Anyone buy one yet? Thoughts?

While I appreciate the clock input, the exclusion of much more accurate OCXO clock is disappointing. Personally, I’ll wait to try this until OCXO version shows up. It appears, not all the streaming services on board yet…is it pre-mature release? 

That press release says Tidal and Qobuz are not supported yet….    Gotta fix that first if it’s true. 

It seems insane to release a streamer that doesn't natively support streaming services.

Well, to be fair, while Tidal has Tidal Connect, it is basically just broadcasting Tidal from your device to the streamer, and that has limitations. Qobuz has no native protocol like Tidal Connect for streamers. While Denafrips has not developed a native app that supports these services, it does support DLNA, meaning owners can use mConnect or other DLNA app and stream with Qobuz and Tidal through that and receive an optimal stream. 

No Tidal or Qobuz? What’s it stream, AM radio?

I stopped messing with DLNA (requiring another device powered up and ready) years ago. (Except for Plex on TV.)

I have the utmost respect for Alvin of Vinshine.. However, without supporting some of the more mainstream streaming services, it doesn't seem to do much ??.

At least he is transparent about it,  up front !!!

@jond 100%

Did they even give a date as to when or does the add say “coming soon”

@designsfx Nope this is the text of the ad:

Currently, the DENAFRIPS engineering team is actively working on expanding the streaming service support for the ARCE streamer. They aim to include services like Tidal Connect, Spotify Connect, and others in the future to enhance the streamer's functionality. However, as of now, these streaming services are not yet supported.

@jond 

🤣 Did they even bother publishing what it will do?

https://youtu.be/hmRrWZ1--gc
 

From Denifrips 

Aurender and Bluesound have invested heavily in streaming.....   I'll stick with them.  There is no way ARCE will have a better interface.   I would steer clear of this streamer.   

Buying a streamer with no trial period or return privilege is foolish.   That's why Denafrips is a no go for me.   

@oddiofyl +1

Don’t be surprised if ARCE owners get stuck with only ‘connect” type services.   Streaming is ALL about DRM and licensing.   I believe anyone who buys one will be a Beta tester for a long time.  They dragged their feet with the dropout fix….  What do you think it will be like owning their streamer?  No thanks. 

If you click on “info” in the Aurender app you will see a tab called licenses.  When you click it you’ll see that there are literally hundreds of licenses to make these work properly and be compliant.  I seriously doubt Denafrips will do that properly.  I do not see them supporting this like a BlueOS or Aurender product 

My Dad just picked up an Eversolo A6 and while not perfect it is quite good and they have released a few firmware updates already. Still , who knows how long a product like that will receive continued support.    

My Vault 2i has been great , my Aurender is really a great machine.   Support is almost concierge level.  It’s that good.   They can remotely diagnose and do firmware and beta releases.   Their support is top notch, reallly important with a device that is essentially a computer.  I just don’t see the ARCE as something with that level of support.  And that can be frustrating when something is buggy. 
 

+1, @oddiofyl 

That’s been there focus from get go, make good sounding products and back it up with lifetime support to end users. I am one of the early adopters of Aurender’s and yet to find another brand that checks all the boxes when it comes to seamless integration with 3rd party DAC’s like Merging and MSB. 

At least the Grace streamer supports pandora, amazon, Iheart and numerous others. Yea, not ultra hi-res, but I don’t really care about that sort of thing. For 179 dollars, the thing works perfectly.

It has DLNA which would allow one to use the JPLAY app to stream Qobuz at full resolution and with a terrific interface … much better than M-Connect from a user experience and data standpoint.  That’s what I’m doing with my Ifi streamer and how would consider using the Denafrips streamer.

That said, if you don’t use Room, it’s a bit limited .

I would be more interested in the entry level Innuos streamer than this however for all the reasons mentioned.

JS

This is called the Banana approach to product development: deliver green and let mature with the client

That’s bananas….

All I know is my vault and Aurender keep getting better through firmware.  A lot of new features since purchased.   
 

