Look on the back of the CD player, does it have digital inputs? |
I’ve looked. It’s somewhat confusing. |
Model number of the Esoteric? |
BluSound Node is THE only starting streamer.
Good choice for anyone late to the party.
DI NOT worry about a DAC. There is plenty of time for that. Hopefully.
Until you get the model # of the Teac your last question hangs... |
Hey Richard, long time no hear.
In any case, a used Ayre Codex or a used Schiit Gungnir or Yggy should be in the ballpark
Bob
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Honestly, you’re not doing any favors by suggesting Node 2, which will end up in a huge disappointment for your friend. He is bound to compare his high quality CD playback with Node 2 and guess what….
“My friend compared streaming with CD and streaming sucks.”
For his system, a Esoteric dedicated streamer like N-05 or N-03T is more in line and going to give comparable streaming performance with his existing CD player. |
Regarding the previous post. "...Honestly, you’re not doing any favors by suggesting Node 2, which will end up in a huge disappointment for your friend...."
Respectfully, I strongly disagree.
Put a decent DAC in front of it...and you’ll have as good or better sound than other stand-alones.
It’s weird the way people compare a $500 Streamer to multi thousand dollar ones and seem surprised or disappointed in the budget unit.
Using a cheap streamer and good DAC seems to make much more sense to me...
My node 2i and Qobuz has been life-changing for me... seriously...have never enjoyed so much different music at my fingertips.
But...your money ...your ears... |
^^^Do you own a Esoteric CD Player and Integrated?
It’s all comes down to your expectations and point of reference. For some people, a system with Node 2 or Raspberry Pi & Topping DAC is more than adequate :-) |
What’s CD player? 😉
Re. Expectations, point of ref... Agree 100%
But the OP mentioned a DAC budget of $1000... You can get a hell of a DAC these days for that money... especially used.
I’ll posit that a $500 Blue sound and a carefully chosen $1000 DAC can keep pace with ANY higher end Streamer.
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Bryston BDP-2 on here for $1.5 K. That be better SQ than the Node2. Could work if CD player has
SPDIF input. Manic Moose interface is spartan but works with Qobuz and Tidal and various radio stations that stream Redbook quality.
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Yes, as others have ask. What model is the CD player?
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@ml8764ag
You are correct sir. Streaming is an acquired skill/taste and BluNode is the best start. Then one can move on at their own pace. I have but I still have the BluSound.
Don't spend him broke if he does not even know what he likes. |
I believe the model CD player is ESOTERIC - K-07Xs SACD/CD Player. |
I had the Esoteric K05X and now have the K03XD. Both models have three digital inputs at the back: RCA, USB and optical. My streamer (Esoteric N03T) is connected by USB cable to the K03XD and sounds great.
It may be possible to find a $1,000 DAC that sounds better than the DAC in your friend's CD player, but I would be inclined to test that first. Esoteric make pretty good DACs.
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If you can feed the Node into the Esoteric it will sound pretty decent. The most important determinant of of streaming sound is the DAC. Transports matter, and a better transport will sound better (the rest of the friends system sounds like it is good enough to resolve smallish differences in components).
As has been stated many times the Bluesound stuff occupies a certain sweet spot. It is a great entry level piece, particularly if someone isn’t too certain that they are going to forgo a large CD collection in favor of streaming, or they just want to dip their toe in. And it’s good enough, particularly if paired with a better DAC, to be an endpoint, and it is economical. Certainly it can be bested, but its compatibility with every streaming service out there and it’s relatively good OS make it very attractive. |
A few more thoughts, RVW:
Did you recommend the Cambridge that we both own? It isn’t much over the stated budget. Also, where are the files to be stored? Or is this listening only for streaming services and not going to include the present CD collection? |
It’s very unlikely that my friend friend will store any files. That’s why I recommended the Node. |
If it truly is a K-07 then it has optical,coax and usb digital inputs and an AKM DAC. I can only imagine that the AKM implementation is worthy. Drop the $1.5K (implied budget) on the Bryston BD-2 and it should sound purdy dang good given the network infrastructure is up to par. Or as others have suggested do the Node, stash the saved cash and add to it over time and upgrade if the streaming turns into a crack pipe.
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I only first dipped my toes into the world of a dedicated streamer within the last few weeks. I have a pretty nice system with a fine DAC- a Bricasti M1. I was looking at DAC-less streamers from Aurender, Auralic, Lumin, as well as other brands. I was looking at gear ranging from $2k - $5, and also listened to units at the $15k, $20K and $30K price points just for curiosity. What did I wind up doing? Bought a Node, and it's connected to my M1. Sounds pretty darned good. I've heard better, but I am still learning a lot about streamers, and I can think of no better way to get into the world of streaming especially if you already have a good DAC. And BluOS is fine- nothing drastic but it works fine for me. |
Which streamer you buy should be determined by the performance level of the rest of your components. I bought the flagship Aurender and it was clearly improved the performance level of my system where a lessor one would not have. But if all other components are at a certain level it is as important or more so than the rest… it is somewhat like a turntable in the analog end. You can’t eliminate noise or increase the sound quality after the streamer… it’s downhill from there. |
If the budget is over 1K I’d get the Cambridge because it adds Chromecast and AirPlay, and it has a better DAC than my older Node2. The present Node2 has a better DAC and may even use the same Chip as the Cambridge, but the CA is a larger component and probably has a better power supply and overall implementation.
However, it’s nice to be able to just stream from the phone or tablet in something better sounding than Bluetooth. |
