Streamer upgrade? follow up.


I posted the first part of this earlier in the week. There are a few other threads running concurrently here about this same subject.This is my personal experience with this situation.Ive been using a Aurender A100 streamer/dac which is they’re entry level unit, the SQ wasn’t horrible but I was pretty sure I could get it better.In a attempt to do that I purchased a Denafrips Pontus two and a DhLabs Mirage Usb cable to use with the A100 utilizing its Usb out.The two local hi fi dealers here in SO Cal both told me this would not produce much of an result and in my opinion after trying it they were both correct. So… as I stated in the first post I was coming from a “bit is bits” perspective which was I was convinced adding a better Dac would accomplish my goals, I just couldn’t believe that the zeros and ones  could possibly effect the quality of sound. But not being one to give up I decided in for penny in for a pound Id see for myself if there was anything to the other side of this conversation, I wanted a new toy for Xmas anyway.So I traded my A100 plus some cash to TMR ( nice people btw) for a shiny new Aurender N200 which arrived yesterday. Last night the moment of truth, I hooked up the new unit with the exact same everything as before in my system nothing different but the streamer.I let the tubes and everything else warm up for a few hours,picked a song I knew inside and out sat down and pressed play. Immediately within the first few notes of the Stones “ Wild Horses “ I knew I had made the right choice and that I was wrong believing  bits are bits “. I really don’t have adequate language to describe the difference in sound quality other than to say I feel like Im in someone else’s home listening to they’re far superior system, its that drastic.I can with complete confidence say this has got to be one of if not the most significant upgrades Ive made in my system, scouts honor!              PS. Grinin ear to ear here.                                                            

bikeboy52

Showing 4 responses by malibu457

i borrowed a Denafrips Pontus from a my dealer yesterday.  i hooked up to my Bluesound Node 2i via coax and streamed via Roon.  not impressed.  the unit i was told had less than 20 hours on it.  ok.  i than connected the Pontus via coax to my Oppo player and played some flac. files.  holy C.  could be the Node is not up to par with the Deneafrips Pontus 2.  or that i may have to upgrade to the newer Node that has USB output?  i have heard also that it takes hours for the caps in the Pontus to fully charge?  doubt if i will find a streamer under a grand that will do the Pontus justice.  the Ares 2 was just find with the Node 2i

the Node is good enough to discover new artist via streaming.  do i want to pay thousands for something like an Aruender?  nope. i can get just as good sound quality by purchasing and downloading the same  lossless file from Presto if i really really like something and save thousands. 

for serious listening you can purchase and download CD quality and beyond now.  plus you can play back the files on your personal music player anywhere and not have to rely on a WiFi connection.  great when traveling. 

i have the new Pontus 12th for playback of my lossless files. i believe source matters a lot. Rega Amp. another point is that i often travel and can not always depend on a wifi connection to stream. i attend the symphony in various countries around the world as well to keep my ears in tune. currently i use a Bluesound 2i that works very well with the new Pontus 12th. if Denafrips where to build a streamer only i would of course take a serious look at it. it might be interesting to upgrade to the new Node 130 which has USB output and run it into the Denafrips Iris and than out to the Pontus. also think of getting a IFI coax noise suppressor for the coax output of the OPPO player that serves my flac. files. from a external hard drive.