I am looking for a front end streamer that I can get the cleanest sound out such as the Auralic Aries 2.1 or Dcs Network Bridge etc.I mostly would stream Tidal and Qobuz but would like Roon end point too. I have a Anthem STR integrated amp and Focal Aria 936 floor standing speakers. Mostly been doing Vinyl and Cd's. Looking to join the streaming world. Will buy a better Dac later. Don't want to spend more than about 6k. I would like to use my ipad for controlling everything. I have a dedicated ethernet connection or can do wifi.
Mike - the most common brands in your price range that have a significant fan base are Aurender, Antipodes, Innuos, Lumin . Sticking with one of these should bring good value and it will be easier to find one to audition. Plus as the industry evolves you will have a known commodity the will be easier to resale.
I think it’s great you’re prepared to invest as much in the source. Like others have said, the streamer makes a massive difference. As usual if the source doesn’t get it right, there is nothing you can do to fix it downstream.
Like you, Roon is the interface I like best and bought a lifetime subscription. There are dealers who have most of the aforementioned brands in stock. During my research there was a consistent theme where they like them all for various reasons, however the Innuos was at the top of the list most often.
Ive had the Sonic Transporter former top of the line i7 with an ultraRemdu in my system along with a Antipodes CX/EX combo a Innuos Zen Mkiii a Zenith Mkiii and a Phoenix USB reclocker. The Lumin I’ve only head outside my system, and the Aurender doesn’t do Roon... too bad I’ve heard good things.
Based on my personal demo I would concur with the dealers who have multiple lines say the safe bet, highest value overall in this price range is the Innuos line. The SQ is awesome! Even all the guys who are custom building servers, there benchmarks are Taiko, and Innuos. Lot of well healed audiophiles that really know a thing it two. See Audiophile Style thread if you care to read up on it.
The Antipodes was wonderful, but at over 10k for a hobby that is still evolving (and depreciating) I wasn’t going to go there. This CX/EX combo can be split, and upgraded. However I liked the idea of one box, one power cord etc. The Sonic and Rendu combo was nice, but no match to the Innuos Zen Mkiii. This had a great balance of everything that I valued. A/B with the Zen and the Zenith Mkiii and there is another layer of musicality.... for my money, it was worth it.
You won’t go wrong with any of the brands, some will suit your musical priorities better. Go listen for yourself and get educated on how they sound. Get demos in your system like I did if you can... it made the choice of the Zenith a no brainer.
Again smart move, put the money in the source, you’ll be glad you did. Good luck with your journey!
I just received the Simaudio Moon 680D. Breaking it in but it sounds really really good so far. The Clarity and Precision of streaming music from Tidal And Qobuz is just the best I have heard from my system. I will probably update my Focal Aries 936 and Anthem-Str Integrated Amp some day but for now I am very Pleased.
I am in the process of updating my system. It is being used as both a home theater system and for stereo listening. I have a lot invested in the home theater side. I just bought a Simaudio Moon 680D streamer on this site. Will go from there. Thanks everyone for the advice.
My two cents and please don't take it the wrong way: you are looking for a $6,000 streamer to use with a $2,800 pair of speakers? And with an all-in integrated amp costing $4,500 MSRP (including built in DAC)?
Of course price does not mean much, but if I were you, I would look to upgrade those components first, before looking at a SOTA streamer. Unless of course you were in process of already doing this upgrade.
Wanting higher resolution that the Node 2i supports I recently added the SoTM SM-200 Neo to my system. Sounds excellent, supports very high res, and has great features. Only nit is that if I want to switch from streaming Roon to say streaming from iTunes as I explore music I the Apple Music store I need to stop Roon endpoint and start the airplay listener. Then reverse that when done.
@mgrif104 THANK YOU. The notion that a server doesn't make a difference is a sad misconception. We can take customers through seven or eight different streaming options here in our shop and the differences are remarkable.
As I noted above - I own three streamers in different systems and have had the opportunity to compare them going into the same DAC using the same cabling. The difference is quite significant. The better units offer more resolution which is nice, but the real difference is that they offer far more spatial information. The Node 2 (as a streamer only - not using the internal DAC) sounds “flat” dimensionally in comparison. The Node 2 Is a killer unit for what it offers for $500, but It’s no match for better units. BTW - same goes for optimized Mac Minis, etc. Been there.
ghjuvanni59, I did performed actual comparison test between Node 2i and Lumin D2 as well Teac NT-505.... and I have to tell you that difference in SQ between Node 2i and those two streamers is huge, not in favor of Node....FLAC signal could be the same but balanced design, better power supply and higher quality audio components make the difference. High end streamers like Naim ND-555 or Lumin X1 will makes cosmic difference.
Hello, I have been using a Linn Majik for about 2 years now. I just started the audiophile venture. I really like the Majik DSM as it offers everything you said you wanted, It is a very good streamer and is also equipped with a very good dac. It also has a 90 watt amp which makes it self supporting. It sounds very good running through a pair of ML ell 11 A's it can be used as a line source, active pre amp and is completely controlled by a iPad in my case.
I have the Auralic Aries G2.0 and can certainly recommend you consider the G2.1 based on my experience. I also have an Aurender N100H which the Auralic bests handily as well as a Node 2i (used as a streamer only - not the built in DAC) which isn’t in the same ballpark of the other two. Not incidentally, My personal experience suggests the streamer/server is at least as important as the DAC - and perhaps more so in determining sound quality. Others disagree, but I’m certainly not alone in this viewpoint.
