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My HRT Music Streamer HD DAC is a game changer

I haven't started a thread this long for years, I think, so you have a hint right there. The truth is that I can't say enough good things about the new inexpensive DACs that seem to appear every week. I have only tried two -- the Audioquest Dragonfly is the other one -- but when I decided on the HRT Music Streamer HD, I knew I had hit gold for not much dough. I have been an audiophile since the early seventies, now retired, and my audio system is just appropriate for a small room, but forget the system --I don't remember enjoying music as much as I do now-- perhaps during my Thorens/ADC analog days, but that was a long time ago. A few years back I settled on a Squeezebox with Bolder power supply, but there is no comparison between it and the new DACs. My decision on the HRT HD was heavily due to its (true) balanced outputs, since my system is on the opposite side of the room from my computer. When the HRT HD is "correctly fettled," as Alan Sircom rightly puts it in Hi-Fi+ (meaning for me KingRex battery power and Elijah Audio Isolaate BL USB cable magic), it is awesome and then some. Ambience, natural timbre of instruments and voices, performers and instruments that have real body (not paper ships on a paper sea), huge soundstage, the feeling that you are there with the performers. Audio Nirvana!
vladimir

Showing 3 responses by dtc

dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Art Dudley reviewed this DAC in the June Stereophile. He found that the top end was a little harsh but praised its openness clarity. I believe he used the DAC without any additions. In the end he preferred the Hadide DAC HD.
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
I have a Streamer II in my office system and like it, although the system is not for critical listening. I also have one in a system in Europe and again like it a lot.

I have not heard the HD. I just thought I would pass on the Stereophile review so people were aware of it. As I said, Dudley really praised it for its openness and clarity. And high frequencies issues can often be system (and ear) dependent.

I would say that if in fact the HD really needs the extra power supply, HRT should probably at least make one available as an option or recommend an option.

They also seem to imply that providing drivers for 24/192 on Windows is a rarity, whereas I think it has become pretty common. I understand that they do not have the driver ready yet, but just admitting it is coming without making it sound like a rarity would be nice. It is just a wording issue, but something I noticed.

Again, I have not heard the HD. I just wanted to pass on the information.
dtc's avatar
dtc
1,047 posts
 
Mitch2 - no offense taken. As I said, I am very happy with my 2 Streamer IIs and I do agree that Dudley is the odd man out on this discussion. I do wonder if there was something else going on in his system that was adding to the problems he reported. It is also possible that his PC was struggling to provide adequate clean power to the HD. In any case, the HD seems like a good option, although once you add in an outboard power supply it reaches a price with a lot more competition.

I do agree that reviewers with the influence Dudley has should take extra steps before reporting a poor result. I remember when Chris over at Computer Audiophile panned the M2Tech HiFace when it first came out. People were dumb founded, since most people found it a very good product at the time. I always thought he should have gotten another sample and tried other systems before his poor review. I know it can be a lot of work, especially for a low end product, but I still think reviews should go the extra mile in that type of situation.
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