What if I could stretch the budget to 1200 for a used streamer? Would Rose be a good brand? Or is there something better to look for in that range?
Need to get off of bluetooth.... looking for a wifi streamer for my budget
My current system is a McIntosh C12000 preamp and a 861 Moon amp.
I have a Eversolo Z8. I want to get off of blue tooth (streaming from my phone) and get onto wifi. So I need a streamer.
I know this sounds crazy... but I stretched my budget and it will take about a year for me to recover. So, what would like to do is buy a streamer (used hopefully) to tie me over temp.
Can anyone recommend a wifi streamer brand/model for my setup that I might find used for *around* $500? I would consider a streamer/dac combo if the dac was better than the one in the Eversolo Z8 because that one is pretty good spec wise (it has the ESS Pro)
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- 32 posts total
You might look into the iFi Zen Stream. It retails at US $399 and has a 30-day return period (in the US). I have not tried one, but I've built a couple of RaspberryPi-based streamers and though they were very good to excellent in a revealing system. Anyway IMO a lot of streamer performance depends on the quality of the downstream DAC; how good it is, and how well it rejects jitter, noise, etc.
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The Bluesound Node is a good way to break ground on getting started. And if you check online, a number of dealers are selling the previous generation for 300 or slightly more. The money you save from the 500 in your budget can go toward a good digital cable, and check around, e.g. The Cable Co for a good used digital cable. Then you can get acquainted with Qobuz or Tidal and expand from there. good luck |
My experience with streamers and DACs is this; To get good to very good sound and even spectacular sound, the streamer is not nearly as important as the DAC. I have had Bluesound streamers and then bought a higher price streamer and the difference was not major. I also bought a Node X and bypassed the DAC to feed a PS Audio Directstream and the sound was spectacular. The DAC is the beef in the mix. Get a quality DAC and a streamer with an OS that is user friendly then get a service with the content you are looking for with high resolution. Some combinations can also up convert to high resolution. Lastly but very important is a company where you can get good customer service. Bluesound does this well. |
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