Qobuz : computer vs streamer.

Hi,

I hope I'm not creating a redundant subject, I completely missed the move to dematerialized music in recent years, I'm only getting into it now.
I of course keep all my CDs.
For Qobuz streaming, I would like to technically understand the difference (if there is one.) between playback via Firefox on Ubuntu vs the app on Windows or Apple vs a device like the Hifi-rose rs130 or the Atoll st300 .
Of course using an external DAC connected via USB, in my case, the CD player.
If anyone could explain it to me in a simple way, that would be great.

Xavier

 

These days ChatGPT can give you an answer to all these question is 2 mins. That's not to discourage you or anything like that, it is just a first thing I always do when I want more than just simple info.
The shortest version is, and I limit myself to Windows and Linux:
If you use a browser you add one more layer to the sound path which is usually HTLM 5. After the sound data stream is processed by a browser, using HTML 5, the browser would access Pulse Audio API on Linux or usually WASAPI on Windows. The sound system on Linux and Windows are different but this is not a point here.
What changes when you use Qobuz app is that the app talks directly to Pulse Audio, or WASAPI on Win, using APIs.
Those horribly expensive streamers are just computers, most of them use Linux under the hood, but they have high quality PSU and network interfaces, and a lot more digital outputs.
They are usually quiet in terms of electrical noise and have UI dedicated to handling music libraries.
If you want to know what happens downstream from WASAPI or Pulse Audio, just doa simple search on Linux and Windows sound systems.

 

I've never used ChatGpt before, I didn't think about it for a second.
In any case, I thank you for your simple and clear answer, that's what I wanted to understand.
Unfortunately Qobuz has not developed a Linux application.
Tomorrow I'm going to see the streamer Atoll, and I wanted to understand if these devices have any real interest compared to a computer.

 

I'm going off topic, and this probably deserves a topic in its own right.
Social networks have done a lot of harm to discussion forums in recent years, if we also use Chat Gpt, isn't that the end of them?
If there is no longer the diversity of responses from the forums to supply Chat Gpt, will there not be an impoverishment of the information available?
I find that there has never been so much choice in no choice on the internet, everyone is just repeating what someone first said.
More articles reporting on a subject, but less diversity of thought than 20 years ago.
I'm wondering.

 

The Way Qobuz and for that matter protocols like UPnP or Squeeze serve the actual music, is it's just a HTTP file download.
So there is no real difference in what bits the streamer is playing vs what the Browser is playing.
Having said that, there is a potential difference in what makes it out to the DAC, depending how the browser audio is handled, and whether the streamer plays with the bits.

But the most significant difference is likely to be the difference in the amount of noise making it onto a the USB port coming out of a PC vs the one coming out of a streamer. Streamers are just simpler devices designed to minimize noise. PC's are just designed to work with USB devices with no consideration for noise.

Most DAC's also do better over SPDIF or AES from a streamer with a good clock.
IME most people with a decent audio system, hear a positive difference just not connecting directly to a PC

 

You do not need people opinion howthe sound processing stack works on Linux, you wanty to knoww how it actually works, right? If there is any diversity of opinion about this subject it means we are in deep shit already.