Is a streamer with Qobuz worth it?

[Keraulophone]

when it comes to internet radio, the 320 kbps AAC-LC offered by BBC Sounds leaves FM wallowing in the shallows. No birdies the contend with. ... While DAB might deserve expansion into Dead And Buried, FM is Functionally Moribund.

All you say, Bryn, chimes with my experience and expectations. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a CD of a R3 live Choral Evensong handed to me straight from the BBC OB van after the service sounds so much better than anything these transmissions can achieve. It acts as a useful benchmank for comparison.
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[ColinM]

I'm interested in the discussion on streamed radio services.
I have a NovaFidelity N25 streamer that includes Internet radio and built in DAB.
Sadly I don't think I can connect to BBC Sounds with it.

Any suggestions for high quality radio streaming?

[gradus]

I'm interested in the discussion on streamed radio services.
I have a NovaFidelity N25 streamer that includes Internet radio and built in DAB.
Sadly I don't think I can connect to BBC Sounds with it.

Any suggestions for high quality radio streaming?

See message 42 above.

[HighlandDougie]

I'm interested in the discussion on streamed radio services.
I have a NovaFidelity N25 streamer that includes Internet radio and built in DAB.
Sadly I don't think I can connect to BBC Sounds with it.

Any suggestions for high quality radio streaming?

I’m probably wrong but couldn’t you use a laptop/PC to access the BBC Sounds website then connect the PC etc to your NovaFidelity with a USB A or C to USB B cable? It would sound even better with something like an Audioquest Dragonfly but should be OK as is. The NovaFidelity has a USB input.

[jayne lee wilson]

Tangentially, this is coming on stream now....... not available everywhere (yet), currently only mobile/ipad apps etc., but it may even induce me to actually buy an iPad if the laptop one doesn't come through soon....
"HiRes" appears to be lossless in fact, so they shouldn't have called it that, but its available in the DCH archive now, and they say it will be extended to live concerts later.....

Berlin Phil live in lossless? One for those long dark evenings for sure....(hard to imagine them now, but they will return...)....

https://news.digitalconcerthall.com/hires

[ColinM]

I’m probably wrong but couldn’t you use a laptop/PC to access the BBC Sounds website then connect the PC etc to your NovaFidelity with a USB A or C to USB B cable? .

True.

I'll give this a go to see if my ears can hear the difference between BBC Sounds via my laptop and the alternatives available within the N25.

It would sound even better with something like an Audioquest Dragonfly but should be OK as is. The NovaFidelity has a USB input.

My limited understanding of streamers is that most of what you're paying for is the built in DAC (plus the apps that let you access various sources). When I compared the N25 to a Bluesound Node2, there was a tangible difference.

[PhilipT]

However, when it comes to internet radio, the 320 kbps AAC-LC offered by BBC Sounds leaves FM wallowing in the shallows. .. While DAB might deserve expansion into Dead And Buried, FM is Functionally Moribund.

Please can someone explain, to someone getting on in years who remembers from before you could get stereo on FM, what he needs to add to his existing hi-fi setup to do the BBC Sounds thing? That is, my current setup is a "this is what most people buy" from several years ago (Denon DAB tuner with DAB aerial, Marantz CD and amplifier, Monitor Audio speakers etc.). What do I need to add to this system? Clearly, a box with a DAC in it. Yes, I have broadband (c.56 Mb/s download). It does Wi-Fi but routing a cable to it would be tricky.

When I did my Physics degree my best paper was the Electronics option. It's frightening how much things have moved on.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Please can someone explain, to someone getting on in years who remembers from before you could get stereo on FM, what he needs to add to his existing hi-fi setup to do the BBC Sounds thing? That is, my current setup is a "this is what most people buy" from several years ago (Denon DAB tuner with DAB aerial, Marantz CD and amplifier, Monitor Audio speakers etc.). What do I need to add to this system? Clearly, a box with a DAC in it. Yes, I have broadband (c.56 Mb/s download). It does Wi-Fi but routing a cable to it would be tricky.

When I did my Physics degree my best paper was the Electronics option. It's frightening how much things have moved on.

There is a bewildering variety of choice you could go from in ascending order of audio quality
Smart phone with either mini Jack (from headphone socket ) to phono cable then to phono connector on your amp . Better would be to add a mini Dac running from the the charging socket on phone which then connects to mini Jack etc . A mini dac for iPhone iPad is under £10

iPad with above

MacBook , lap top , PC with above either running straight from headphone socket . MacBooks have good internal dacs you can get an expensive external one which could well be better

Get a bespoke streamer which will come with myriad outputs . this has the massive benefit of not tying up another device.

I can’t tell the difference between streaming with DAC from my iPad and streaming from MacBook. I can tell the difference between streaming without Dac from the iPad but it’s marginal. The iPhone isn’t brilliant but acceptable ..
Still think analogue sounds better…

[Cockney Sparrow]

Do you have a smartphone ? Android or Apple (iPhone) - iOs , .....or ?
Do you have a tablet - Ipad (Apple - iOs ) or Android (most others....) ?
Do you have a laptop that uses Wi-Fi - Apple or Windows (microsoft ) , ....(could possibly be Linux...).......or ? (presumably you do....)

