Another vote for the BS Node. I have a Denefrips Pontus ii on order and look forward to running the Node through it to see what happens. Mostly I got the DAC for CD sq.
I stream Spotify for the same reasons mentioned. Note that you can select your sound quality in the Spotify setup menu. At the highest quality (and bandwidth) setting, I hear little difference vs Tidal. Sounds very good. Once the DAC arrives, perhaps that will change.
Recommendations for good sounding streamer
I am looking for a decent sounding streamer without breaking the bank. My daughter has Spotify premium and it would be nice to connect up to my audio system (de Havilland UltraVerve tube preamp, McCormack DNA-1 amp, Martin Logan SL3s).
I mostly listen to vinyl (Pro-ject RPM5) and CDs (Ultech UCD100) using the internal DAC. I do have a V90 DAC however that I used for playing digital from my phone.
I don't really have the money any more for expensive digital playback. So what a recommendations for bang for the buck system. Could include using my V90 DAC.
Reading through the forum here it seems that Spotify is not the best quality digital (Tidal seems to come up a lot). But for now we have tons of Spotify playlists - just looking for an affordable way.
Some considerations:
Bluesound NODE 3
iFi Zen Stream
Any others? Pros/cons?