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Best Cheap DAC Streamer

I have come to possess a fairly high quality setup with Linn Amps and Speakers, but I have no where near the wealth to buy the type of gear discussed on here. (Furthermore, if I did, I hope I would send a good chunk of it to fix cleft plates in India before spending tens of thousands on a stereo.)I tend to do most of my listening from my phone by way of car stereo, ear buds or an $85 JBL Flip speaker. 

I want to set up a home streaming/DAC device that will sound good enough for my ears. I would like the interface to be simple for getting music from a streaming service, with music info available on a display, and I would like it to have a voice activated interface which might encourage me to listen to more music on the stereo at home. I know some of you can't wait to scorn me for my weak listening abilities. Maybe you can skip it this time and let anyone speak up who has some some advice on a system for pretty close to $300 (or less!). I would consider buying used.

charleyprice
johnnotkathi
89 posts
 

Must admit though, am really looking at the Eversolo DMP-A8 but that is a big step-up price wise, but damn it looks good!

lanx0003
1,049 posts
 

+1 Mxn10.  I currently own the WiiM Ultra with Ddc/I²s, all feeding into the Topping D90 III Discrete DAC. I previously owned the everSolo DMP-A6 for a while. In my experience, they don't compare to the Mxn10. The MXN10 feeding into the D90 elevates the performance even further.

jtucker
80 posts
 

Another +1 for the WiiM Ultra...

sjbellers
24 posts
 

Everyone has opinions and different tastes. I've found that my Bluesound node 130 does everything I've asked of it and does it well. I've used it for streaming a bit, but primarily I use it to play back digital format I have stored on my PC and a 500 gig thumb drive plugged in the back of the Bluesound. I've 'inherited a large cache of digital music from a friend, loaded it onto the hard drive of the PC. Then I spent a week ripping all my CD's onto the PC. It had 60 gig worth of music at last count and I thought let's copy it to the thumb drive as a backup. I plugged the thumb drive into the Bluesound and just use it to listen to without booting the PC. It suddenly occurred to me I have a solid state juke box. Life is good with good music.

moonwatcher
507 posts
 

WiiM Ultra or Bluesound Node Nano, both well under $400. The WiiM Ultra has more features (some of which you likely will never use), but the Nano (according to some reviewers) has slightly better sound. 

I just recently bought the WiiM Ultra and so far, am very happy with it. 

I'll buy an external DAC for it eventually, maybe a Schiit Bifrost 2/64, but I'm not in a hurry. 

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