How do you feel about the idea of purpose built streamer hardware?
Well, as I wrote the issue is one of a combination of frugality and DIY. If I didn't work with Linux every day anyway putting together my own streamer probably wouldn't be such an obvious answer. I have also had a Logitech Squeezebox touch for a long time and it's been great. Nothing else since has the combination of high performance, low cost, ease of use, and aesthetically attractive features. I think it's that I am stuck in that kind of price envelope. When the Squeezebox touch came out I was rooting for a new era of streaming music that was < $1,000.
I think they are worth considering, and enough audio folks say that the SQ does improve with purpose built streamers. Is your position that nothing upstream from the DAC makes enough of a difference to justify the cost?
My position is that I don't want to pay $3,000 or more for something that is a glorified Logitech Squeezebox, and have a tough time jumping into a closed ecosystem. Oh, almost forgot. Some streamers are iPhone only. I'm Android only as my Lord Orisirs intended.
With your current setup, combining the A/V streamer only looks possible via toslink--either out of the TV directly or out of the receiver to your DAC. But toslink won’t work for you since you have DSD files.
Honestly haven't thought that far ahead for integration. I mean, why would I want to combine them? Different usage patterns and UIs. If I was going to do that I'd combine my AVR and stereo integrated, and I'm absolutely not doing that. Why? Because I love the stereo sound. I also want the full modern 4k / DTS / Dolby decoding features including Dolby Vision and HDR.
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There’s a point I wanted to make about having a dedicated audiophile streamer for audio.
I don’t like them for a number of reasons
- Cost
- Reliability
- Lack of continuous improvement / upgrades will eventually end
- Vendor lock-in on hardware, UI and even the music library
I’ve been using Roon with a mini x86 server as the core and Raspberry Pi 4 as the end point. I’ve never had the need to shut them down and call a dealer or even reset them. My mini PC is about 12 years old, so the fan on the power supply started giving out. $79 later and I got a replacement. While replacing it I accidentally shorted the disk drive (with an actual spinner inside) which was also at least that old. $89 for 1 TB. Imagine any streamer charging less than a grand for a 1TB internal disk. 🤣. Reinstall Linux, install Roon, restore my music from back up, which took the longest amount of time, and bam. I’m back.
My subscription to Roon ensures that the software is constantly upgraded and keeps up with the latest audio formats and services (well, except Amazon music). Using Ubuntu LTS ensures that I get the latest OS and security patches until 2025.
Honestly I trust Roon will be around for at least a decade. I don't trust any of the streamer vendors to be around that long, to constantly improve the feature and service set or to ensure my current hardware is compatible with the next release. It's nearly impossible for a hardware vendor to put the same kind of effort into their software as Roon can. Also, I really like Roon.
I suppose if I put together a mini PC Roon core and Pi 4 again I’d probably be out $600 vs. say $3k minimum for commercial offerings. Sorry that’s a jump I can’t make. Partly the DIY in me and partly the frugal.
I am however looking for a DAC with built in Roon endpoint. Not core. I’m tempted by the Mytek Manhattan II as well as the Bricasti but have heard neither so far.
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It sounds like you use the LG TV as your streamer for video and music.
@classdstreamer That is absolutely not correct. The TV only does the video streaming.
I figured that with your setup, you would have had a dedicated music streamer.
As I wrote elsewhere, I use Roon and there’s a Raspberry Pi 4 in a fanless case acting as a Roon endpoing which is off-camera. There’s a USB connection from there to the Mytek Brooklyn.
The Anthem HT receiver has built in Chromecast but I never use it.
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@dekay I strongly suggest you use an online password manager. It helps me go from phone to laptop to PC, and use secure passwords everywhere.
The only time it's a bit of a hassle is when signing in on my TV for Netflix, etc.
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https://speakermakersjourney.blogspot.com/
The screw down banana’s are really helpful for the HT receiver which really won’t be happy with anything else. For my speaker cables I used these for the amp to crossover:
Then a combination of WBT (great) and Furutech (meh!) locking bananas to the speaker drivers.
Our weather here has been pretty good. Being on the coast we actually get temperature buffering from the ocean climate, so nothing nearly as bad as say Ohio or New York this year, but we were in the high 80’s with humidity already.
The line level cables are detailed out in the system page. All custom with components from PartsConnexion.com
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@ozzy62 They sure do! I first saw them at a show in Oakland, CA and they made such an impression on me I've been waiting about 3 years to finally spring for one.
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Hey @dekay
Maybe you are confusing AMT with MTM? 🤣
With the utmost respect for Dr. D'Appolito, no, my only MTM-like speaker is my center channel.
