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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
artemus_5

Showing 9 responses by uberwaltz

uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Artemus
To put it simply
I think majority of members here who refer to streaming really mean accessing an online music service over the internet.
Like Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify etc.

Technically you are still " streaming" music from your hard drive to your DAC of choice but it is probably confusing some members just with the terminology.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Definitely a HDD in the vault variants.

And yes Artemus that's exactly what I was referring to with my Aurender n100.
It caches the HDD files to it's SSD and then the HDD goes silent.
But as I say, can we really hear that difference?
As Greg rightly says Qobuz hires streaming sounds spectacular and that certainly is not on a local SSD so......
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
The current school of thought is that ssd should be better than hdd but....
Whether any of us mere mortals could hear that difference is another question entirely.
Guess I am spoiled though as my N100 uses a small ssd to cache the music from the hdd so I have best of both worlds.

The bluesound products, vault, vault2, vault2i all use a hdd although.....
if you were really concerned over the ssd vs hdd you can attach a local usb drive to the vault and it will read it just like a NAS. This then could be a ssd so you have options with the vault variants for sure.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Even though not a huge fan of the Auralic lightning app this is a killer deal......

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa0cd3-auralic-altair-wireless-network-streamer-dac-d-a-converter-1tb-remote-22846-music-servers-docks
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Do I need to run a network wire from my router to the Streamer? OR Can it run on wireless? I have good enough signal to stream video. I also have 1-3 GB usb hard drive which I can put near streamer. Can I download necessary files for streamer to a USB hard drive and have streamer read it off hard drive plugged via usb into streamer?
Depending on streamer you might have to run hard wire. For example the Vault2i is hard line for internet only.
A lot of other units are both wired and wireless for internet, Auralic for sure.

Just as matter of habit I have always run hard wire to ensure no dropouts on signal.

Most good streamers can read a USB HDD as well, the vault and Aurender definitely can. Both will allow you to browse the contents of the USB drive just like it was on your computer.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Artemus

Yes simple is good at times and I have been down that road.
Then I desired flexible, well you know how that goes, wholesale equipment changes.

IMHO the Bluos app is very easy to use and navigate, the Aurender Conductor app is also pretty intuitive.
Cannot comment on Lumin but I really did not like the Auralic Lightning app very much.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
OP
One advantage of seperate items is if you decide you want a better DAC, well that's all you need to replace.
Or streamer only etc.

One advantage of streamer/ DAC is fewer cables( power and interconnect).
Less shelf space taken up.

But less flexible as opposed to seperates.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
The original Auralic Vega is DAC only.
The Vega G1/2 are totally different animals and do indeed stream as well.
And cost a lot more....

Agree with lalitk on Roon.
In fact the Aurender Conductor app has a very Roon like look and feel without the cost.

BTW. I started with a Bluesound Vault2i and progressed through various items and now use an Aurender N100 streamer feeding a MHDT Orchid R2R NOS DAC via USB.
Pretty darn happy so far....
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Aralic Vega has streamer and DAC
Not true unfortunately, the Vega is DAC only, albeit a very good one.
Auralic Altair is the streaming DAC unit at just $1700 brand new and about $1000 used.

Lumin D1 or D2 is a streaming DAC too, possibly all you need.
I kick myself still as I was offered a D1 for $1000 and turned it down.
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