Streamer Recommendations

@mahler123 I currently own the CXN V2. Sounds great to me.  I figured i would give the Eversolo A8 a shot.  I like the options it offers.  Hopefully it will sound better than the V2

I really enjoy my Cambridge Audio CXN 100 .  I use an external DAC but the included DAC was pretty decent, and it’s since been upgraded to an ESS Sabre Chip.  The Stream Magic app is easy to work with and finds most of the music on my NAS easily (Classical Music is notoriously hard to index).  The Internet Radio, Chromecast and AirPlay features are very handy.

  I’ve recently added the bog standard Wiim, for around $100, to my third system.  The app is great and it sounds very good playing into the DAC in the AVR.  This is the best value I’ve ever had in audio 

@bheyamoto . i would recommend the Eversolo line, has all the bells and whistles you’re looking for, at different price points to fit your budget. You can also rip your CD’s to the onboard optional storage. This is a no- Brainer.

Enjoy the Music

I use a Wiim Ultra going to a SMSL PO100 Pro reclocker to a Geshelli J3 DAC with the Sparkos SS2590 op amps to a Perreaux SA2 pre amp and an Acoustat TNT 200 amp. The speakers are Acoustat Spectra 2200 electrostatics and the two Acoustat passive subwoofers. The sound is incredible using Tidal with WiFi connectivity. I upgraded from the Wiim Pro Plus. The difference is like night and day. I am exstatic with my udated sound system. Its easy to operate using a Samsung Galaxy A8 tablet with the Wiim app.

Instead of :

Music --> PC --> cloud --> ipad --> streamer --> amp/speaker/sw

Try for this :

Digital Audio Block Diagram.pdf

Notice the PC is gone and the iPad is only used as a controller - the audio never passes through it. This isn’t the only valid way to configure a system, there are lots of options and alternatives, but this is probably the most common.

Also notice the use of line level LP or LFE feed to the subwoofer. Any other form of connection is simply a compromise. Failing to HP filter the satellites denies all the benefits of bi-amping like better dynamic range and power handling; lower distortion from over excursion.

Anyway, the diagram is adequate for clarifying the discussion, particularly on the choice of interconnect - USB to a local disk attached to the streamer vs Network Attached Storage attached to the LAN.

If you are planning on building a substantial library of your own, the NAS is a far more scalable solution and using RAID, far more reliable as losing a disk drive does not mean losing the library as is the case with a single disk attached to the streamer.

Here is one more very happy innuos pulsar owner 😊 

Top tip , get the best innuos you can afford 😁

Put all your music on a USB hard disk, then plug that into a Cambridge Audio streamer. 

All your music, in one place, that is easy to control.

streamer with hard disk (iPad controlled) - Mac- speakers.

+1 @russ69  

I run a Cambridge Audio CX V2 with my Lyngdorf integrated and Martin Logan Summits and can vouch for it's performance. I love it. Even looks pretty cool and has a nice display that shows album art, for such a low budget streamer, compared to the nicer, more expensive ones. 

At the time I bought it it was what I thought was the biggest bang for the buck. Nice to know people are still singing it's praises. 

Happy listening.

Recently just added the innuos pulsar with innuos network switch connected to a musetec 006 DAC.  I'm done.   I have found the sound I was searching for.

Innuos I especially in the Zen Zenith which I hav3 is ab bit warmer by nature having Mundorf capacitors in it and built in isolation throughout ,great interface 

i no longer use Roon and the innuos interface sounds better 

updates when available will let you know , SS hard drive, and Excellent Teac cd ripper is you want to rip any CDs to your drive.

Aurender N150. Great brand, app, support, sound & footprint. Lightly used, well within your price.  
Add an internal SSD, and enjoy. 

+1 on the Aries.  Recently bought a G1 via this forum and am very happy with it. 

I’ve been extremely happy with my Auralic Aries. Substantial improvement over my Bluesound Node, extensive features, great app, and noticeable improvement in sound quality.

Antipodes are excellent streamers, but are slightly above your budget.

Consider the tariff amount and don’t get surprised by the shipping company so buy something local

Innuous Zen or other brands come with a CD burner and I have seen 4 TB drives.

The biggest thing beside the sound is what software is used.  You might be able to sign up for internet radio for free.

What he said.

Music --> PC --> cloud --> ipad --> streamer --> amp/speaker/sw ??

WHY ?? when you could just do

Music --> external ssd (galvanic isolated USB) --> streamer --> amp/speaker/sw

much cleaner, less noise, shorter signal path,

right now ext. ssd is much cheaper per TB.

I generally like to get the computer out of the picture. I think (don’t guarantee) that you’ll have better performance if you get a streamer that has storage or accepts an external hard drive so the music cna be streamed directly from storage. I could name a few but not in your price range.

If the Innuos pulse recommended above can store your music, the Sense app is well liked by users.

@bheyamoto 

Innuos Pulse. It has great sound and a great app.

You have your music library on your computer and you want a streamer to play it over your network, correct?

You have decent options and the best value is going used

Streamers with good sound quality and UI - Auralic Aries G1, Aurender N150, Aurender N10 if you’re lucky (could be closer to $4,000), Innuos. Lumin U2 Mini or U1 are good streamers but UI sucks.

INNUOS Pulse mini. 

Nice simple answer...very much appreciated.  Any more others with simple answers?

Cambridge