@Graeme_Finlayson I have to ask why did you get the HPA4 as well as your dac has more or less the same amp in it for the head section doesnt it?
It doesn’t bother me when people spend money on stuff in general. In this particular case, it bothers me when they spend it on lies (sorry, can’t find a better term). Unless of course they do it because they have too much and don’t know what to do with it.
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Well, if we’re getting into ethics… I hear that point of view bruited about on this forum a fair amount, and am never pleased by it. There are always opportunity costs. Suppose you buy a less “nice looking”, less expensive piece of equipment and donate the balance to Water Wells For Africa, for instance. For every $4, they say they can provide clean drinking water to one person for 20 years.
So if we’re going to talk about ethics, let’s be honest. Every time we splash out on an unnecessarily bejeweled front panel, that’s money that could have been spent to buy some impoverished kids a square meal. Somebody did go hungry because we made that choice with our “disposable income”. We just don’t like to think about it.
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What lies exacatly?
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Yes you spend money on Roon which is as bejewled audio software as you can get, You can get bit perfect multiroom playback for nothing quite easily. You choose to pay the premium for this software whats the difference exactly?
I agree, however, we don’t know that someone who spends $100,000 on a music system doesn’t also donate $1 million to worthwhile causes.
Roon lifetime is only $700.
My view, based on my own experience and current hearing issues, I can’t tell the difference between one streamer or another. I can’t tell the difference between Spotify 320kbps and Tidal 192Khz MQA.
My tinnitus and hearing loss (at given frequencies) has gotten worse in the last 12 months. My last work place health screening showed quiet a difference for the worse compared to last year.
Back to the point. If you can hear a difference and you like the difference then a product will be better than an other. Cost sometimes isn’t a factor.
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Lms is free and does most of what Roon does, doesn’t require a hefty pc, works without the internet.
The HPA4’s headphone amp is on a whole different level from the one in the DAC3 HGC. It’s a THX-888 based design. Better all-round performance and masses of output for high impedance cans.
4-pin XLR output too, though not balanced but proper separation of L&R channels. All my cans have 4-pin XLR plugs.
You can mute the preamp and listen with just cans without having to get up and turn off the AHB2s too. Independent control of preamp and headphone gain. DAC3 HGC is all on one. Big ass display lets you see the input selected on the DAC. Seamlessly integrates with the DAC3 HGC too via the remote.
When I bought the DAC3 HGC, I actually wanted the DAC3 L (already had a nice tube headphone amp) but they were rare as rocking horse manure. Found a very nice used DAC3 HGC on eBay for a little over half the price of a new one, so it was a no-brainer.
HPA4 is a much better preamp and headphone amp than the DAC3 HGC. It’s a pity they don’t make it with a built-in DAC. That would be a fantastic one-box solution.
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I got it mixed up it does have the HPA2 amp board in it, maybe be hope the DAC4 for adds the HPA4.
You’re absolutely right. I’m just saying, let’s not kid ourselves. We could be feeding starving people with the money we spend on trinkets. When my conscience gets the better of me, I usually buy someone a goat and two chickens to damp it down again.
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I would not call that a “High End” Streamer.
Thirty-four years of non-stop high pitched tinnitus. Protect your hearing.
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One example: “The Quantum Ground Lifter takes a standard ground lifter and treats it with 1,000,000 volts of electricity in a process we call Quantum Tunneling for an amazing transformation in sound quality from this modest plug. Use the Quantum Ground Lifter to improve electronics which sound their best when the ground is lifted. Looks can be deceiving, don’t judge a ground lifter by its appearance alone. Try one today and prepare to be surprised.”
A salient point, if you can’t differentiate SQ then differentiate on features and convenience
Hi just want to share my quite fresh experience. First I am more or less critical about High end stuff in a digital audio chain. But I had the chance of getting one of the first batch of the Volumio Streamer RIVO.The Rivo is feedind a quite simple aktive Loudspeakersystem that is DSP corected to the room. (Based on Hypex AS2/100 modules). Digital out of the Rivo into the speaker system. Before the Rivo was the source it was the digital out from a Volumio Primo and before that a Rpi3 with diggi pro head and roopiee. I never recognized any diffrent in Soundquality but with the Rivo there was. It sounds more relaxed easy to follow micro details. Difficult to find the correct words. A friend said it sounds simply more analog what its a bit funny in a complete digital Stereo system. At Lyravox in Hamburg I tested the Rivo on a Pair of Karlottas and the Rivo did sound better than a Rhein and two other streamers that were much more expensive. I can’t judge if it is the software, the reclocking or what ever.But I am happy to have the Rivo as my High End streamer. By the way I can’t hear a significant improvement when I am using the Rivo at my NAD M33 in comparison to the internal streamer.
Cheers
Christian
What has that got to do with a high end streamer exactly which this thread is about.If you buy into that you need your head examined. Every sector selling something has products claiming nonsense, look at the beauty industry for the worst culprits and they mask there crap with science to make it look legit.
If this is a general comment, I must say I can’t hear any different between USC connected to my DAC compared to LAN/Ethernet. For me it sound the same - at least in my setup 
Very interesting comments
But lets not forget that may customers don’t have the same knowledge that you have. And in many cases are dependent/rely on dealers that in many cases are not untrustworthy.
If the dealer says “This is BIG improvementto buy this power cord - it’s only 999$” than many customers trust the dealer.
But nice to see this:
NOTE TO HI-FI CUSTOMERS
“If you are a hi-fi customer, beware of the pseudo-scientific false claims of overpriced and under-performing hi-fi cables. Avoid these “hi-fi” cables and equip your system with the finest professional cables available. We offer our professional cables in lengths and types that are appropriate for home hi-fi systems. You will save money while getting the very best performance available.”
PS: Sorry if this cable case is a bit off topic
Have a nice WE
Torben