FWIW - I also auditioned the Lumin U1 and mini and felt the Auralic Aries G2 bettered them as well. Regarding Roon and the native apps - I can’t say the Lightning DS (LDS) app is better than Lumin’s (or Aurender) from a function standpoint, but it’s good enough. As far as an interface - Roon is unequalled. But, I dropped my subscription to Roon because I discovered that LDS sounded significantly better than Roon when streaming files, Tidal or Qobuz. For me, the sound quality improvement of LDS over Roon was quite significant. I’m guessing it’s because the native app is able to properly use the buffer built into the Aries G2. YMMV.
Why do people want to spend more than the cost of Node 2i? There is no such thing as "cleaner sound" in the digital domain provided you are not losing bits of your FLAC. The DAC, however, will make a difference -- but no need to spend more than about $1,200. Ditto for cabling, digital and good (but not exotic) balanced.
I am going to repost since my original post was flagged and deleted - why? I don't know.
@kingbarbuda - Joe here, of Wolf. As far as a
track record goes, since we spoke at AXPONA, we have continued to grow. If you
are based in the US, there are a number of shops (13 or so). If there is not one near you, you can call us. We also have distribution in Asia and Europe if you are overseas
Another place you can hear our stuff is at the VPI House in Cliffwood, NJ. They don't do digital often, but when they do, Harry and Mat use a Wolf.
Just 2 previous streamers. Blue sound Node 2i - liked it very much for the money but later decided I wanted ripping capability. Then bought Cocktail Audio X45 a open box unit that proved to have mechanical issues.
The Innuous Zen Mk 3 to me is just great. Roon capability, ripping is quiet and quick. Couldn’t be happier. And customer support has been terrific.
If you want the "best" SQ I recommend the dCS bridge with FPGA to keep it current for many years. If you decide to subscrbe to Roon, all that you will need is the Silent Angel package: https://cruxaudio.com/collections/thunder-data/products/silent-angel-rhein-z1-roon-music-server-plus... You can spend all of the time that you desire to find out that they sound better than most of the above except for maybe the Wolf that costs as much as both of them together. My bet is that the dCS sounds best at it's price point for years.
You might want to check out the Small Green Computer lineup if you haven't already. I did the 30 day trial with the i5 sonictransporter and ended up very happy running Roon on it. Bought the linear power supply for it as well.
I've got it feeding a KEF LS50 Wireless setup in the bedroom, a dedicated headphone setup, and my main system. It doesn't even bat an eye with all three running at the same time. Roon really is the way to go, and the SGC gives you a 60 day trial to test drive it.
Since you have Cd’s you may want to consider the following: NAS drive, Roon, Streamer. I went with the following Lumin D2, Synology DS918+, and Roon Nucleus +. You can rip your cd’s into the nas and have them on a hard drive for extremely quick access via Roon Nucleus +. I also have A Tidal subscription. The nice thing about the nucleus + is that you can stream to other outputs in your system like your phone, wireless connections or other hard wired components in your house. Go with the nucleus + for speed you won’t regret it. The Roon will also tell you how the original source was recorded and how it breaks the type of music down to match the best possible output depending on the device you are streaming to. It does that for every music selection.
Find a metrum Ambre for $1200. Plug in an Ethernet cable, plug in aes from metrum to your DAC. And your done. Roon will find the metrum, you’ll get 24/192 out of the metrum AES and it will sound sublime
airmanmike54, Auralic 2.1 is very good transport player, but the way it unfolds Tidals MQA is kind a tricky gray.... So maybe Lumin U1 would be a better choice... big plus it has dedicated external power supply... if not U1, than maybe Lumin T2 with DAC on board already.
I have the Auralic Altair G1 and I know it already has a DAC so it is not really a streamer only, but I am using it with my McIntosh MA7900 and am happy with the combination. I use the Altair for listening to my music on a Synology NAS and Qobuz.
check out Rockna wavedream NET or the upcoming wavelight server. They meet all your specs and exceed it. My new Wavedream NET bested my aurender n10, and every streamer in my friends circle including an auralic g1, dcs network bridge and a custom made server. Its unbelievably good. Another class, truly. Might not be as popular as the options mentioned above, but try to get a demo or hear what it does yourself.
I’ve used an Allo USBridge Signature, running Moode, controlling It with it’s own web page for radio, and Bubble Upnp for Qobuz and local streaming from my NAS. It’s so cheap you can just buy it to try it out for £300. I use an iFi iPower PSU with it. Obviously your DAC must have USB input. I use a Network Acoustics ENO Ag to clean the Ethernet input and a Shunyata Venon USB lead. Both those last two products make all the difference.
I spoke to the Wolf rep, or perhaps the owner at the 2019 Axpona. The product seemed good. However, the track record was not large. As for my systems, I have the Innuos Zenth Mk3 with Phoenix on one system and a Lumin U1 Mini with SBooster power on my other system. Both perform very well. The Lumin U1 Mini is very user configurable via the Lumin app. I have also added Noico vibration dampening in the cabinet per a Steve Gutenberg video. Very easy.
I’d get an Innuos Zenith Mk3 for $4250. Excellent as a streamer, but it also has a CD drive and internal storage so you can rip all your CDs right into it and have all your discs along with your streamed music at your fingertips. It also works with Roon. Read reviews of it and its little brother the Zen Mk3, which is also excellent at “only” $2600. Trying to save you some $$$ here. Hope this helps, and best of luck.
I've been thrilled with my Auralic Mini it's a pleasure to use and has been totally hassle free in the 5 years I've owned it. That reliability is a big plus to me since we're basically talking about computers and 5 years is an eternity in the computer world. Based on that track record and excellent sound I would totally recommend their products.
At that price point you should look at Aurender or Lumin. Both companies provide high quality products with good features and after sale support.
My personal recommendation would be a Lumin U1, as I like Lumin's consumer electronics (CE) approach to the hardware and software build, both of which are extremely high quality.
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