MSB Discrete Ordered...Now What? (2025)

bluegrassphile said:

I’ve been concentrating so much on my choice for an integrated amp I’ve all but forgotten to learn about DACs and streamers and how they operate. I’ve ordered the best DAC/streamer I could afford. But I know nothing about DACs or streamers. I know that DAC stands for digital analog converter but I don’t know what it does?

I don’t know what DSD stands for or does? I don’t know what unsampling, sampling, bit depth, is or does. I don’t know a bit from a byte or gigabyte. I don’t know what a DAC or streamer does or how to get “it” to do “it “.....whatever “it” is? It’s embarrassing to admit all this. But, I’ll have to deal with it soon or I won’t be able to use my new system.

I can learn all the digital/technical stuff just the same as anyone else. But where and/or how? Man, I hate this feeling. I know what DAC stands for but not what it really means. I know you have to have it for streaming. But that’s about the extent of my knowledge. How can I begin to learn this stuff? YouTube? References? Wikipedia?

I’ve just purchased a top shelf piece of equipment but don’t know how to use it. I’m an old analog guy. I grew up in the ‘50s, not the ‘80s or ‘90s. What’s the best way to begin my quest for information? Please...no chastising. I feel stupid enough.

Click to expand...

I feel your pain, my brother! I can definitely sympathize since I’ve been trying to figure all that out too. I’ll take a stab at it, but will probably not get everything right. I’m sure others will be happy to clarify.


Digital music recorders convert an analog signal into a digital one, using an analog to digital converter (ADC). ADCs don’t record and store the entire analog waveform. They only take samples which, to varying degrees, approximate the analog waveform. There are 2 main formats for digital recording: pulse code modulation (PCM) and direct stream digital (DSD). Each of these formats have various resolutions or sampling frequencies. CDs use PCM at 16 bits and a sampling frequency of 44.1 kHz. DSD uses 1-bit resolution but a much higher sampling frequency (2.8224 MHz). Higher resolution PCM is usually 24-32 bits with sampling frequencies typically 96 kHz or higher.


After the analog waveform is sampled it has to be stored in a file format. There are lots of formats for PCM files: aiff and flac are the most common, but there are many others. DSD file formats include dsf and dff. MQA is a newer format.


Files can be stored on a computer, network attached storage (NAS) or elsewhere.


That’s the simple part! I’m too am confused by what comes next. However, the simplest explanation I have found is on the Antipodes Audio website, posted here for you:


“REMOTE CONTROL – Use your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone to tell the Server what to play.
SERVER – The Server organises your music, and displays your library, streaming services and radio stations on the Remote Control’s screen. When told to play a file, the Server pushes the music file to a Renderer.
RENDERER – The Renderer turns the music file into a digital audio signal to send to your DAC.
DAC – The DAC converts the digital signal to an analog signal and sends it to an amplifier.
Different products on the market may combine two or more of these functions:
STREAMER – This term is used loosely, but it usually means a DAC with an Ethernet input, and combines the Renderer and DAC functions in a single device. Many streamers work by ‘pulling’ files stored on other devices on the network, and so in this case the remote control talks to the streamer. Other streamers, such as Roon Ready DACs, work by files being ‘pushed’ from a server to one or more streamers, and so the remote control talks to the server.
MUSIC SERVER – Most devices called Music Servers combine the Server and Renderer functions in a single device...”

You use Roon. The Roon Core is the software that manages the music library and database. It requires a lot of computing power, so usually resides on a Mac or Windows computer, network server, or a specialized network computer dedicated just to running Roon Core (like a Roon Nucleus). You also need a way to interface with and control the Core. The Control function is usually thru the Roon Control app, run on a phone, tablet/iPad or computer. All of the hardware in the system (server, renderer, streamer, dac) must be able to “talk Roon” to each other. That’s what makes it Roon Ready or Roon compatible.