RME support through firmware has been the same with my DAC.    I expect that in 2023 when I buy anything that connects to a computer 

Innuos is another great option. Mature platform , good support, hardware seems good.  I auditioned my DAC with an Innuos.    Seemed like a nice sounding stable platform

@j_andrews 

I agree, JPLAY app is very nice! I recommend this app to anyone owns a streamer with DLNA capabilities. The Qobuz integration within JPLAY is pretty sweet. 

After reading all the comments, I guess I am the black sheep of this forum. I would buy this streamer because I don't use a streaming service. I only stream my own music library. Already have a Lumin though.

@fuzztone  "No Tidal or Qobuz? What’s it stream, AM radio?"  LMAO

I don't get why this was released without Tidal or Spotify connect.  Guess I can forget about XM Radio which I play for background music quite a bit.

It seems insane to release a streamer that doesn't natively support streaming services.

100% agree. For a company like Denafrips to release it without such support seems incomparably boneheaded and/or greedy.

+1, I do not understand how they can release a streamer without supporting Tidal or QoBuz.  

I have Tidal and Qobuz , it's native to both machines.   The BluOS has a lot of streaming choices.  The Aurender has Tidal, Qobuz, and Apple Connect along with Spotify Connect.   

Who in their right mind would choose a streamer that does not include Tidal and Qobuz by default.   

I just bought a Cyrus amp and while on their website I saw that they are releasing a new streamer.   The new Cyrus units will be driven  by the Bluesound OS.   Smart move.  It is a very good, proven platform.   

The Denafrips sounds like it is full of compromise right from the start.   

The Eversolo is a damn good machine for the money.    I would pick that over the ARCE 

After reading the email from Alvin/Denifrips I was scratching my head.  I’m glad I’m not the only one. 🤦🏼‍♂️

44.1k limitation with connect services ???   Why even bother ???    Aurender and Bluesound continuously update and refine their OS...  will these guys ?   Doubt it.   

We must be missing something. Why would Denafrips release their brand new ARCE streamer and not include support for Tidal and QoBuz? Was this a licensing issue or an engineering issue? Or, maybe something else?

As others have posted above, support for Tidal and QoBuz are very important features. I just do not understand.

Has Denafrips provided a release date when support for Tidal and QoBuz be available?  

They must be trying to compete with Schitt since the name it Arce.

No mystery about what this product is and it’s purpose. It’s first and foremost a Roon endpoint designed to go with their DAC's which explains I2S instead of USB as it’s main output. No different in purpose than the Holo Red or the Sonore products which also have no dedicated software package. Instead of delving into something they have no experience with they concentrated on the power supply, the outputs they thought important and the casework matching their DAC;s. Not a product intended for "everyone" as there are many streamers that fit that bill. If you want or need something that works like a Node then buy one.

How much is this thing ?

It’s first and foremost a Roon endpoint

@jackd That is the impression I got from viewing their video.

Alvin makes the limitations of the unit very clear multiple times in the video, so I do have to give him credit for that.  It seems like their target market is quite small for the amount of time, effort, and resources that have gone into this device.

Something else not mentioned so far is the requirement to have a hardwired connection to the unit.  I'm not sure how many people have their audio equipment sitting near an ethernet port or a computer.

@oddiofyl $1349 appears to be the price.

From the YT video definitely managing expectations and being transparent that this streamer isn’t for everyone - needing to be hardwired, no connect features yet for Spotify and Tidal. Maybe this will be the case of under promising and over delivering. I could see myself putting this unit paired with one of their DACs on my short list. But also hesitant since I don’t want to be a guinea pig since it seems like development is still in motion. Curious to see the reviews.

At that price they have their work cut out for them.    Thats a lot for something that has no affiliation with the top 2 streaming services.

...and it's so much fun being a 'beta tester' when you've thought you'd paid for the finished item...

To wit:

"Fall not in love therefore..
..it will stick to your face..."

