I've not said that you should use coaxial over optical. Never once have I said that - I'm just telling you what conventional audiophile consensus is
HDMI > Coaxial > Optical
All I've done is try and educate you based on gaps in your knowledge like:
And also the aforementioned inconsistencies, like being able to hear the difference in speaker wire, but not in higher bitrates (although you've since admitted you CAN hear a difference - and really if you're admitting that then my work here is done)
My position hasn't changed and will not change. There's no reason to stick to optical and there's no reason not to source higher quality source material not in the age of high speed internet and freely available lossless audio via streaming services.
Heck, even if you used the free months trials and started paying for Amazon / Tidal that would still be less of an upfront expense than an additional piece of hardware.
I've already told you and all we've done is go round in circles whilst you plot out spending more money and tell me I'm wrong
If you're genuinely willing to listen and take on board the technical information you're receiving AND read it with an open mind and OPEN to change, then sure we can keep discussing but it really comes down to how much longer I can keep repeating myself and how much simpler I can make it.
Maybe this picture explains it better? (and if I'm wrong about anything I'm always open to learning, there's plenty about audio I don't know or understand)
View attachment 1649631
Like I said, it's about every link in the chain.
You're not happy with the quality of your new speakers.
You have changed the speaker cable.
You are considering buying even "better" speakers.
You are considering buying additional hardware.
All I'm pointing out is that there are two obvious weak links in the chain, which are more likely to be a bottleneck than "bad" or "faulty" speakers.
Those weak links are the choice of connection to the AVR and your choice of source material
It's not about how much difference you can hear - it's about: if you're going to spend considerable amounts of money on audiophile level equipment then why wouldn't you feed that equipment the best possible source material you can find
I'll also remind you that you're an audiophile forum (and that you've claimed you can hear a difference between speaker cables). If you want people to agree that there's no audible benefit with higher bitrates, less compressed audio etc etc then you're on the wrong forum.
Metaphor:
When I lived with other people they never understood why I always used wired ethernet connection and not wi-fi.
Because I wanted to be sure that I was getting the fastest possible internet connection and that the wi-fi wasn't a bottleneck.
Conclusion
I am not saying you
MUST pay for Tidal. I get Spotify free with my mobile contract, so until that expires I won't pay for an additional service.
I am saying, there's trials available for all premium audio services, so there's no harm in signing up for trials to make sure you're feeding your AVR and Speakers with the best possible source material - especially as you're already doing that with your bluray player
PS
There's zero need for me to respond to your comments about my system, all my previous speakers were acquired second hand and if you've gone through my post history you'll see that the advice from this forum was that my budget could only give me a sidegrade. Fortunately I got stupidly lucky winning the latest MA Silver top model at just over half RRP and so I decided to increase my budget to make sure there were no weak links in the system. The Kef Q3s are now the sides and the only reason to replace those and the Missions would be aesthetics/room space
EDIT:
Changed pic to reflect there's alternative ways of getting music from Tidal etc to the AVR and bypass the PC altogether. eg via the TV app or streaming stick etc I'm not sure how that affects the quality but I know that when using the apps I can see "ultra HD" "hifi" "atmos" etc. The Tidal PC app doesn't playback in atmos I believe
EDIT 2
Optical vs HDMI - it really comes down to "
is there a compelling reason to use optical over HDMI?"
"I can't hear any difference" is not a compelling reason.
The national speed limit is 70mph, but most cars can go faster. And many people happily spend more money on faster cars, better fuel that are capable of going faster even if they rarely get to "push" the engine
Let me try and explain where I'm at...
I went from a ferrari f50 to an Enzo. but I'm not using the hi-octane petrol. I get it. I'm using good old unleaded '95.
Why...
For hi octane I have to
A) go out of my way, spend time to search for a hi octane vendor
B) pay more money for it (yeah or steal it
)
C) fit 5 times less of it in the tank
D) figure and and adapt my system settings (slightly) to use it
E) spend time treating it before going in my tank (iTunes won't let you import FLAC, I must convert to ALAC).
The main issue is, I don't really think the hi-octane petrol makes me enjoy that ferrari any more... I know its the future, but do the negatives outweigh the positives;
A) it should/may make it perform better.
I'll take a free trial though yeah!
Should I be using it? Yeah perhaps. That's what they all use at the ferrari club right? They say I'm mad! Some others say who cares! It's snake oil!
Perhaps your work was done before we even started...
I think there is a difference there, but it's so tiny is it worth it?
It's like my ferrari goes 203mph but with hi-octane it could go 208mph. But in your opinion this is more like 254mph, you're saying drive it faster!
Yeah I moaned a few times about the ferrari performance when I got it, because I had it alllll set up wrong. Twice.
Problems now sorted... I'm happy with the ferrari, YET, I know I could (perhaps SHOULD, to sate my indecisive nature) have got the X+ model, which DOES guarantee more low end power if I ever need it.
The thing is, we're all different. Jesus, my Mrs listens to movies from her laptop speaker. If I turn music up, she listens louder (it is NASTY). Why doesn't she use the BOSE I got her XMAS?
Convenience. Lazyness. She doesn't care. Still asked for the bose for Xmas though
.
My mate claims ONLY headphones can recreate sounds perfectly.
He claims he doesn't like the "better" sound of hi fi, at all. I say he hasn't heard my kefs. You say he hasn't heard YOUR kefs/ma.
I get EXACTLY what you're saying - don't complain about quality if you're not feeding it quality.
But where is the >356kbps proof lol. Where's the blind test results. Its like cable snake oil: No evidence, but thousands of people, Inc experts swear by it.
Its easy for you it seems, all this talk of dac, diff codecs cables amplifiers and settings, mate, I spend 2 hours on amazon debating the best cheese grater. And guess what, I've spent several hours today with uncompressed lossless amaaaaaaaazing hi octane pcm over the latest and greatest hdmi 2.1... and
1) cannot get games working in 5.1
2) its quiet
3) doesn't seem any better (yet).
What benefits?
1) none... As of yet. Although I accept what I'm doing is likely wrong, so I'm happy to learn.
But you've already got me intrigued/questioning am I missing potential benefits?
So I need to hear the benefits...ok...
-DAC on the way.
-Will try analogue out.
-Will try lossless streaming.
And get rid of those negatives.