I use one of these http://mhsecure.com/metric_halo/products/hardware/uln-8.htmlAs ADC/DAC/preamp/crossover/EQ. It means that the analog signal has to go through an AD/DA- loop, but conversion is at 24/96, and I am unable to hear any degradation of the analog signal. On the digital front, the Metric Halo lets you stream music from a music server, any music provider available, YouTube and internet radio. |
I would look into Bluesound. They offer a few items that should work for you.
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+1 on Bluesound. You could add a Node 2 to any or all of your stereo systems. Then create one source of digital music in one place that each node could see and connect with. That way you will use a smart phone or tablet or computer as your remote for ALL music that is digitized or streamed whichever room you are in or whichever sound system you want to listen to.
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Got it. Just looked up Bluesound and they make it look easy. And the Node 2 device is actually affordable. Only problem I saw was from one reviewer who said the tagging software is woefully inadequate for tagging classical music. About 98% of my CDs are classical or opera. |
Yes, I read that. Unfortunately, it is an issue for some, and from some of the questions sent to Bluesound, I think they realize their deficiencies. Considering how good their customer service is, I think that issue will be corrected soon.
As you have seen the Bluesound is attractively priced. The internal DAC is pretty good (and you can output to a better one, if you wish).
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echolane- I had struggled with the metadata migration when I bought the Bluesound 2. Customer service is good, but it still required alot of computer work on my part. To get folders made with the correct music tags and album art tag that Bluesound recognizes required me to find much of the album art myself then tag it and place it in a folder. I also needed the Bluesound customer service rep to remotely go into my computer network which allowed for the remote access of music. I learned alot along the way. For many folks, just using Spotify or Tidal’s streaming site will be much easier to do. The vast majority of albums or CDs can be found there, no need to access one’s own digital library.
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If you are on the internet get ROON and also TIDAL. These will allow you to have tagged files automatically, ie. they do the work for you. ROON allows you to control playback room by room once you set it up. I use an iPad with ROON on it and can play all my (single source ie. digitised and streamed) music to rooms with say one of the Bluesound Pulse active speakers in it. For me the whole house is a stereo system. |
That’s what I want - my whole house to be a stereo system.
i have two Windows desktops the house, my husband and I each have one, each with serious hardware attached for stereo listening. And there’s also a living room stereo and a tv room stereo. It’d be nice if I could get them all to play the same thing at once! |
2psysop,
Are you suggesting it’s not necessary to rip my CDs because most everything is on Tidal anyway? Even opera and classical music?
Regardless, Bluesound sounds like a no go for me anyway if it involves a lot of sitting, my aging back just will not do that anymore. I have read that classical music is harder to get correctly tagged, assuming I am using the right vocabulary when I say tagged.
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I was surprised by the quality of the sound from the Bluesound Node 2 internal DAC. It held it’s own with my external Schiit Bifrost Uber and Benchmark DAC USB1. Most often bettered the sound with Tidal MQA albums. But I had noticed after I went to great effort to tag all my own digital files so that Bluesound could find, display and play them via my home wifi network that I found myself playing streaming services much more often. As of today, these are the apps that are listed in the Bluesound Node 2 menu: Amazon music, Calm Radio, Deezer, IheartRadio, Juke, KKBox, Murfie, Napster, Qobuz, Radio Paradise, Slacker, Spotify, Tidal, TuneIn and Wimp. Keep in mind that one must choose and pay for each service. I have heard many people using Roon with Bluesound to great success. Others doing this will have to chime in. I can say Spotify and Tidal are tremendous but I have not explored the classical catalog. I think Spotify has a very big library.
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Thanks for the list of Apps. Can Bluesound be configured for an App not native to it? For example, I would want Primephonic which is a classical music service. What if I wanted to subscribe to that?
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Thanks for the list of Apps. Can Bluesound be configured for an App not native to it? For example, I would want Primephonic which is a classical music service. What if I wanted to subscribe to that?
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Primephonic to be made available on BluOS
05 Feb 2018Press Release293
Amsterdam, 2 February 2018: Primephonic, the CD-quality streaming service dedicated to classical music, has agreed to a deal which will see the platform made available on the BluOS operating system this Spring, in both the United Kingdom and United States.
BluOS, developed by Lenbrook International, is the premium high resolution multi-room audio ecosystem that allows enabled devices from NAD, Bluesound, and soon Dali Loudspeakers, to stream from a range of music services. As the latest service to announce compatability, Primephonic will join the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Amazon Music on the platform.
Via the BluOS app, US and UK listeners will be able to stream 16-bit FLAC (CD) quality classical music from one place across one or multiple devices to help deliver the ultimate classical listening experience in the home.
The partnership will also extend the BluOS experience for classical music lovers by integrating Primephonic’s unique metadata system, tailored to the specific needs of the classical music genre.
Thomas Steffens, CEO of Primephonic, commented on the partnership: “Since our launch last year we have been committed to finding as many wonderfully digital ways as possible to listen to classical music, so we are naturally very excited to team up with BluOS. We want to deliver an unbeatable solution and multi-room listening is becoming increasingly pivotal to the way we consume music at home.”
“For BluOS users, we think the Primephonic announcement is an exciting one,” says Andrew Haines, BluOS Product Manager at Lenbrook. “Our user base features a strong contingent of classical music lovers who expect a premium experience. Primephonic, along with the work we are doing to incorporate a richer set of information about the recordings they enjoy, is a perfect blend of what they want.”
Primephonic subscribers will be able to listen via BluOS Enabled players as of Spring 2018, with more details expected to be unveiled at Munich High End Show in Germany
echolane-
As a side note- Bluesound has been continually updating their apps and software since I have had the Node 2. I have no reason to think Primephonic will be overlooked as a streaming service for the BluOs app. |
@2psyop +1.
And Qobuz says it is coming to the US this year.
I agree, I haven't cracked a CD case since I went streaming. Spotify has more than I have and though not hi rez, like Tidal, it sounds great nonetheless.
BTW, much of Tidal is not MQA and streams at the same bitrate as Spotify, according to my DAC. ( I also am not into current music, which is more likely to be offered in hirez.
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