Minim server + Synology NAS kills custom dedicated pc on music sound quality

[DavidHB]

(17-11-2013 18:52)simoncn Wrote:  ... it's possible that the TCP/IP message sequence (buffering, retries, etc.) could be affected by disk and bus issues. Perhaps this is what you meant by a "better" audio stream.

Yes, that is what I meant, and why "better" was in quotes. We all know that tiny timing differences (jitter or whatever) can affect sound quality. Whether this is what is happening here is pure speculation, of course.

Quote:For most renderers, this shouldn't make any difference because the renderer will put the network data into an internal buffer before feeding it to the DAC. Perhaps the PS Audio DAC/Bridge is more sensitive to TCP-level differences than other renderers.

Well, possibly. But we don't know that other renderers (including ours) would not be similarly affected. We do know that Linn, to take but one example, try to eliminate timing differences by locking the stream to a clock at the DAC end (while presumably also using a buffer), and they would not do this unless timing issues in the stream (to which TCP differences no doubt contribute) affected sound quality.

All that said, and though speculation like this is fun, I have to go along with Steve's preference for "just enjoying the music", even though he does seem to be in danger of backsliding ...

David