russm535il
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OLD SKOOL 63 YO audiophile JUST Started w internet music some basic ?? HELP !! Thank you !!
mtymous1
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Welcome Russ!

russm535il wrote:

Question 1 - Can I buy one of the lowest cost laptops w Windows 11 that I can find - since the DAC will be processing the music does it matter which laptop I buy ?? The laptop would only be used to stream internet radio

Unless you have a need for laptop portability, I recommend you set up a dedicated machine for music with USB and S/PDIF out to get the bits over to the DacMagic 100's digital inputs. This would fit your current and future needs, and is out-of-the-box ready:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc5pgyh.html

Or if you'd rather customize your own, look at the various models:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/products-overview.html.

All of the NUC's support USB but not all come with S/PDIF out, so I recommend the model you choose has both.

FWIW, I have this one: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc5ppyh.html
...and can confirm that it supports 24/192 over TOSLINK (and HDMI, for that matter).

russm535il wrote:

Question 2 How do the free and paid internet radio stations stack up as far as best sound ? What is best for free and what is the best paid service .I believe they run at 44 92 and 192 resolution w the higher the better ??

With free streaming services, you get what you pay for. No one free service sounds "better" than the other since the content is usually lossy-compressed. (Although technically not free, if you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can at least use the music service without commercials and upload some of your own library to its cloud service, for no additional cost. It's worth a try.)

For higher resolution and paid streaming services, you'll want to take a look at sister site Audiostream.com about streaming under the "Computer Audio 101" section:
http://www.audiostream.com/content/computer-audio-101-streaming

Now a question for YOU: do you have a digital library that you've amassed over the years? If you have a fair amount of CDs you'd like to catalog and make available for streaming, it may be worthwhile. (There's a lot to creating your own library, and don't want to overwhelm you on the first response.)

russm535il
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THANK YOU ! Yes that looks perfect since I will only use it to stream music !
I do not know what S/PDIF is does it transfer more info ?
We are Amazon Prime members so I will try that
No I have not set up a digital library my 28 year old son though I am sure can show me how now that I have retired it sounds like a project to start !! Thank you so much for your help . I hoped that there would be something that was going to be built to stream music since I do not need another laptop BEST !! Russ

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russm535il wrote:

THANK YOU ! Yes that looks perfect since I will only use it to stream music !
I do not know what S/PDIF is does it transfer more info ?
We are Amazon Prime members so I will try that
No I have not set up a digital library my 28 year old son though I am sure can show me how now that I have retired it sounds like a project to start !! Thank you so much for your help . I hoped that there would be something that was going to be built to stream music since I do not need another laptop BEST !! Russ

S/PDIF = Sony / Philips Digital InterFace. It's another digital transport option to USB. Again, you can read more about USB v. S/PDIF over on sister site Audiostream:

Michael Lavorgna wrote:

In theory there should be no audible difference between S/PDIF (TosLink or Coax) and Asynchronous USB connections as long as they are properly implemented. We're talking about passing a signal without sonic degradation and it can be argued that each offers a theoretical approach to do so.

In practice, when passing a digital signal from a computer to a DAC, the connection is susceptible to jitter. So the real answer to your question is it depends on how well {your DAC} rejects jitter through each of its inputs. Also, there very well may be sonic differences between the inputs—jitter aside. While this is more than likely the last thing you want to hear, the best way to know which connection sounds best is to listen.

Read more at http://www.audiostream.com/content/usb-or-spdif

If you want a hardcore-tech-deep-dive in to S/PDIF, check out this link:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/drivers/audio/s-pdif-pass-through-transmission-of-non-pcm-streams

...or use your preferred search engine to search on "S/PDIF."

Just for clarity's sake on my first message, the Intel NUCs do not come with a display - you either need to connect it to a TV, monitor, or some other supported display.

