Best WiFi Music Streamer Does it exist?


I have been looking for months and I can not find anything that will fulfill my needs.

I need the following:
Music Streamer or Server, internal DAC not wanted or needed, that can accept WiFi. I know the quality is allegedly better with an ethernet cord, but I do not have one available at the location of my system.
Accepts Tidal, MQA, Roon. MQA not mandatory but highly desired.
If it needs a smart phone, it must accept android. Apple products are not available and will never be.

I do have a Dell Windows 10 Computer nearby. It gets music from a hard drive and WiFi.
a) How would the Music server sound with a USB connection from the computer?
b) Should I get a special sound card or software for the computer and ignore getting a separate Music Server?
c) How will the music quality from the Computer to the DAC compare to a separate Music Server used in between the computer and the DAC?
d) How will the music quality from the Computer to the DAC compare to a separate WiFi Music Server to the DAC?

Quality is more important than price.

It will be hooked to good equipment;
Denafrips Terminator,
PS Audio BHK Signature Preamplifier
Pass Labs x260.8 monoblocks
Martin Logan Expression ESL 13a electrostatic speakers

If there is an audible difference, I will be able to hear it (within reason).
firstonetallguy
@firstonetallguy, you are welcome! ... Audirvana Player does ' unfold the upper half High Rez Signal ' as per statement on the web page.
The Audirvana Player decodes MQA to a point giving some benefit of a 
HI Rez file. ( independent of DAC )
Not a higher resolution although MQA and 96 / 192 / 24 Lossless Files will give the user comparable results. 
A Stereophile Article " Inside MQA " for reference here:
https://www.stereophile.com/content/inside-mqa
The first two-three paragraphs contain an outline of MQA.
Do a little homework and contact the product developers directly with specific questions.
Please feel free to inquire further and tap a pool of knowledge / experience here on the forum.




rego

HQPlayer,  Audirvana,  and Sigma Streamer are all new to me and I will do some serious research into their capabilities.

My Denafrips Terminator is not  MQA compatible.

" Even if your DAC isn’t MQA compatible, you can still read the files with Audirvana’s integrated decoder and benefit from their high resolution, including the unfolding of the upper half hires signal. "  
Is this a higher resolution than Tidal has on non MQA music files?

Thank you for your wonderful ideas


antigrunge

"Sorry, typo: use an airport express to link wifi to the dac"

I believe this is an Apple product and does not work with android or Windows 10.  If this is correct, it will not work for me.

Thanks for the suggestion.
HQPlayer is a high quality Player (as per website) with processing features. That is a Player / App Plus much more.
" Higher quality oversampling and delta-sigma modulation can be done by utilizing vast amount of processing power available in modern PCs "

Audirvana is another example of a Player / App (Audio Player) that can be installed on PC. This player does support MQA and is dependent upon specific gear.

" Audirvana integrates a decoder for MQA files (Master Quality Authenticated), a PCM format able to reproduce HD quality in a file small enough to be streamed or downloaded."

" A “MQA Decoder” DAC takes care of all the decoding process. If your DAC is an “MQA Renderer”, decoding is shared between Audirvana and your DAC. Both options grant you an optimal quality. "

"  Even if your DAC isn’t MQA compatible, you can still read the files with Audirvana’s integrated decoder and benefit from their high resolution, including the unfolding of the upper half hires signal. "

Using HQPlayer would be more of a Basis for how your system works.

From Signalist description: "  Asynchronous FIFO provides maximum isolation between processing and audio reproduction." 

But the Terminator DAC also uses a FIFO Buffer for isolation.

The exaSound Sigma Streamer supports WiFi (with network interface) :

https://exasound.com/Products/SigmaStreamer.aspx

Check into the Sigma Streamer for compatibility with Terminator DAC.

HQPlayer would typically be used for a Custom Audio PC and is enbedded in many streaming Products.

My Integrated Amp (also WiFi capable) does Streaming and DSP noise shaping and more making playback notably good all at once.

My component Headphone Gear - two Amps / one DAC sound good 

but I know that my DAC can be much better.

Maybe I'll have a chance to use HQPlayer sometime soon.

