I think the guaranteed performance of toslink is limited to 96/24 but with a short optical feed, 192/24 works fine. Evidence of that is in Presto’s recent update email that I quoted a few posts back. There they explain that people with DACs that won’t work with 192/24 should use the analogue output as the Presto streamer always outputs the highest resolution available to it. Obviously that wouldn’t be a problem if the toslink was limited to 96/24! And I can confirm that I have seen 192/24 on the now playing screen in my Nova when it’s playing a Presto feed.
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Has anybody compared it to Presto on Bluos ?
I would love for it to be a success and be offered by Naim
David, I also use Presto Music streaming app only for Classical and listen to it on my Naim via Chromecast without issues.
Regards
AN
Hi! Yes you can do that of course, but the Presto streamer can give you a proper high res 192/24 feed, but you have to solve the problem of the Presto streamer being sufficiently well connected to the internet and unfortunately they use a very low quality and unreliable WiFi technology.
Currently I have had success with taking the WiFi from my router which is the other side of the house. This seems to work far better currently than a dedicated WiFi access point close to the streamer, not sure why!
When it’s working the Presto Streamer is excellent, but I’m still getting occasional dropouts and buffering. Mostly on 192kHz but occasionally 96kHz. Things improved significantly when I physically raised the streamer by about a metre so that it’s directly in line with the BT WiFi disc. Like David, I’ve found responses from Presto a bit patchy. I’ll stick with it for the moment but keep thinking of how fully featured the Qobuz app is.
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Just posting to keep the thread alive. More later…
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I bought the Presto streamer after seeing this thread a few months ago. Initially I had difficulty getting the streamer to work. Ultimately, I’ve found that it simply will not work with my iPhone at all but is great with my iPad. I did have problems using it with an Arcam airDAC early on in that 24/192 was very patchy with 24/96 somewhat better. I think the Arcam just isn’t capable of 192 and not great at 96. Since then, I’ve got a Chord Qutest and connected via optical the Presto streamer now works flawlessly at all resolution levels including 24/192.
I bought a BlueSound Node Nano as BlueOS has integrated Presto into its software stack. It’s also Roon Ready which I needed too. However, I found the BlueOS version of Presto less good than the actual Presto app. For example, with BlueOS there are no purchase links for CD/downloads or music articles. Also it’s seems like BlueOS only has a dark theme. Of course, the Node Nano also has Airplay so that can be used with the real Presto app directly.
As I said though, the Presto steamer itself is now working flawlessly with the Chord Qutest and I’m very happy with it.
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It is good news that Presto is getting more reliable. A few recent updates has helped, particularly the “Save Logs” button in settings on the Mac Silicon App. This allows you to forward problems with plays to Presto for their response. My recent experience is they have been prompt and helpful.
That said particular 192/24 albums still play with crackle and pops. Most are fine, just a few repeat offenders. I’ve been interested in the Toslink discussions. Has anyone experience of an upgrade? Most audio engineers report that with a digital signal it either transmits or not. If this is the case there is an awful lot of snake oil being sold.I attach this article from What HiFi Forum 20-6-24 which seems pertinent to the discussion.
"Hi everyone and thanks to What Hi Fi for allowing me onto the forum.
I have been an audiophile for over 50 years and for the last 8 years , have used all the major streaming services and recorded many streams on my computer and burned CDs, playing through a quality Dac in my Quad based Hi Fi system. More recently I purchased the very versatile Wiim Pro streamer, connected to my Dac, streaming Hi Res Tidal, Qobuz & Amazon Music HD.
In April I saw an advert for the Prestomusic Streaming Service, which has 200,000 Classical and Jazz albums up to 24bit x 192kHz. Booklets, reviews and articles are included and the latest releases, equal to the above services are updated every week. There is also a link to Prestomusic for purchases of CDs and Downloads. The app can be installed on Android, iOS, Windows, and Apple Macs . Also, apart from its own streamer of course, Presto state that it is compatible with Blu OS devices.
I therefore went for a one month free trial (£10.99 per month thereafter) and was so taken by it, using my Android tablet and Windows 11 desktop, that I set up a subscription and bought the Presto dedicated Wi Fi streamer (£79.99), which has it’s own internal Dac , plus an optical cable for an external one. For more details, just check out the prestomusic .com website for the app and type in the search bar ‘Streamer’ for further information.
Suffice to say that I was very impressed with the installed app on my tablets, and the sound from the streamer through my Dac seemed more rounded and natural when compared to the aforementioned streaming services through the Wiim Pro, which incidentally, doesn’t have the Presto app. However, when I swapped the admittedly insubstantial optical cable, (not surprising given the cost of the streamer) for a QED Performance Graphite Optical one costing half the price of the streamer, the sound quality was a revelation, being highly detailed, textured, open and with a wide soundstage. I couldn’t get over the improvement that a more up market optical cable could make on the Presto device.
I am surprised that What Hi Fi haven’t included this service in its latest streaming survey, although I assume it is because the genres are limited compared to the others. It certainly deserves far greater publicity and I can confidently recommend it and the streamer, for those that are mainly interested in classical / jazz streaming.
