For those that have separate Streamers & DACS


What are some of your favorite streamers/servers strictly from a sound quality perspective?  Please assume a stand-alone DAC.  I've read such a variety of opinions on streamers and was interested in opinions from those that have tried different streamers on with their DACs.  

badgerdms

Showing 1 response by psnyder149

I have owned Aurender (very good), nucleus + (very good) and innuos.  With the new Innuos Sense app, the Innuos is exceptional for the money…. One small caveat:

Innuos sounds its best with either FLAC or WAV files.  There is a small but significant reduction in quality with any of the Apple format files (AIFF, ALAC).  I have discussed this with Innuos as well as other Innuos owners and understand that the Apple formats require a bit more processing.  The Innuos software is clearly optimized for the others.  Mind you, this is “nitpicking” but to any of my audiophile friends, I recommend the most expensive Innuos server you can afford.  Even the zenMini (must be with external power supply) is very good for the money, but every increase yields a meaningful improvement.  Integration with QoBuz is exceptional.  I haven’t tried Tidal.  Roon works well but at an acoustic and pocketbook cost.  Good luck all!