Novice looking for help.

[ArtK]

Despite many threads on this topic, I apologize for ongoing confusion, so I'll do my best to be articulate.
If I can currently use my iphone's bluetooth, together with my integrated amp's (Emotiva TA2) BT functionality, to play Amazon Music through my phone, what am I gaining from adding a device such as a streamer? I have to think there is value added relative to music quality but simply don't get it. In other words, is the streamer somehow taking the place of the iphone as a higher quality signal source to the amp, thus "replacing" whatever is in the iphone that currently serves the same purpose just by itself (meaning the phone.)

I'm always interested in upping sound quality but do these little streamers substantially do that?

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help this dummy!

Art

 

[Mr Ee]

Welcome.
For amazon (maybe just amazon music unlimited?), the wiim allows you to stream the music at its native 'quality', losslessly.
Your phone also effectively just becomes a remote control; the music does not pass through your phone to the wiim.

Edit: I wrote 'for amazon' as that's specifically what you mentioned. Same goes for tidal, qobuz, deezer etc. that have lossless music.

 

[BK308]

Yes, I think there is added value to streamers. The sound quality is substantial. But it all depends on what you value. Many people are perfectly fine with streaming Bluetooth from their phones. They cannot tell a difference in quality and that’s perfectly fine. But be aware that if you desire quality greater than Bluetooth you might find yourself down a rabbit hole seeking audio perfection lol anyway good luck and have fun!

 

[ArtK]

Yes, I think there is added value to streamers. The sound quality is substantial. But it all depends on what you value. Many people are perfectly fine with streaming Bluetooth from their phones. They cannot tell a difference in quality and that’s perfectly fine. But be aware that if you desire quality greater than Bluetooth you might find yourself down a rabbit hole seeking audio perfection lol anyway good luck and have fun!

Thank you, sir!

 

[ArtK]

Welcome.
For amazon (maybe just amazon music unlimited?), the wiim allows you to stream the music at its native 'quality', losslessly.
Your phone also effectively just becomes a remote control; the music does not pass through your phone to the wiim.

Edit: I wrote 'for amazon' as that's specifically what you mentioned. Same goes for tidal, qobuz, deezer etc. that have lossless music.

Thanks much!

 

[harkpabst]

Bluetooth streaming is generally lossy (even if the source is lossless digital audio) and it requires you to keep the phone on and within reach of the Bluetooth receiver. It will usually transmit all kind of noises your phone makes (including incoming message plings and so on) and drain your battery.

A dedicated streamer is (usually) just controlled by the accompanying app or remote control and really does retrieve the music stream directly from your preferred streaming service. Once the music is playing you could switch off your phone, if you want to. There's one sort of exception: If you play music to your streamer through Apple AirPlay then the data stream is still routed through your iPhone.

 

[ArtK]

Bluetooth streaming is generally lossy (even if the source is lossless digital audio) and it requires you to keep the phone on and within reach of the Bluetooth receiver. It will usually transmit all kind of noises your phone makes (including incoming message plings and so on) and drain your battery.

A dedicated streamer is (usually) just controlled by the accompanying app or remote control and really does retrieve the music stream directly from your preferred streaming service. Once the music is playing you could switch off your phone, if you want to. There's one sort of exception: If you play music to your streamer through Apple AirPlay then the data stream is still routed through your iPhone.

Thank you!

 

[Wiimer]

Despite many threads on this topic, I apologize for ongoing confusion, so I'll do my best to be articulate.
If I can currently use my iphone's bluetooth, together with my integrated amp's (Emotiva TA2) BT functionality, to play Amazon Music through my phone, what am I gaining from adding a device such as a streamer? I have to think there is value added relative to music quality but simply don't get it. In other words, is the streamer somehow taking the place of the iphone as a higher quality signal source to the amp, thus "replacing" whatever is in the iphone that currently serves the same purpose just by itself (meaning the phone.)

I'm always interested in upping sound quality but do these little streamers substantially do that?

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help this dummy!

Art

Hi,

I agree with all three of you, but I would like to add something.

Bluetooth and network streaming both have their advantages and disadvantages. Most of them have already been said by other members.

One thing to keep in mind is that (especially with Amazon music) the usability of the app is worse than with Bluetooth. For example, there is a 3~5 second delay between pressing the play button on the app and the first track playing. Depending on the situation, it may take longer.

There is also a similar delay when moving the seek bar to navigate within a track or when skipping tracks.

However, I personally think the advantages are enough to compensate for them.

 

[Erebus]

I would also add that the software, app and functionally you get with a WiiM streamer is a very big improvement over simple Bluetooth streaming. I previously had Bluetooth only, but once I had a WiiM Pro Plus with higher resolution audio streaming over WiFI, the sound improvement was astounding. Add to that the built-in streaming apps, equaliser and room correction options etc. as well as the overall ease and simplicity of a WiiM system, I would never want to go back to Bluetooth streaming.