NAC 272 difference in sound streamer vs dac

When using the streamer section of the NAC 272 there seems to be (much) less bass when compared to the dac section (when using with tv/settop box).

Is this normal? I can’t/won’t believe it is up to the wires used. Could there be a damaged Ethernet cable? (It would funtion or not function I believe?)

Using audioquest Carbon from NAS to router (netgear Nighthawk) an from router to Streamer.

Is your STB wired to the 272 via Toslink?

Yes it is.
Will it make that much of a difference?
And will the media player on the NAS make a difference? Using an Synology NAS with its own media player.

Unless you’re comparing the same source material then it would be difficult to say that networked audio sounds different to audio via the digital inputs. I suspect the bass heavier sound via the STB is the result of EQ done back at the studio for those particular feeds.

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Yes, different source material, probably.
Totally different cable - copper vs optical.
Perhaps different route - e.g. ethernet via ISP router and TV via satellite?
As well as using the 272’s streaming board vs the STB.
(Will also be influenced by whether you have an external psu on the 272.
And the quality of the cables and the STB.)

So you cannot say which difference makes what effect on SQ (unless you isolate the differences).

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Yep - too many variables to make a call.

Thanks.
Only way to find out is to set everything Up from scratch I to think.

I don’t think you’ve necessarily got an issue - you don’t say what the rest of the system is. Do you notice the discrepancy between sources if you listen via headphones ?

As @james_n suggested there’s often a bass lift applied to the sound in television signal.

You can tell this as the amount of bass lift differs between channels and between programmes.

There is not much SQ difference in NAS media server software. Its not carrying the data stream as such, its enabling the data stream connection between NAS & 272 & as per your browse selection.
But that Synology ‘Media Server’ is a bit pants, its very basic & doesn’t do some things correctly - e.g. transcoding down samples 24bit to 16bit & gapless doesn’t work.
Get a better one, Miniserver is a free included package with Synology, or go for the easier to set up Asset UPnP, but it has a one time licence fee.

System is al follows:
NAS -> AQ Carbon -> Netgear Nighawk router -> AQ Carbon -> NAC 272 (with TXPS :see_no_evil:) -> unbranded but nice interconnect -> NAP 200 -> TQ ultra black speaker cable -> PMC twenty.5 23 speakers

That’s a nice setup. Again I’d not be too worried, just make sure the system is setup to get the best sound from your main audio source which sounds like it’s streamed music from the NAS. TV and it’s varying quality is a secondary source. If you find bass quantity lacking on streamed music then perhaps a bit of speaker repositioning may be needed ?

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Different ethernet cables give totally different presentations. During the last couple of weeks I’ve tried this out a lot. The bass is the biggest difference through brands and makes. What frequency range the bassline will reside in. Couldnt believe the huge span of options available and my strong opinion is that you have to try it out to weigh what you need with your room and speaker configuration.

Set up must, based on reviews and own experience, capable off a satisfying bass (base).
Maybe the thinkering has gone a bit to far.

@Henkerino
Wich ethernet cable gave the most bass quality an quantity in you’re view?

Got a Cisco 2969 switch lying around so can try to replace last leg with other cable

Well this is only true for my setup and my guess is ultimately for my speakers. All cables in system is naim original and I like the ”house sound” of Naim.

The ones with most bass were the least Good for me: Chord c-stream (overall dark) and Epic (overall clear), fluidity dropped with the dynamic character. Challenging music get complex to enjoy with the lower freq bass

The ones with the least bass were the winners for me: Catsnake 6a (overall clear) and Chord Shawline (overall just slightly veiled). In these two the bassline is just much more easy to follow and enjoyable and gives most PRaT. The settler of which I went for was that Shawline has more Grit and Weight of instruments as where Catsnake is just too Polite…

Shawline feels like its in this great synergy with midlevel naim systems and just sounds ”right” to my ears. Its also the only cable I’ve tried that I keep turning the volume UP with.

Ah but your speakers have that low third (bass) driver built in.

In my system BJC 6a is lovely and clear and balanced. But Catsnake 6a gives bloated messy bass.

So all very dependent on speakers room person and other aspects of system.

I use a subwoofer to control the variants in the bass for all the different sources and types of music. I know a lot of people don’t use a sub, and I can’t figure out how they go from listening to low volume classical pieces, to mid to loudish volume Rock, like Pink Floyd’s The Wall, or some modern pop music.

If the base output was such that I could hear and feel the buzz of the double base strings in a low volume classical piece, then I would get blown right out of the room if I listened to The Wall at a loud volume, right after it.

My sub does not have a volume control, but I have a Velodyne SMS-1 subwoofer base management system that maps out the room and adjusts the required Frequency and Volume accordingly. The Velodyne unit gives me a remote with presets for the subwoofer level, so I can adjust the bass with the touch of a button. This is particularly handy with a playlist, where the odd song really needs more, or less, bass.

What is this thing ‘pop’ music?

It’s music that is featured in the hit parade and frequently played in discotheques.

Ah, yes - like Kool and the Gang!

Top hole.