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russm535il wrote:

Hello All !
My son just introduced me to Pandora radio and I love it ! I have some very basic questions and hope someone can give me some advice on internet radio

My system is comprised of Monitor Audio Silver 6 speakers a Rogue Cronus Magnum 2 tube integrated amp AR XA all manual turntable (from 1972 college days !) w Black Pearl cartridge NAD 525 BEE cd player and brand new Cambridge DACMagic 100 DA converter. We only have Apple IPads and IPhones and the DAC works with them but only reproduces music at the lowest quality setting 44 .

Question 2 How do the free and paid internet radio stations stack up as far as best sound ? What is best for free and what is the best paid service .I believe they run at 44 92 and 192 resolution w the higher the better ??
THANK YOU !! Digital really has me confused ! Russ DeJulio Pittsburgh PA

MQA is going to revolutionize streaming, and you definitely need to get a unit that will stream MQA as well as other hi-rez formats.

I recommend the Bluesound Node 2, which is $499 from Audio Advisor. It will get all internet radio and services. You can get a Samsung Galaxy S4 cheaply and use that to remotely control it. Ting Wireless is a good source, which is very cheap and pay-as-you-go.

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My 2-cents: MQA isn't there... Yet. Maybe someday it could be the format du jour, but not today, and not next month. I have yet to see any reviewer be wowed by it. No doubt it's better than lossy-compressed content en masse, but it won't be enough for me to go all in on version 1 of it.

(Check out http://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-reviewed and http://www.stereophile.com/content/listening-mqa)

Pesonally, the most contentious part of it is all of the proprietary BS: encoding, hardware, the "passing of savings" licensure to the consumer, and the inability of existing equipment to play such a format. (Seems like they took a page right out of the AAPL play book! Come to think of it, seems more like Meridian could be positioning MQA for an AAPL spinoff/acquisition, *IFF* there are early returns.)

Oh, and where's all of the MQA content? Is it in the backlog with all of the re-digitized analog masters that Neil Young promised??

On a more serious comment, I certainly do hope that I am 100% wrong and a digital format that supersedes all comes from this -- whether it's MQA or not.

Historically, all "new" digital formats have been both ecstatically and rudely greeted - MQA is being treated no differently.

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It looks like MQA is available without having to purchase hardware *IF* you have a Tidal HiFi subscription:
http://www.audiostream.com/content/tidal-mqa-starts-today

So, you can let the player do the decoding at the software layer if you don't have MQA-capable hardware. Defnitiely worth some testing with the good ol' left and right cartilage channels...

For the Dragonfly fans:
http://www.audiostream.com/content/mqa-blue-new-black

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I like the idea of having a second computer dedicated to audio only. Similarly to the OP, I get 98% of my music streaming from Spotify, although I may switch to Tidal. The dumb question is, do I need a second internet connection for the music-exclusive computer? If not, how do I get the Spotify stream from the non-music computer into the music computer? The music computer would connect somehow to the non-music computer, I guess, but how? Also, is there anything I would add to either the music computer or the non-music computer - apps, software, devices, etc. - to maximize the sound quality of the audio stream. Right now I use cheap, active computer speakers plugged into the headphone jack of the computer. I will upgrade soon to active speakers with DACs for each speaker driver and a usb port. Thank you in advance for the help.

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RelaxWithPep wrote:

The dumb question is, do I need a second internet connection for the music-exclusive computer?

If you connect your device(s) to the same network via wireless router or switch, you'll be good.

With respect to "The music computer would connect somehow to the non-music computer..." if you could provide some sample use cases, or at least describe what you are trying to accomplish, you'll get better responses.

RelaxWithPep wrote:

Also, is there anything I would add to either the music computer or the non-music computer - apps, software, devices, etc. - to maximize the sound quality of the audio stream.

One suggestion (of many), would be to introduce a separate DAC in to your delivery stream. Drivers and other software can certainly enhance SQ, but would need to know more about your computer(s), audio system, sources, and listening habits.

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