...quoted freely from...

...in the midst of:

2025, anyone?

Just kiddin', just teasin'

Nobody this meant to pleasin'

For $399 you can get an iFi Zen Stream - have one in my vintage system, and it’s performed well.  I use it as a Roon endpoint with a Topping DAC.

Roon to start with isn’t state of the art on SQ. Why buy an endpoint without connectivity to the major streaming services? And anyway: a server not serving anything isn’t of any service

@toro3 

That’s in Singapore Dollars.  It’s about $1010 US.

$1349 appears to be the price.

leaving aside the well regarded dacs that put them on the map, greed seems to be a notable thru-line in recent product intros (12th anniversary, versions and more versions) from these folks in guangdong... they seem to have outdone themselves in this case, with a not ready for prime time streamer

@curiousjim my mistake over here - definitely didn't realize that. Regardless, thanks for correcting on this thread. 

@toro3 

Ain’t no thing.😀

Came across the following from a member at WBF:

Last year I purchased a Lumin U2 mini streamer which was a nice improvement over my Sonore OpticalRendu. It had better resolution which increased musical tactibility. Added a SBooster MKII linear PS which kicked up the sound quality by a notch especially in bass extension/resolution. The only drawback with the Lumin is I had to put my HQPlayer software aside, since they are not compatible. Since I improved my sound quality, told myself that this was still a good situation.

A few weeks ago while I was surfing on Vinshine Audio’s web site, I noticed that they had developed a new Arce streamer @$1K USD. This bad boy is a Roon bridge, (Roon Ready certification is pending). The Arce can be sourced with the HQPlayer NAA software, has a I2S output and can be externally clocked by the OCXO clocks of my Denafrips Terminator Plus DAC.

Denafrips has developed a proprietary streamer module optimized for sound quality. So told myself that I had nothing to loose. Worst comes to worst, if the Arce is not up to the audio quality of my Lumin combo, I could always resell the Arce with minimal loss. I placed my pre-order the same day and received my streamer last Tuesday.

I went for the fast track using the coaxial output cable to my T+ DAC. I was just blown away by the quality of this streamer which is still in its break-in phase. The Arce is extremely quiet, dynamics are up the roof, bass is extended and very impactful. Stage width/depth and imaging is excellent. Instruments timbre sound very natural and rich.

Fiddled around getting the I2S and external clocks configured. Had to request Alvin Chee from Vinshine Audio to help me out. I was confused by selecting HQPlayer LED instead of the Airplay LED, all my bad . So cleared up these configuration issues and enjoyed additional audiophile bonuses (another notch of added resolution).

Finally used my HQPlayer NAA to feed my Arce streamer, which is an improvement over the Roon app. I am now enjoying a dramatic increase in musical enjoyment with my Arce bad boy!

The only issue I’ve had with the Arce streamer is that there is occasional stuttering when playing music. I’ve had 4 interruptions over a listening period of about 8 hours. Contacted Alvin on this matter and he indicated that Denafrips was aware of the situation. They will come up with a new firmware to solve this issue.

So my Lumin/SBooster combo is up for sale. This Arce streamer will be a giant killer IMHO. You will have to pay ´mucho pesos’ to get the equivalent performance of this streamer.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/denafrips-arce-streamer-review.37487/#post-908858

@toro3 

So what are you streaming? Chinese Opera?

@antigrunge2 I know you greatly appreciate Peking Opera per the multiple emails we exchanged a few days ago - I really didn’t know how passionate and knowledgeable you were (impressed!). As you already know, but others may not, I’ve really leaned into Huangmei Opera. Superficially, and if I were to be quite honest, it’s because I really like the traditional costumes from the Ming Dynasty. And as we both agree, our favorite repertoire is “Zhao Guiying,” especially since you had three repeats in the Spotify playlist you just shared with me (TY BTW!). 

If only those weren‘t so hard to find on Tidal or Qobuz…

My exact thoughts!