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In Reply to: RE: I also thought it was good... posted by marcuslee841@yahoo.com on February 26, 2021 at 15:53:04
I want someone to tell me why wifi isn't a good solution. I don't want to hear that it "sounds better" with a cable, I want a solid, proven reason.
There is absolutely no reason at all that a file transferred with wifi is any different than one transferred via cable. None, nada.
Follow Ups:
"I want someone to tell me why wifi isn't a good solution. I don't want to hear that it "sounds better" with a cable, I want a solid, proven reason."Wifi is RF:
- RF signal strength is unpredictable at any given location.
- RF signal strength is unpredictable around obstacles.
- RF signal strength weakens over distance and is then more prone to intererence.
- RF is prone to interference by various sources like microwave ovens.
- RF is prone to interference by other Wifi users in your area."There is absolutely no reason at all that a file transferred with wifi is any different than one transferred via cable. None, nada."
You're not transferring a "file" when streaming audio. The bits are transmitted and played back in realtime, and prone to unrecoverable dropouts depending on the reliability of your Wifi network. See "Wifi is RF" above.
All that being said, if you have a rock solid reliable Wifi signal with no interference, it should work fine. However, the chances of interference and dropouts is practically nil on a hardwired Ethernet network. I have always preferred hardwired Ethernet over Wifi. In fact, nearly every room in our home has hardwired Ethernet. We use Wifi mainly for portable devices like iPads, iPhones, Amazon Echo devices, etc.
Wifi is OK when it works. Bluetooth... don't even get me started on that highly compressed bandwidth compromised abomination that was intented for wireless mice and keyboards!
Edits: 02/26/21
Sorry, I don't buy that. You are not transferring a file but you are transferring packets. And those packets all get checked for errors. This is no different than when it goes over a cable. Everything is stored and forwarded.
If one gets dropouts one's wifi network sucks. My networks shows as 480mbps on internal transfers, that's fast enough to send and resend dozens of times before I get a dropout. Usually when the music stops it is because of a glitch in the outside internet stream, not the internal router. The only thing real time in digital is transfer to the dac decoders.
RF really has nothing to do with it. We are so far beyond the days where it mattered. You are more likely to pick up RF on a cable that propagates in an analog waveform that you can hear, hence cable filters. One place where wifi could impact is that the receiving device generates its own noise running the wifi. But the same can happen with ethernet cables.
Here is an historical example. Back in the 80s, Philips/Sony was developing the CD. They came up with 16/44.1 as the storage/playback, and that would fit 75 minutes on to a CD so it could play Beethoven's 9th on one disk. It was a feat of engineering. What was the capacity? I think about 750mb, a huge amount of storage. The computer geeks realized instantly that they could now store much more too on a CD drive. We now have 256gb thumb drives, maybe even more. My original internet line was 1mbps DSL, it is now 220mpbs over cable, using the same cable that they installed to my house in the 1990s. The game was over with transfer and storage ages ago. And computer speed? My daughter's M1 Macbook Air runs circles around the big iMac I'm using. Moore's law really was a thing.
So, this isn't a rant at you Abe, I value your opinions. I just don't get the digital audio nonsense. We go about our non-audio digital business all day long without giving it a thought and it always just works, until it doesn't.
"And those packets all get checked for errors"Maybe, if they are TCP packets. Maybe not if they are UDP packets.
And even if the packet is corrected the retransmission might be too late as audio is realtime so the packet gets dropped and you hear it as noise.
As a HAM Radio guy from way back and based on experience I can tell you that RF is no where near as reliable as a physical wire. I'm not saying Wifi won't work. It does for many people, but I've seen so many more Wifi related problems posted around here compared to hardwired Ethernet.
YES YMMV, and if you have a solid Wifi setup that's great. Many folks don't and to eliminate all the variables that Wifi introduces, I always recommend hardwired Ethernet whenever possible.
No, it has nothing to do with speed. Even hi-res streaming doesn't require much bandwidth.
Edits: 02/27/21 02/27/21 02/27/21 02/27/21 02/28/21 02/28/21
as it is a semi-detached structure where running ethernet is impractical.
It did require re-purposing an older Linksys AP there to assure continuous streaming at 192/24. I also configured about half the RPI's memory as an output buffer. Not long after the stream begins, the unit plays from memory.
A few minor details.
I think about 750mb, a huge amount of storage.
The original 74 minute CD media had a 640 MB capacity while later 80 minute versions stored 700 MB.
We now have 256gb thumb drives, maybe even more.
1 TB microSD cards are now available from multiple vendors.
My NAS uses a pair of 2 TB Seagate drives that cost the princely sum of $50 each. Have a backup pair as well. ;)
Everything is playing from memory at some level, nothing is streamed directly.
Those minor details prove my point. 640, 700, 750, it doesn't matter as they are dwarfed by the sizes we have now. 1tb is a lot of storage to have on a thumb drive. While these are probably somewhat expensive, those 2tb Seagate drives are dirt cheap. I just put a 2tb WD drive on my computer as a backup unit. 1.75tb is still available. We've gotten beyond what is reasonably needed except maybe for 8K videos.
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