You mind if I make a streaming vs local file thread or something of the sort? Good discussion but it’s kinda starting to clog this thread
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For my setup specifically on the K50 it’s pretty apparent when playing a file off network storage vs on the local SSD on the streamer, playing local with the same file does indeed sound better in my setup, let alone comparing streaming with local files (networked or on the device itself). Can’t say I was able to pick up on much of a difference with my auralic when I still had it and did that test, so it probably depends also on the streamer at hand and the tier of system it’s connected to (my current system is much much more high performing than what I tested for the auralic)
I don’t really stream at all whatsoever so I haven’t done as much extensive testing there, but when trying out stuff I liked quobuz for high res and Deezer for Redbook both in sound and library
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I’ve recently been able to play cds again, not got a permanent way to do so but I do notice that much like vinyl they do have a distinctive “flavour” that differs from streaming or local file playback. I find it hard to describe exactly what it is and much as with dac sound I have to be actively listening for it.
CDs now involve the transport at hand, so that sound they have vs local file playback is going to depend on the quality of the transports digital signal (assuming you are using a cdt with spdif going into your dac)
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Currently playing via USB CD drive via the same PC as I stream then over network to the raspberry pi. A cd transport is a thing I want to sort out at some point.
I totally take the point though, I was thinking as I wrote about how the tech always affects the sound some how. Either at source or at output, nothing is “pure”.
Interesting way of doing it, yeah a lot of the source stuff can be weird and irritatingly impactful
I’m sorry but @M0N wasn’t there already a streaming vs local thread? From back in the day lol
Don’t see one, if you find it let me know and I’ll just move everything there. Know we’ve definitely talked about it before on here but not enough to warrant its own thread
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You’ve mentioned it before and there are very few things here that could be impacting the sound quality. The bits will be the same in either case, they are error corrected and buffered, and there is no timing going on in fetching the bits, that all gets added afterwards so it can’t affect jitter.
In one case the box is using it’s network interface, and maybe that adds additional noise into the system, could even just be the network connection itself carrying noise, it’s possible there is some additional CPU required to fetch the bits over a network, again more CPU, possibly more noise. If you were using Wifi, there is obviously additional radio traffic.
It’s an interesting observation, not one I have a good explanation for.
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This is a very valid point, I’ve got my library in the same box as my Roon Core, the M.2 drive has the database (for speed) but a locally attached 2nd SSD HD has the files. I’ve also done a shitton of work to mitigate noise wherever possible on my Roon Core.
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I just ensure mine can’t pass noise on to the things actually outputting the bits.
LOL did that too… but OCD and it’s not very expensive to mitigate local sources of noise. even if it’s just a placebo, it works wonders and it’s the right price. 
Starts to get into the audio networking stuff and that’s just a conversation I don’t feel like having because it’s painful for me as well lol
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It can be like therapy, talking about it may lead to a breakthrough. Some things just don’t have an answer, as @NickMimi says just accept you don’t know enough to explain it and just trust your ears.
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
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Well considering I started my journey in digital playback almost 18 years ago, I’m clearly in the local playback camp as it’s all Ive ever known for so long. By the time streaming services became prevalent and actually “good” I had already amassed hundreds of GB of music, so I was already firmly cemented in the local playback camp. Nowadays that collection has grown to TBs of music…
As far as what sounds better, I believe local sounds better but streaming still sounds pretty good these days. Qobuz is my service of choice as I think it has the best streaming quality of the ones Ive tried and the library is pretty massive. I don’t really use it very often though, I do a lot of 1 month subs when i feel like listening to something specific I don’t have locally or if I feel like exploring new stuff but then I usually cancel afterwards.
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I think that one of the things that need to be set in any discussion around “streaming” is a definition of the word.
In the broad network sense, streaming is a source file that is shared on demand with multiple remote clients over a network. In this case the internet.
But what we’re really talking about is is a file, sitting on your local home network (where on your network may have an impact) as compared a streamed copy that’s coming to your over the internet via a streaming service.
As was mentioned before, you can in theory stream a local file that’s sitting on a NAS drive somewhere in your home, to a network streamer it doesn’t really make much of a difference between a local file on a NAS or a remote file on the internet served via a streaming service.
Now streaming services are all different and we know some services downright manipulate their content for better or worse.
So to put this into context, a local file is something that must be directly attached to the device turning that file into the digital signal that is sent to your network node (bridge, pi, PC, Lumin, Ares G2.1 etc) these endpoints can be the same device in the case of an attached HD to a server/streaming node like an Antipodes K50 for example. If it’s sitting somewhere else, it’s still being streamed, but instead of coming to you over the internet, it’s sitting somewhere on your local network. Which is what tends to confuse the discussion and the terminology feels interchangeable but it’s not; local as in attached directly to the source is one thing, local as in your local network is another.
Sorry for the splitting hairs but it’s important IMO as that can explain some of the things we’re hearing differently since we’re not using the terms in the same way.
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Excellent catch. I have the bad habit of intermixing the word streaming and digital and to me if it’s not coming off a hard source, ie. record, tape or other analog contraption it’s all streaming/digital.
I’m sure I further complicate things by throwing CD’s of all kinds into both camps randomly and indiscriminately 
They’re more than six months behind, as Spotify promised high-res audio by the end of 2021.
Not sure of the holdup. Honestly, I think Spotify is just waiting out the high-res craze by stalling and hopefully avoiding the expense of ramping up to high-res when probably 95 percent of its userbase won’t use it, doesn’t care or couldn’t tell the difference in audio quality because they’re using shitty wireless gear.
Apple and Amazon offer high-res as something to differentiate them from Spotify. But Spotify still is the king in subscription numbers globally, so there’s no incentive for it to add high-res unless it’s shedding more users than the usual churn due to complaints about lower audio quality.
Highly unlikely that’s happening, or Spotify would have delivered high-res streaming on time, as promised.
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Well one thing that happened is Apple launched it for the same price of its regular subscription model and basically killed premium profits from it from an average user
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there is a big infrastructure factor in enabling high rez for spotify. wouldn’t be surprised if delays on the electronics market are part of the cause, it can be a few silly things that stall a whole project these days
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