IMO the two most important factors in sound quality with regard to streaming has been the quality of the external DAC I have used and the quality of the original recording being streamed. For instance, I have had Benchmark, Schiit, Pro-Ject, iFi and Denafrips external DACs. I have also tried internal DACs with streamers. I have tried multiple streaming services from Spotify, Apple, Tidal, Qobuz and Pandora. The quality of the recording and quality of the file along with the best DAC has produced the best sound. I have also tried better power supply like Teddy Pardo and others. I have been tempted to jump up to more expensive streamers but the price has been far to high and I don’t want to change them out every 3 years.
Another post about a streamer upgrade
Hello
I’ve read a lot of the threads here about streamers and moving up the chain.
However, it seems there’s not a ton of info for relatively modestly priced streamers … most threads focus on the Bluesound / Ifi Zen range or the Aurender N200 range.
I have an Ifi Zen Stream with an LPS fronted by an Ether Regen and would like to move on to something better… mainly from a usability and app standpoint but would like to spend significantly less than $2k.
I think the writing is on the wall with the Innuos Pulse Mini but curious if others have a suggestion that would be a sq improvement from the Ifi and a much better user experience for around $1500 give or take.
I currently use the JPLAY app to access Qobuz to stream DLNA to the Ifi but it’s frustrating and connectivity isn’t great.
I don’t use Roon so the Sense app from Innuos is probably the best bet from what I gather. I’d also be interested in the Aurender system but according to many the N200 is where to start there and that’s significant higher priced than where I want to go at this point.
Are there any other options with great usability and sound that I’m not thinking of.
I typically run Spdif coax out to my dacs but could also run usb.
thanks in advance