The wi-fi is good.
Otherwise, practically speaking, others without wi-fi would rely on the signal from their smart phone.........

On a quick response, I think this covers the options for where you might be. The info would help in suggestions to what you need to connect in to your Amplifier..... (etc)

[PhilipT]

I am looking for a box to add to my current setup, rather than tying up my mobile 'phone. Although if the box could be controlled from the mobile 'phone that would be fine - presumably something of the sort is necessary, else how do you type in the URL of the site you want to listen to? Alexa would do my head in. So - picking up on Heldenleben's reply - a "bespoke streamer" would be something like a Marantz NA6006 or an Audiolab 6000N, yes? Methinks I shall go to a specialist hi-fi shop and ask someone with a beard.

[Bryn]

I am looking for a box to add to my current setup, rather than tying up my mobile 'phone. Although if the box could be controlled from the mobile 'phone that would be fine - presumably something of the sort is necessary, else how do you type in the URL of the site you want to listen to? Alexa would do my head in. So - picking up on Heldenleben's reply - a "bespoke streamer" would be something like a Marantz NA6006 or an Audiolab 6000N, yes? Methinks I shall go to a specialist hi-fi shop and ask someone with a beard.

Do either your disc player or amplifier have a USB input? If so, you could try downloading an m4a conversion of the programme you want from Sounds with get_iplayer and try playing that, loaded into a USB memory stick. Some devices will only play either m4a or native aac. If the latter is the case for your equipment, use the freeware Yamb to extract the aac file from the m4a delivered by get_iplayer. Just remember that you should delete the file before the end of the 30-day availability period. The get_iplayer app. with remind you, as long as you do not move the relevant file to another location.

[PhilipT]

Do either your disc player or amplifier have a USB input?

Gosh! Yes, the CD player has a USB port, and a "disc/input" button. I'd never noticed. The documentation (Cahn's Axiom again!) says "Plays USB audio sources (MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV)".

[Cockney Sparrow]

Do you have a smartphone ? Android or Apple (iPhone) - iOs , .....or ?
Do you have a tablet - Ipad (Apple - iOs ) or Android (most others....) ?
Do you have a laptop that uses Wi-Fi - Apple or Windows (microsoft ) , ....(could possibly be Linux...).......or ? (presumably you do....)

The wi-fi is good.
Otherwise, practically speaking, others without wi-fi would rely on the signal from their smart phone.........

On a quick response, I think this covers the options for where you might be. The info would help in suggestions to what you need to connect in to your Amplifier..... (etc)

I'm still not sure what you have apart from the mobile. However, in your OP, you want to connect BBC Sounds into you hi fi. The Sounds app (smartphone - any, probably) or BBC Sounds via a web browser would enable use of the Google Chromecast Audio ("CA") . Google don't sell them now, but they are easy enough to find on Ebay (about £50 or so). A normal micro USB power source (preferably the original Google one) the small disc of the CA itself, and a 3.5mm stereo jack to Left and Right Phono (RCA) plugs will go from a CA into an auxiliary socket on an Amp.

https://www.canford.co.uk/Products/37-6541_REAN-CABLE-3-pole-3.5mm-jack-plug-to-twin-RCA-phono-plug-Y-format-3m

Inside the Chromecast Audio is a DAC - not encased in a fancy enclosure, not the very latest (although how much improvement can be made over something so developed?) and if you read an audio magazine not "the best". However Sounds will deliver a quality of 320kbs, as will the CA. Lots of folks use the Chromecast Audio for listening, as do I for its convenience - and at the least it gets one started with BBC Sounds.

A Google Home (app) needs to be set up all on the same wi-fi ID. The CA unit(s) need to "join" the Google home group. On the app or browser page there will be a small CA "button" which will instruct the CA unit/the App and provide the audio stream to the audio system. The Chromecast audio gives commands to the streaming sytem (BBC Sounds, Qobuz, You Tube Music, etc) and uses the wi fi of the house, not the continued presence or resource of the mobile or tablet or laptop). If there are other audio units in the house (including Google Smart speakers, or mor CAs) then its possible to have multi-room audio playing.

If you go to a dealer, you might find they will loan you a DAC or audio unit in a smart box to try out (I've read they will do this - although maybe above a certain price point? (I haven't used a dealer for many years....)). I see you mention bespoke streamers. I'm sure those companies will support their systems (although Sonos ditched its earliest units recently, then partially reverse ferreted). I could lend you a Chromecast audio to test whether you can hear the difference......(When Google ditch the CA system - despite the thousands of users and heavy launch promotion, I'll have lost the £15 discounted price per unit).

[Bryn]

Gosh! Yes, the CD player has a USB port, and a "disc/input" button. I'd never noticed. The documentation (Cahn's Axiom again!) says "Plays USB audio sources (MP3/WMA/AAC/WAV)".

Great. If you need any help with using the facility, feel free to ask. One thing to look out for is the capacity of USB storage device your player can handle, and the format type it requires. FAT and EXFAT are usually acceptable but some can also handle NTFS. One player I have can only take up to 64GB memory sticks.

[gradus]

If you go with the Audio Chromecast and I've used them for 3 years with no problems and excellent sound go into the device settings in Google Home and select the high definition option, it's dead easy but sounds complicated.