If not, then Bluetooth might be your best option.Īnother thing to think about is the music source you will be using. That’s if fast internet is even available where you live. However, to get stable lossless audio streams over Wi-Fi, a fast Wi-Fi plan is recommended, which may cost you depending on where you live. On the other hand, since the Andover Audio Songbird ($129) ( our review here) is capable of lossless CD-Quality sound over Wi-Fi, it sounds better to my ear than any Bluetooth implementation I’ve heard on any amplifier (even though aptX HD amps like the CXA81 come close). PS Audio did a good job with Bluetooth in the Sprout100 (incorporating its ESS DAC chip), so it does sound pretty good. The way the Bluetooth receiver is implemented in the amplifier (DAC, Circuitry, etc.) also makes a difference.
Then again, data rates are not the whole story. So if you’re using an iPhone, you won’t get the highest Bluetooth data rates it’s capable of. It’s worth noting that the PS Audio Sprout is not compatible with AAC. This also applies to all iPhone users since iOS isn’t compatible with aptX and depends on AAC as a premium Bluetooth codec. Keep in mind that this only works with Android devices that are aptX compatible otherwise, you will be using the standard SBC codec, which doesn’t sound as good to me. I say “CD-like” because aptX uses lossy compression (removing select sound information to reduce data size) to send the rough equivalent of CD resolution (16-bit/44kHz) over Bluetooth’s limited bandwidth. The PS Audio Sprout100 ( read our review here) specifically, since it’s compatible with the aptX codec, can provide a “CD-like” sound. That said, Bluetooth has come a long way, and as I have said in many a review, there are quite a few integrated amps that have great sounding BT inputs. However, since the Songbird uses Wi-Fi, it should technically sound better than Bluetooth since it streams over a higher bandwidth (Mbps vs. If you’re happy with the sound from Bluetooth, then you may not need a Wi-Fi streamer like the Songbird. Would a music streamer, like Andover’s Audio Songbird Music Streamer, be necessary for a system with a PS Audio Sprout since the Sprout has Bluetooth?
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