-PS Audio devices also feature Galvanic Isolation. Hmmmmm.
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Who are you? I do not recognize you anymore.
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I really think you should consider purchasing some DSD files and do comparisons with the same title on Qobuz.
I think you will be quite surprised.
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I am so happy with Euphony Summus 2 that I am not sure AirLens will do more, or even needed because Summus is an endpoint with I2S connection.
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I know both you and I know the answer to that thought.
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I’m afraid you are right one more time Vince, I need to go deeper in this territory before any conclusion.
Please point me to some (rock) album well known as high resolution reference in your opinion (you already gave me good advise) to give it a try. Something I cab “pay per download” without periodical subscription, other than Qobuz I really do not know even where purchase digital music.
Happy to experiment on your experienced guidance (like the man in the record shop I mentioned before even if not older of course!).
Thank you in advance.
Try ProStudioMasters. They have a large inventory of all kinds of music. Try some DSD256’s in particular. It’s gonna sound way better than what you can get from Qobus. Right now they have a 25% off sale until Monday. Just type in code DREAMLAND at checkout.
I was thinking about getting something like the Airlens even before I got my streamer. I’m pretty sure Paul will not release something unless it sounds better than any of the other streamers on the market. I should add at a price point instead. I know it’s will easily outperform your Mac Mini. Just curious how good it will perform. Anyway, it’s easily returnable.
I have ripped CDs, downloaded albums and Qobuz stream.
The SQ difference between the three depends more on the release than on the type of media.
You can only find out by trying!
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Thank you, what are in your opinion the best rock albums on Qobuz you recently played? Just to try streaming something I immediately have access to and have an idea.
Here’s your answer from a couple posts later:
Luca, in the past, whenever friends asked me to lend them comparison files to test at different resolutions, I lent them copies of The Doors Riders on the Storm in MP3-320, FLAC 16-bit, FLAC 24-bit (stereo and surround) and DSD-64 (stereo and surround). Could set up something similar for you. You look in my server listings and pick out what you’d like to try for a test. I then set up a link to the raw files for you. Caveat, sometimes higher resolution versions of older recordings do not make them sound any better. For progressive rock, I usually go for the new versions done by Steven Wilson, so DVDA 24-96, not the SACD DSD64 versions I might have from Japan.
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Very kind of you, thank you so much (be aware I’m not an IT guy be patient!).
To test the true quality of streaming vs. other media, the way to do it is to purchase and download an AIFF hi-res. (Or other formats) album from Qobuz. In my case I save the file to a Samsung T7 external SSD, and I also burn a DVD+R disc.
Then I can compare SQ from streaming and from local file through server/endpoint, and DVD+R through PST. These all sounded awfully close in my new setup now. PST still has the edge, but it has Dragon48 and Summus2 uses Firebird48 which may count for the difference I heard. This was not the case before I upgraded my streaming chain.
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Luca, check your PS Audio forum settings. Just tried to send you an inventory of DSD files as text (from which to make a test selection to borrow without breaking laws…). But got an error message back… Luca is not accepting messages. Though maybe the list was just too long. Can you message me outside of this thread?
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Sorry, I should have enabled the private message from other members setting now.
Thank you Donald. I downloaded AIFF version of 2 albums, I’m listening to in this moment.
Roon is showing me the new albums downloaded and no more the Qobuz version. The sound quality is pretty the same though between AIFF on Mac Mini and Qobuz, both played by Roon, maybe due to exact the same resolution.
To be honest maybe the AIFF sound a little bit louder (!) and transparent but it is a pretty subtle difference.
You should be able to swap back and forth from Roon-supplied (internet-streamed) album versions and your ripped files.
Its important to compare the same releases and the same resolution/format and to make sure all DSP is turned off during both playback methods in order to get as close to an Apples/Apples comparison as possible.
Otherwise, frankly, you are just wasting your time.
Have fun.
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You are right, I’m managing Roon settings to find out how can I see both of them. I’m not so comfortable with softwares and IT matters… sorry.
The aim is in effect to understand if files on my library may reduce the gap compared to physical CDs, the reason why I downloaded them.
Scott1 has a good point. But since I don’t use Roon, so I’m not sure if you’re doing the right comparison. In my case I am comparing Qubuz streaming to AIFF file.
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