I think for some they will not hear a difference between the DACs but there are other bullet points to consider

- Playmaker supports Powerlink, that means the Beolab speakers will switch on automatically which may not be interesting for the ones with line in mode, but for others and in combination with a subwoofer it can be important

- Playmaker provides a Line In, so you could use it i.e. to hook up a digital player like the Olive One

- Playmaker runs only on 2.4Ghz Wifi with is old and slow and obsolete. Thats a restriction that Apple Airplay puts out. I ended up connecting it via cable and am waiting for a new router that can support 5 and 2.4 at the same time so that teh playmaker can be on its own network

- Playmaker will react to Beo 4 commands, thats important to control volume

I think "sound" is fairly subjective and for many just a 2nd consideration. I have a dirt cheap DAC that I "hate" not just over sound, but also over the loud crackling noice when it starts up

jk1002 wrote:

I think for some they will not hear a difference between the DACs but there are other bullet points to consider

<snip>

I think "sound" is fairly subjective and for many just a 2nd consideration. I have a dirt cheap DAC that I "hate" not just over sound, but also over the loud crackling noice when it starts up

Thanks jk1002. The Playmaker features are documented, that part is reasonably easy, It's the "sound" is fairly subjective part that I want to get to the bottom of. How does the Playmaker sound when compared to other (wireless) DACs?

Michael Ellis wrote:

Does anyone here have experience of the PlayMaker, particular as compared with other wireless DAC solutions?

I'm well impressed with my PM. Having used an Airport Express for years (which was incredibly reliable), I was hesitant to move to a PM after reading lots of complaints about it disconnecting whilst playing audio from your computer.

The audio quality is far superior to the Airport Express. A big improvement. I'd also say the same audio from a CD, played via the BeoCenter 2, sounds much better streamed via the PlayMaker, which says a lot about this device.

Sadly I can't compare it to other wireless DAC solutions other than the AE, but I'd doubt there are more superior products on the market, from my limited experience.

It does disconnect occasionally, but if you give it a static fixed IP, this helps hugely.

I haven't compared my PM to anything other than an Airport, and Moxxey is right, it is far superior to the Airports internal DAC. The only other DAC I've compared it to was a Little Dot DAC I used to use via USB from the PC to the Beosound, directly wired. The DAC is interesting, it supports coax, optical, and USB input, and has RCA and XLR balanced outs. I've noticed no difference in sound between it and the PM. The PM sounds just great in my setup, streaming from iTunes or from Spotify.

Since I solved my wireless streaming problem I've had no dropouts either. In my case there was an application on my PC that monitored the wireless router that would stomp all over other traffic when it decided it was time to poll the router and refresh status. Since it didn't do anything I can't do by connecting directly to the router using the web browser, I had no real use for it and deleted it off my PC. Flawless streaming since then.

I love my Playmaker - best thing I have bought in years!

MM

@Jeff, thanks

Well since you notice little difference between the Playmaker and the Little DOT (a dedicated DAC of around £200) and you do notice a big improvement over the Airport Express it certainly seems it might be worth investigating.

-- ME

I haven't taken an Airport Express apart, but there are multiple reasons it probably has reduced sound quality, even if the DAC is fine, the analog stages are obviously seriously compromised by the size and layout of the device. That may make as much or more difference than the DAC.

Back years ago I did some fairly rigorous controlled listening tests for outboard DACs and internal DACs in CD players. I found that audible differences were usually so slight as to be illusory, in that when you just single blinded the choices it became almost impossible to consistently tell them apart. And it was impossible to tell once you equalized levels and double blinded the test. I didn't test all DACs obviously, but did a fairly representative set of affordable DACs. There was one model, an affordable outboard DAC that was uniformly rated by audio pubs as being superior to most inboard DACs. I found that the samples I had of this DAC were all running a couple of tenths of a dB hotter than the pretty standard internal DACs. Since the ear detects small loudness shifts as everything and anything other than simple volume differences, it wasn't surprising that it sounded different. I suspect that this was done deliberately so that people would notice a difference. And I really don't blame the manufacturer for doing this, it was a fairly smallish startup, and the name of the game is business, and making clients happy.

Regardless of if the PM sounds better than what you're using now, there are other usability advantages, Aux input, etc. that would make it worth it in my view.

BTW, I've enjoyed following your saga with your system...you have an interesting approach and I can relate to wanting to simplify things.

Jeff, Thanks for your reply. It's great and I relate to and agree whole heartedly with the running a couple of tenths of a dB hotter being enough to persuade a listener that the difference s/he is hearing is a subjective improvement. But God are things confusing now - you'd think the world going digital would make it all cut a dried! Not so, I think purchasing audio equipment now (for those that want quality before convenience) is now harder than it has ever been. There are so many links in the digital chain (bit rates, sampling frequency, compression algs., transport protocols and bandwidth) and that’s even before we get into the DAC and post DAC side of the equation that it's a nightmare. So the answer, well just listen to it of course. BUT here's the rub, in a world where the independent audio reseller has gone to the wall in the face of consumers buying at cheapest price on line, you can no longer do that. Tottenham Court Road (London UK) was my childhood wonderland where I could audition anything and everything, hardly worth going there now. Even the B&O Centre I recently visited wasn’t really setup to make the most of the equipment there. They demo’d a pair of 18’s to me running Spotify through the Avent TV, and frankly the sound was not that great. In fact (highly subjectively), tweaking some equalisation (just a little) made by 8000’s back home sound just as good or perhaps even better. Everything today seems to being being sold on style rather than content. When my son an I auditioned a range of iPhone docks for his Christmas present, the sound from ALL of them (inc. Bose, Cambridge Audio, B&W etc) fell a long way short of the HiFi systems I was listing to back in the 70’s But no one seems to care. It’s pretty ain’t it!

I couldn't be happier with the PM, i think it sounds superior to the Airport Express, but that's the only two wireless solutions I have tried.

My PM is connected wirelessly via my router which is in another room, i have only ever had i think one drop out and that's because the phone that I was streaming from became out of range when it went into my pants carrying it around.

I have 2 BL3's connected to the PM which switch on and off.

I now run a dedicated iPad on its own dock as my music centre - all my music is on the iPad in lieu of a BeoSound 5.

I purchased a PM for my old man and he has a CD player as line in, plugged in to BL4000s - and he previously had a marvellous Onkyo system from the 80s which has now been relegated to his man cave (garage) he loves the sound through the PM.