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Maybe this will help frame my conversion a little:
I’ve had the soffit traps for a very long time, but I’ve been steadily adding mondo traps after I bought this house. So I went from relying almost completely on the soffit traps, which are great, to spreading the love around.
Now that my room is nearing completion, I am thinking that a combination unit in their place, with additional absorption thanks to the stacked up tri-traps will move things in the right direction from where it is now.
If you have nothing and know you need bass traps, the soffits are phenomenal but the tri-traps give me the option to add a little more diffusion surface whcih I know I need.
This isn't so much about product quality but total balance. I can't tell you how much they improved the sound of my speakers in a room and how much bigger my speakers sound thanks to them.
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@pabs85 It will be a slow process. Right now my corners I have 2x soffit traps (total) and stand up panels above that. When the first round of tri-traps come in they will replace the top panels. According to the specs this will give me better bass absorption than the stand up panels but not quite as good as the soffit traps.
It will be a while before I replace the soffit traps underneath them. I just spent quite a bit on the HT receiver, rack and the GIK panels I should be getting net month so I’m out of funding unless GIK or Luxman decides to sponsor me. :)
TBC: What makes the soffit traps exceptional is the broad band performance under 80 Hz given their relative small size. The tri-traps are no slouches either.
In addition to the soffit traps I also have the combination diffusor/mondo traps you see behind hte speaker, and another pair of mondo traps on the floor behind hte rack.
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They do look great but to properly diffuse you need to have diffusers that actually have multiple elements protruding out without any absorbers behind it. Just my opinion.
@baylinor
Well, depends on what you mean by "proper".
The effectiveness of these is limited by the depth of the material. I consider them to be high-value, for what they cost and where they fit, but I expect deeper, bigger, much more expensive panels if properly designed would provide even better performance.
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@mijostyn Those stands are inert. The speakers are heavier than they look. There's no drawer rattling. :)
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Reading you are planning to replace them with tri-traps, could you tell me what it is you currently don’t like for your 2 channel listening that you hope the tri-traps will bring? Sadly we can’t demo acoustics panels so I’d rather not make a mistake with the purchase as the soffit traps are their most expensive! Thanks.
@pabs85 Alone, the soffit traps are simply excellent. If you read the blog post I wrote about using EQ with my stereo you'll see that I start from an extremely smooth starting point. I'm moving away from them only as a matter of overall room balance.
However, as @baylinor has experienced, having a good mix of absorption and diffusors is important. In the long term I'm going to trade my 2 soffit traps for 4 corner traps which will be floor to ceiling. The two on the floor will have diffusor panels which AFAIK are not available on the soffit traps. Also, I'm switching from burgundy to white to make them seem less huge.
@baylinor GIK actually recommended more diffusor panels, but they block my side windows. They also recommended diffusor panels behind my couch, so in my case their recommendations were reasonably well balanced I think. I'm just
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What do you use as digital music sources?
@classdstreamer Quboz and Tidal. I thought they both pretty much had the same library but they really don’t. I also have about 300GiB of my personal music library most of which is ripped from CD’s I long ago donated to a library.
I do have a few DSD files downloaded from Blue Coast Records. (that's a deliberate plug!)
I’m wondering how connected your HT and HiFi are.
The LG provides all of my streaming needs, which are pretty basic. Netflix, Amazon and Funimation. I used to use a Roku because of the Crunchyroll app but the are so unreliable I refuse to pay them a cent more.
The TV to MRX connection is via the HDMI Audio Return Channel. When I spin a BD or DVD it goes through the MRX to the TV.
The MRX has 7.2 preamp outputs. I use the L and R outputs to feed the amp in on the Luxman. When I want to watch TV I hit "Separate" on the Luxman remote and then the TV remote takes over for everything. When I’m listening to music I hit "Separate" again to reconnect the preamp to the amp in the Luxman and I’m in 2-channel mode.
The MRX powers my center and surround speakers, and feeds my subwoofer. The sub is not used for stereo. See the article above for why.
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Does the rack make my DAC seem too small? 🤣
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In case you are wondering how it sounds, here's a related thread:
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I like them a great deal. I plan to add more to the sides, and replace the soffit traps (big burgundy) with corner traps with diffusor panels in front of them. While the absoprtion has smoothed out the bass and lets me hear the recording it's sounding too antiseptic. It sounds like I'm wearing headphones instead of listening to a stereo system so I'll gradually shift over.
Because I'm doing a combined HT/music system though I do wonder if the HT part likes a dryer sounding room than music.
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