27-Jul-2016, 17:30
I am fairly aligned with octaviars original post, it covers the key features I would want plus a lot more. Perhaps one thing I would add is some kind of support for iTunes, but that's just me, I do have a strange love for iTunes, which is problematic as it will never be the best sounding solution to anything.
Picking up on Antoine's comments regarding a wordclock input. To be honest, I would be absolutely staggered if this happens, but I do know what he means. Hearing a dCS rig feeding a D800, both with and without the master clock, I can confirm that these things do improve sound quality. However, I would make a more general point. I would sacrifice many of the 'features' listed here for one thing, the best possible sound quality. Quite how that is achieved I do not know. Consider this, if the new streamer board sounds a bit 'average', and can easily be beaten for SQ by the lower range Melco's and Aurender's, then it is a waste of time basically. If it sounded absolutely epic, better than the Aurender W20, dCS upsampler or whatever, than I could forgive it missing a feature or two.
Picking up on Antoine's comments regarding a wordclock input. To be honest, I would be absolutely staggered if this happens, but I do know what he means. Hearing a dCS rig feeding a D800, both with and without the master clock, I can confirm that these things do improve sound quality. However, I would make a more general point. I would sacrifice many of the 'features' listed here for one thing, the best possible sound quality. Quite how that is achieved I do not know. Consider this, if the new streamer board sounds a bit 'average', and can easily be beaten for SQ by the lower range Melco's and Aurender's, then it is a waste of time basically. If it sounded absolutely epic, better than the Aurender W20, dCS upsampler or whatever, than I could forgive it missing a feature or two.
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
