Originally posted by jayne lee wilson
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I'm possibly looking around for some sort of streaming device - so that I can use Tidal and Qobuz and possiblly divert some funds away from CDs, SACDs etc. I don't particularly want to use computers for that purpose, however there seem to be very many possibilities and a considerable divergence of types of kit. One might also ask "when is a streamer not a streamer?" and also "when is an amp not an amp?". For example it didn't occur to me till rather late in the day that one of my friends with seemingly more money than sense kept on asking about ethernet cabling and wireless links to his amplifier. I kept on asking - "but what are you using to feed all this into?", when it finally dawned on me that when he mentioned his "amp" he was referring to one of his exotic Lyngdorff models which also has bluteooth, ethernet etc. all built in. Some new "amps" have gone this way, while I also came across a recent compromise SACD player - I think from Panasonic - which also doubles up as a streamer.
Down at the cheaper end there are gadgets like the Chromecast audio, and some streamers such as those from Arylic which apparently have deficiencies in that they don't play tracks from streaming services gaplessly, which are therefore useless for listening to some works.
Other factors are whether the streaming devices use a remote unit or another devices such as a tablet or mobile phone as an interface. Overall it can get very confusing.
I quite liked the idea of an SACD unit which could function as a streamer for Tidal or Qobuz, but if I'm looking for really good quality to get the most out high quality services, then maybe paying more would be worthwhile. There are units from Marantz for example, which seem to do quite well. OTOH, maybe I'll just stick with what I've got - and keep buying CDS or occasionally SACDs.
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