Finally, I would say that assessment of sound quality is a very personal thing , depending among others, on equipment/volume, genres, room construction/ambience and of course ones ears. Mine are quite old and rely on hearing aids, so I am not really qualified to give an accurate assessment of good sound, although I am well aware of differences in quality. So this is a personal opinion only. However, a friend who has been in the Hi Fi trade for many years, has listened to my streams and is in full agreement with my findings."
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Thanks for including the extract from What Hi Fi, I find that there is little difference in optical , but with co-axial there is more scope for differentials in performance.
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Interesting. But just to say that the Presto app has always worked perfectly on my iPhone 12 Pro, as it does currently with the latest version of IOS 17 on it.
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My iPhone simply cannot connect to the streamer. Spent ages trying to do it then tried my iPad and it worked first time.
I never bother about fancy cables because I’m firmly in the “bits are bits” camp. But for some reason that I can’t explain, I did try using the QED optical cable that the What Hifi review mentioned, buying a secondhand one via eBay.
I replaced the Presto thin cable with the QED Performance Graphite Optical and it sounded OK on a few different pieces of music. Later that day I was listening to something and thought “Well that is sounding great, so apparently that QED is better. Well I never!”
Then half an hour later I realised that actually I had been now listening to a rip from my UnitiCore via upnp and not the Presto streamer at all, so the QED interconnect wasn’t actually involved!
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Anyone tempted by the Presto streaming offer might like to read the post I just put in another thread on Streaming and the Artist. Streaming and the artist - #9 by davidhendon
Just an update after the thread I started. I ordered and installed the Presto Streamer and it works very well. Mum much prefers the convenience of controlling everything from the I-pad compared with having an old I-pad tethered to my dad’s system. They are happy with the UI and more than happy with the sound quality.
The one issue that does occur is that the streaming app seems to default to playing through the I-pad rather than the streamer when a new piece of music is searched and chosen. Has anyone else had this problem and is there a way of setting the streamer itself as the default output?
OK I am home again.
I found that same issue when I first used the Presto app with my Presto streamer. I asked Presto about this, thinking I had found a bug.
Eventually they replied saying that the intended behaviour was that the Presto app would stay on the selected output (iPad/iPhone or streamer) as long as that was available. So if I use my iPhone to access the streamer, it would stay as the selected output as long as whenever the app was active, the streamer was still there.
But if I used the app when away from home or off the WiFi network basically, then it would default to the iPhone/iPad and I would have to reselect the streamer next time I wanted to use it. This is indeed exactly what I find happens in practice. So I can use the iPhone app when I am away from home and it streams to my iPhone (actually direct to my hearing aids, which is handy). If I am in the car, it will stream direct to the car via Bluetooth, something I often forget when I am wondering why I can’t hear the music anymore and then realise it’s playing into the muted car entertainment system. But when I get home I have to reselect the streamer to get it to play through that.
So what you are seeing is what is intended and there is no way of changing the default to the streamer. You avoid it defaulting to the iPad by making sure the iPad is on your home network and the Presto streamer is switched on whenever you select the Presto app on your iPad.
Personally I would prefer that it checked whether the streamer was present and sent the stream to that if it’s available, but there are arguments against that. Also don’t forget that they are dealing with situations where people have two or more Presto streamers and more than one device with the Presto app on it.
Thank you for your reply David - that makes sense.
I did wonder if it could be case of the streamer and the I-pad getting used to interacting with each other. Just to clarify I’ve told them to leave the streamer switched on at all times and the I-pad is not used for anything else music-wise - it very rarely leaves the house - basically it should never switch from using the streamer as the main output. Mum knows how to switch back to the streamer as the output through the settings menu but it would be that bit easier if it stayed set that way.
*Edited to ensure my post made sense - sorry!
An interesting angle showed up yesterday. I was listening to something via the Presto streamer and had to pop out in the car for a few minutes, taking my phone with me.
When I got back, the music was still playing through the streamer, but when I looked at the Presto app, it had moved on, knew nothing of what was playing and had connected the app to my iPhone. The Now Playing screen showed that as far as the Presto app was concerned, nothing was playing.
So the Presto streaming service is really like a Presto Connect concept.
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I think that could be it - the App does behave as Tidal did when I used to have my I-pad physically connected to the HiFi system. I suppose that makes sense as the Presto streamer will only stream Presto content.
Perhaps the easiest way to experience this is to play an album with the Presto app via the streamer then shut down the iPad or iPhone. The music plays on. When you restart the iPhone it will say “not connected to wifi try offline music”. For a while I thought that 192Khz files lost their snap,crackle,pops doing this but I was delusional. I live in hope that 192 is scrapped until it can be played without drama. How are others fairing with 192 ?
192/24 files play from the Presto streamer into a digital input of my Nova with no problem at all. I note that Presto says the workaround for people who find their DAC can’t cope is to use the analog output from the Presto streamer (ie the built-in DAC).