 








antigrunge2
 "Just use an old apple airport snd it solves yout problem via its ethernet out "

I am sorry, what is "old apple airport snd"?
rego

"HqPlayer may be over the top for you ... however the way you want to set up-FIFO (wireless) Network Audio Adapter you could consider HqPlayer as well. "

Are you using the  HQPlayer Desktop? If so, how?
What does it do for you that makes it worth $250?

firstonetallguy
HqPlayer may be over the top for you ... however the way you want to set up-FIFO (wireless) Network Audio Adapter you could consider HqPlayer as well.

https://www.signalyst.com/consumer.html


Also aurender is not roon compatible any roon server can be cntrolled via a laptop
You connect both your computer and the G1 to the same network they do not need to be physically connected. Connect the hard drive to the G1 with USB connect the G1 to the DAC. Use BubbleUpnp on a phone, tablet etc.. as the controller. Yes it is roon ready 
audiotroy2

 "All you need is an 70 wireless to wired ethernet bridge netgear "

I googled this  
70 wireless to wired ethernet bridge netgear.

I got on Netgear website and could not find any listing of a 70 wireless to wired, etc.
Could you give me the model number or name so I could find this?
Thanks for your help 
Auralic Aries G1 streaming transporter. Connect your hard drive to it connect it to your DAC. If you want an all in one with internal storage and DAC they have other products. It can be controlled with BubbleUPnP, Kazoo instead of the Lightning app which is iOS.
djones51

Do I understand your statement correctly?
I could hook up my windows 10 computer to the Auralic Aries G1 and use the BubbleUPnp software on my computer or on my Samsung Android phone and run the Auralic Aries G1?
Is this correct?
Can it be run from Roon on the computer?

Thanks for you help.


Op any major server wil sound way better than a PC or a stream b ox

All you need is an 70 wireless to wired ethernet bridge netgear

Works perfectly

Wehave been testing servers for years and a godone can make a huge improvement in sound quality


We started years ago with supped up pcs then we switched tothe arender which sounded way better then we moved tonnous which sounded even better

Now we found what many people consider to be an even better server the 432 evo from belgium

We liked the company so mutch we became their us importer

This server runs roon or logítech media server roon remote is fine on Android and logitech has free apps for android

The hardware and build quality are top notch

The 432evoservers offer advantages that no other server company has:

Upgradable designs you can improve sound quality by upgrading to an even higher end 432 server

We havethe 3k standard
Then the4.5k high end
The the 6k aeon which challenges the 14k innous
statement

Other advantaged include a 2tb hard drive vs other compnies 1 tb

Also service is us based

Then there is the 442 plug in and other gilters to tune rhe sound

https://youtu.be/m_sYbgFvUOg

https://youtu.be/_jAv1e42RK0

Dave and troy
Audio intellect Nj
Us importers 432evo music servers,
Auralic Aries G1 streaming transporter. Connect your hard drive to it connect it to your DAC. If you want an all in one with internal storage and DAC they have other products.  It can be controlled with BubbleUPnP, Kazoo instead of the Lightning app which is iOS.
mattmiller

If your serious about making this streamer your primary listening device then you have to connect with a CAT 5,
"I know the quality is allegedly better with an ethernet cord, but I do not have one available at the location of my system.

If it needs a smart phone, it must accept android. Apple products are not available and will never be."

I have looked into the Aurender products, but they do not fulfill my needs, because they do not have WiFi and they do not have android applications.  At least I can not find that they do.

Thanks for your ideas.

Bluesound Nodes or an Aurender N100.
The former has a formidable list of streaming services, the latter is either Qobuz or Tidal.
Bob
I love my Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra. It has WiFi and BlueTooth. I use neither. I'm running Cat8 from a Silent Angel switch.
It uses an embedded custom version of Volumio that does not require additional fees to stream Roon, Amazon, Qobuz, Tidal and Spotify. It's THE BEST for playing local files via 2 USB ports, PCM AND native DSD. The only thing it's light on is radio - no Tune In. Maybe in future updates.
My BluNode does most radio stations.
If your serious about making this streamer your primary listening device then you have to connect with a CAT 5, and If your DAC has a USB 2.0 Audio connection then it has to be the Aurender XL100 (they do make other models with smaller internal storage). This will be the finest digital source (by far) you will ever need. The SQ from this alone is reason to purchase, but after you add in the Conductor app it is special indeed. And think about this...IF wireless could handle the high rates that streaming requires then Aurender would make a wireless streamer....They dont.

Aurender.com


Matt M





fuzztone
Thank you for your response.
I have never heard about the Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra.
I will have to look into this.
Thanks

a) It’ll sound decent going through a Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra USB decrapper.
b) No. There is no sound card that will divorce itself from dirty computer sound.
c) Poorly.
d) See c).