I tend to agree with ejr1953 in that your laptop may not be the culprit. I have a Bluesound Node2 which I use regularly for streaming Tidal HiFi but I have also streamed Tidal using my laptop via a Cambridge Audio DACmagic Plus using USB. My laptop is a budget Toshiba so neither of my gears is any better than yours - actually Mytek should be a lot better, and I still get comparable quality sound. I mean comparable not better but quite good.
Replace Dell Laptop with Streamer? Which one?
I just purchased a Mytek Brooklyn as my first step into the digital world. I connected my old Rotel 991AE as a transport and CDs now sound amazing. In the interim I'm using my all-purpose Dell Windows 10 laptop through an upgraded Audioquest USB cable. It is connected to the server with ethernet cable not wifi. I was disappointed how murky and two-dimensional the Dell laptop sounds compared to the CD transport or my turntable. I was hoping to be blown away. Even when I access Tidal MQA files (the Mytek confirms this) the sound is not impressive. I know the Dell is not intended to be a audio device but will purchasing a good quality streamer make a drastic improvement over my laptop? I sure hope so. So what are your recommendations for a moderate cost streamer? I will primarily use it for Tidal streaming as I don't have a large digital library. I would like to use the MQA functionality of the Mytek. Is there much sound or functional difference between an Auralic Mini versus the Auralic Aries for the additional price? Should I consider the Bluesound Node 2? Any other suggestions under $1,500? I will not go through the brain damage of connecting a dedicated streaming computer and Microrendu despite how many people recommend that approach. Thank you.
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