Quality of wireless or wired streamed FLAC files?

guest48077 · « **on:** 2 Feb 2011, 02:45 am »

Hello,

I have a fairly basic question for you guys.

- I am currently running a wireless/wired network at my house

- Laptop sits beside my Stereo sending music to my stereo VIA the Headphone jack (I am going to get a proper DAC fairly soon)
- The Laptop is streaming my FLAC music Library from my computer downstairs through wireless signal. It works great with no "chugging"

-I have an Ethernet cable in the same room but use the wireless just fine.

Here is my question..................

Does this wireless method compress or degrade the audio signal in any way, it sounds pretty good to me.

Is it better to go through an Ethernet cable, does this help the sound or is it the same as wireless?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

I ask this because I am looking into getting a Media box to stream from a network drive instead of my computer downstairs.

Thanks in advance.

skunark · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Feb 2011, 03:12 am »

The wireless router itself won't change the data as it treats it like any other data and same can be said with the software playing the software. As long as you don't hear the chugging, your set up is fine, but my guess is that occasionally you will hear a chug or a blip if you have multiple users/devices hammering on your network and it would be audible. There are a few music players that will copy the file to the local RAM before playing through the headphone jack (or USB DAC, or Optical output) that if you do have those issues, you can consider.

If you plan to stream HD video, I would recommend using a wired gigabit ethernet connection or at least 802.11n.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #2 on:** 2 Feb 2011, 03:23 am »

I have run my SB3 wired and wirelessly. Running the SB3 wired turns off the wireless card, and removes some noise from the system.

I now run it exclusively wired.

dmccombs · « **Reply #3 on:** 2 Feb 2011, 08:32 pm »

Undertow,

For basic playback you are fine going wireless as long as you don;t hear interupptions. If you want the best sound qulity though, I don't recomend it.

Like MCGSXR said, using a wireless card can induce noise in your system. If you are turn off the wireless card in your server, you will have less electrical noise.

I have done a little bit of testing with a wired ethernet conenction vs. pulling music off a local firwire drive. The local Firewire provided a fuller, cleaner sound. The sound quality was noticeably better than wired ethernet.

I know other swear by NAS and other ethernet connected setups. Please balance my recent findings with their experiences.

Darrell
www.mach2music.com

guest48077 · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Feb 2011, 12:44 am »

I was thinking about setting up a NAS (in the basment) wired to a media player "Type Box" (upstairs). Do you think these media boxes will work with an external DAC via USB. Anyone have experience with this.

Sorry these may be silly questions, I have little experience with this type of setup.

Thanks for the reply so far. They have answered my initial question. Wired would be better and it does NOT compress or change the file at all.

I was thinking getting something like this........................

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7150928&CatId=4678

Attached to a NAS

adydula · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Feb 2011, 01:23 am »

The flacs your streaming are as good as your original source. The noise issue is not really affecting the flac music but is susceptable to interferance, but this to me is really total bull you know what. The only real detriment to using wireless for 2 ch cd, redbook audion is the bandwidth and its ability to stream which is dependant on the adapter, the pc your running, the device drivers etc.

So hook up a cd to your stereo and make the comparison for yourself, tell us what you hear or think if there is any difference in sound quality and any noise??

I have made AB comparisons between FLAC and CD source discs and I can not hear any difference period. I had a group over and didnt tell them what the source was and no one could pick out the best sound to be FLAC or CD...

Tooooo Much Snake Oil Out there,

All the best
Alex

Thump553 · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Feb 2011, 08:37 pm »

A lot depends on your house. In my house the router is in the basement and the stereo on the first floor about thirty feet away (with a cinderblock chiminey and furnace in between). Initially I was wireless but occassional dropouts drove me crazy. Problem completely solved with I went wired.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Feb 2011, 08:47 pm »

The quality of the sound you will experience is related to how good the DAC in the device you pick is too.

That aside, the HP unit you reference should be fine.

My best friend bought the D Link Boxee Box (wifi for the same price as that HP, but it does not have an internal HD).

Lots of ways to skin the audio cat!