@danmar123 Yeah, at this point I’d highly recommend getting a streamer rather than tying yourself in knots trying to get your phone to work. It needn’t be a very expensive streamer, and your sound quality will improve significantly.
Re: streaming recommendations for newbie
Hi,
I'd like to finally enter the streaming world with my hifi system and am looking for recommendations. I have streaming music in my car and on my computer, but I can't currently access any streaming services on my hifi system because I have tube gear and neither it nor my old backup gear have streaming capacity or a DAC (other than the CD player).
I guess that I need to buy both a streamer and a DAC? I now have a pretty decent hifi system, but I want start out with modest priced streaming gear.
Can anyone recommend a streamer & DAC, or unit that does both? Does it make sense to put more $$ in a DAC or in a steamer? Not sure about budget, but I'm thinking $500-1000 used for both as a starting point. Thank you.
Terry
Showing 9 responses by soix
Absolutely. You just need another Mesh node near your streamer and run an Ethernet cable from that node to the streamer and USB from the streamer to your DAC and you’re golden for streaming. Using the Node as an example, you can then just run a USB cable from your external drive into the Node and now all your music will be available from the Node. You’re very close since you already have Mesh and music on an external drive. |
@aheydorn Personally if I’m you I’d look to download the FLAC files from the computer to an external drive and connect that to the streamer (the Node can do this BTW) so you can have all your music along with your streamed music combined in the same place and no need for the computer anymore — all your music will now be accessible via the streamer’s app, which is a beautiful thing. All you’d need is to run a USB cable, which you obviously already have, from the streamer to your DAC. Also, you should avoid running your streamer with Wi-Fi for both better sound and signal reliability, and this can be done easily by getting a Wi-Fi extender from TP Link, etc. or a Mesh system (Orbi, etc.) and then running an Ethernet cable from that to your streamer — much better, relatively inexpensive, and easy peasy. Be excited as your music enjoyment is about to expand exponentially! Just to clarify some terms because it can be confusing, a streamer just streams music in real time from a streaming service/source whereas a server stores music that can then be transferred to another device. There are combo streamer/servers that stream and also have onboard storage so you can load files directly into them (the Bluesound Vault does this as do units from Innuos, Aurender, etc.) so there’s no need for an external drive, which is really nice. This may not be 100% technically correct but it’s how I understand/define it in my very rudimentary way and hope it’s helpful. |
@danmar123 Great that you’re getting the AVR outta your 2-channel signal path as that’s a huge bottleneck to performance. I started streaming from my iPhone using the Apple Camera Adapter to run USB into my DAC with Qobuz, and it sounded good until I realized CDs sounded significantly better, which was very disappointing. Following advice from people here I got a streamer (an inexpensive iFi Zen Stream) and my streaming immediately sounded as good or better than CDs — literally a night and day difference. So while the iPhone is certainly a cheap and easy way to get started, if you’re concerned with sound quality you should plan on getting a streamer down the road. Just my experience FWIW. |
@danmar123 First, your AVR should not be involved in the signal path at all for critical 2-channel listening, and there are easy ways around that depending on what’s in your 2-channel setup.. Second, if you’re interested in streaming and better sound quality ditch the Bluetooth and subscribe to Qobuz or Tidal, and you’ll also want a separate streamer that will likewise up your streaming performance significantly. Depending on how good the DAC is in the Oppo you may also want to add a separate/better DAC. All of these things are important and if addressed will give you much higher-level streaming performance and enjoyment and just depends on how far you want to go with this. Hope this helps. |
@aheydorn All you need is a streamer (preferably wired directly to your router) that you connect to your DAC along with a Qobuz or Tidal subscription (both offer free trials). Something like a Bluesound Node is a great and relatively inexpensive way to get started. Hope this helps.
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@brottdwayne Using Bluetooth and your AVR are both greatly limiting your streaming sound quality. Bluetooth is a fairly low quality source with limited resolution and dynamics, and subscribing to something like Qobuz or Tidal (both of which offer free trial periods) will get you at least CD quality and a lot of music in high res. Your AVR, in addition to using cheap electronic components, is a hellaciously noisy environment for streaming, and noise is the arch enemy of better streaming sound. Standalone streamers go to great lengths to minimize noise (among many other things) that results in much better sound quality. Upgrading to a decent streamer and DAC or even a budget combo DAC/streamer along with a better subscription music service will bring you to an entirely higher-level streaming experience. Hope this brief summary answers at least some of your questions. By the way, do you have a separate system for vinyl listening? What’s the rest of your equipment in your 2-channel setup? |
You could get a streamer/DAC combo unit like the Bluesound Node X or the Eversolo DMP-A6 and be off and running for under $1000. But, if you’re more serious about audio I’d go with a separate DAC and streamer as you can upgrade each in steps, which you’ll almost certainly want to do at some point. Here’s a nice DAC at a good price along with a good review in case it’s helpful (I own this BTW)… https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/650084368-musician-pegasus-r2r-dac-black/ https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/musician-audio-pegasus-r2r-dac-review/
https://www.amazon.com/Bluesound-Wireless-Multi-Room-Hi-Res-Streamer/dp/B0937LC7P2?th=1 So for $1175 you’d be off to a great start, and you can upgrade the DAC or streamer down the road when you get “the itch” for even more — and you most certainly will. Or, as an alternative to upgrading the DAC and/or streamer, you can add a separate linear power supply (like Teddy Pardo, etc.) to the Node and/or a DDC (like the Musician Pisces or Denafrips Iris) in front of the Pegasus to take advantage of the i2S connection and get a significant boost in performance for not much $$$. Always nice to be able to upgrade in steps if possible. Anyway, just a few ideas for equipment FWIW, and then just get a Qobuz or Tidal subscription (both offer free trials) and you’ll be in great shape for starting your streaming experience. Best of luck. |