Another vote for an Innuos streamer. I have the Zen MK3. Upgraded from a Bluesound Node M130 streamer and I noticed a difference in sound quality immediately. They just discontinued the Zen MK3 so you may be able to find a used one. They make other models at different price points.
DDC or Better Streamer?
I’m trying to decide which would provide greater reward, adding a DDC or moving up to a better Streamer. What am I looking for? Just better everything including bang for the buck.
DDC – I’m a LAIV fan, but the Denafrips Hermes has optical inlet and would allow me to use it with both my OPPO (toslink) and Bluesound (digital coax).
Streamer – Am I better off just cutting to the chase and looking for used $3k Streamer (which would be more than twice the price of the Hermes)?
Will the better $3k Streamer be the better value over the $1.2k DDC?
Thanks for your input.
Room - Essentially 18'x18'x18' (ugh)
Power - Furman Elite 15i
Transport - Oppo UDP-203 with Glass Toslink
Streamer - Bluesound Vault 2i with Ice Age Ulitmate C7 Power Cable, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Coax
DAC - LAIV Harmony with Shunyata V10 NR Power Cable, Kimber Cable Silver Streak RCAs
Amp - Music Fidelity M6si with Shunyata Black Mamba HC CX C15
Speaker Cables - Cardas Quadlink 5-C
Speakers - Martin Logan Motion 60XT
Subwoofers - Dual SVS SB-2000 with Blue Jeans LC-1 Cables
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@baylinor Ok, I think you are telling me my system is not good enough to reveal benefits of the better Aurender or Innuos Streamer. @mbolek When I was researching the LAIV Harmony DAC, the majority of reviewers preferred i2s with it. @curiousjim & @oddiofyl Much respect for the N200 but probably more Streamer than my system will show benefit from. Yes, I understand Aurender to be very good with USB. Will there never be temptation to convert to i2s? @soix I have two other systems with Bluesound Streamers in them, and am thinking of adding an LPS to one of them. I was not aware of an LPS option for the Vault. Were you thinking of Node, or are you aware of LPS for Vault? The mediocrity of my system is a valid point here. If even a $12k Streamer would not provide benefit, I have no problem with eating humble pie and going the DDC route. Agree? Thanks everyone. |
FYI - Schiit just came out with a balanced Mesh DAC with EQ and Preamp. Up to 32 bits/384 using USB input. Other inputs are 24/192. It has an optical input. Very few times will anyone (me, included) ever offer up a audio component that actually saves money, but here it is... $349 with Forkbeard (software that enables control of devices using phone app) Schiit came to fame via the popularity of their DAC's. I have owned BiFrost and currently use the Yggdrasil. Heck, my Yggy can't do 32/384. I have not heard this product, but considering it's price and lineage, it amounts to near zero risk in trying it out. |
I much prefer the Harmony with Denafrips Gaia via I2S, this vs. optimized usb feed. Issue is many streamers don't provide I2S which isn't any great loss assuming most streamer I2S interfaces probably not of great quality, which means implementing a DDC for highest quality I2S.
@audiostick May be over your budget, but this is way I'd go in your situation. Get Sonore Optical Rendu for your Roon Endpoint, keep the Bluesound, this will be Roon Core, you'll also need Sonore OpticalModule or generic optical conversion just in front of OpticalRendu. This serves three purposes, one is the OpticaRendu is superior streamer to Bluesound, two. you'll now have optical conversion which totally isolates noise from entering the streamer, three, Roon has superior sound quality with Core and Endpoint on two different devices. Now if you go a bit above budget, get the Denafrips Hermes or Gaia for the I2S to Harmony. I guarantee you this will be a significant upgrade to present setup, and for a very reasonable price. |
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