Audiophile quality streamer/server-in-one without a DAC. Does this exist?
Unfortunately I’m reminded once more of the South Park character Mr. Hankey the Christmas poo. It was based on Trey Parker’s early toilet training. He refused to flush the toilet, and his father told him that if he did not flush down his stool, which he called "Mr. Hankey", it would come to life and kill him. But sometimes they just keep circling the bowl. |
I spend a few hours on listening to new music each single week. I have spend about 10.000 euro on new music in the last 3,5 years of time. I have to admit I am addicted to music :). We are talking for about 98% in streams what I bought. I use IPV so I can buy music all over the world. I listen to many different kinds of music; pop, rock, jazz, classical music, blues and also electronic music. The great thing about now is that you can buy a lot of great music and also often at a high level in recording quality. Even many great 16 bit 44.1 khz can sound very analogue like. Diversity in sound has nothing to do with what kind of music you like. It depends more on the digital source you use and the rest of your audio system. First you need to understand which parts music owns and how you can create these in your audio system. The focus should be on how music sounds and is being formed in real. You need all the properties to be able to create an audio system what comes as close as possible to the ’real’ sound and stage as well. I said it many many times overhere. Most audio systems sold in the world are still 2-dimensional. I can ask a very simple question to all people who own a 2-dimensional system? Did you ever hear live music with a stage less than 1 metre like all 2-dimensional audio systems create? Here you have the answer.... Compare an acoustic recording with just a voice and a guitar between a 2-dimensional system vs the same music with a 3-dimensional system. Then you will learn and understand what 3-dimensional sound does with the voice and the guitar. It will make the voice and sound so much more intimate and intense during listening. This is an important part to creat a higher level of emotion during listening. DIVERSITY in sound also has a great influence on our emotion. Layering in sound influences your emotion. So when you use a digital source what is not able to create a lot of layers in sound, people always use the word; it is not musical, or it sounds dead and others say; there is no connection to the music. In most situations this is caused by the lack of diversity in sound. Many people prefer a turntable. This is also based on the fact that the turntable can create a great level in diversity. The good thing is that even in digital sources you can create a much better level in diversity these days. On the other hand, most digital sources are not good to create diversity. We think and work in options which can be used. And we never will use any audio product what is not able to create a high level in diversity in sound or is not able to create a 3-dimensional stage. Audio is all about choices, and you need to create an audio system being build on the right properties. Because when you listen to your system at home, you will listen to all the different properties of each single part in your audio system togheter including the acoustics. And that is why you need to understand and become aware of the properties of each single part in your system at home. When you do not know these properties, you will not understand why the stage and sound is what you hear. When you do understand how your system is being created by the different properties and the acoustisc, audio becomes a lot more easy to understand. This makes is more easy to adapt so you can create a higher level in sound realism. When your system will own more different properties as music owns in real, the level in emotion and intensity during listening will increase. This way audio can be used so much more effective. |
There is nothing as powerful as a computer as an audio streamer. However, a computer is not a good audio device since it is electrically noisy. My solution to this is to use the Sonare mircoRendu or SonicOrbiter (I have 2 rooms with speakers). Put your computer in another room. Hook up the Sonare to your Ethernet either by a direct connection or a Powerline adapter (uses copper wiring in your house for Ethernet). You need a DAC for this solution but I would recommend that you sell your passive LS50 (I also own these) and buy the new ACTIVE LS50 with built in DAC. Hook it up to the Sonare. Done. "The LS50 Wireless includes an end-to-end 192kHz/24-bit high-resolution digital signal path with two dedicated digital-to-analog converters per channel, for a total of four. Each speaker features a bi-amp dual-mono configuration (200 + 30 watts per speaker) and streaming preamp, so no wires are required to connect the two. A time-correcting DSP crossover makes sure that everything stays in sync." |
Audio is all about facts and what you can really hear and reveal. When you hear most separate dacs and streamers there is almost no diversity in sound. We are not talking about personal preferences. No human being prefers a networkplayer or dac with less diversity. It is a fact that diversity in sound influences our emotion for the biggest part. Most people believe that 0/1 are always the same and it does not matter how you connect it the sound will be the same. Audio is not based on what you think or what people say. No it is based on what you really can hear and reveal. Because the sound you hear always tells the truth. The source who can reveal more layers and diversity in sound will be prefered by each single human being. That is why people need to learn how instruments ans voices sounds in real. When you want to understand audio, first you need to understand music. The facts show and proof that most dacs and sources does not sound as in real. The people who bought these products often have no idea what they are missing. Diversity in sound will make the same music so much more intense and emotional. |
Facts proof that many networkplayers/streamers with an inbuild dac can create a higher level in diversity. Facts also proof that USB is not a great choice for audio. The level in diversity is very low by the use of USB. And no cable, powersupply or clocklink can solve this limitation. Audio is all about shootout and the things you can hear. The emotion is inside the music. Each source was is better in revealing all the emotion of the music wil be prefered by each single person. |
I actually have a brand new one for sale with a 1 TB SSD ($500 option) and I may consider even throwing in the .5M W4S i2s cable as part of the deal. https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649500214-wyred-4-sound-ms1-music-serverstreamer/ |
Nicodemix: lots of answers to your question since what you’re asking is just for a server, if I understand your question. Price is always a variable. A few options I can think of off the top of my head: your computer can serve as your server. I use JRiver software. You can control the JRiver software from a JRiver remote on your phone. All you’d be paying to is a JRiver fee ~$30. This is what I do now. It’s works just fine. No complaints. Another option would be something more audio dedicated. If you don’t need cutting edge technology I would look into a Naim unitiserve. It’s not their latest one but will meet your above stated criteria. I have seen them for as low as $800 on Audiogon. I think I will go this route in the near future. I have a naim preamp/dac/streamer now so I believe it will work together within the same app. There are others out there but all much higher in price. Wyred 4 sound makes a server/streamer, $3k. Aurender makes some well reviewed servers starting at $2k. Melco is another name to look into. Can’t go wrong with Bluesound Vault but it’s a streamer too. Good user interface, $1300. Hope this points you in the right direction. |
I can’t comment on the sound quality if that’s what you’re asking. I have heard the vault and have been pleased with the sound. I also really like the user interface. Can you control the WD via the Node interface? If your music is already ripped to a hard drive then you may not need the ripping/storing capabilities of the vault. If not then you’ll need to add in the cost of the hardware and software to rip your music accurately. You may save a few bucks. Anytime you add extra pieces you’re looking at more variables. This is not necessarily a bad thing just need to consider them. |
