Streamers with best apps?

Hi Mazian, I agree that the software side of streaming is incredibly important. Have you tried streaming via Chromecast with your Cambridge CXN? My understanding is that Cambridge incorporates Chromecast into their streaming hardware. Over Chromecast, you'll be using the software of the streaming service rather than the streamer. 

If you like classical music, the Idagio streaming service looks to have some of the best indexing. 

I use a Chromecast Audio with an ifi reclocker. It sounds great, but I don't know how it compares to pricier streamers.  

Hey Mazian, ditch Tidal for the Idagio streaming service. It has the best indexing for classical music and is available in Australia. Idagio also supports Chromecast as does your CXN. You won't have to worry about any streamer software as you'll be casting directly from the Idagio app. At least try this route before buying new hardware. 

 https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2019/07/the-best-classical-music-streaming-service-is-idagio/

@ Mazian

I agree that Chromecast, in its basic implementation, is downmarket. But I would point out that the the Chromecast hardware and the Chromecast software are different things that share the same name.

Cambridge says they now support the Chromecast software as a free download if your unit didn’t come with CC pre-installed. Because you didn’t want to purchase Roon, I figured you’d be interested in free. Chromecast works with Tidal too. You can try CC easily with your current setup. I would be interested to know whether you detect an audible difference between the CXN app and casting to the CXN directly from the Tidal app.

In a world were hardware manufacturers build their own software apps to capture market share (who wants to leave a manufacturer if it means loosing their favorited artists, songs, and playlists?), I find Chromecast refreshing. Implementing CC is relatively costless compared to programming, updating, and maintaining a separate app. Plus CC is super convenient for the end user.

I’m not married to CC. If I learn that CC is audibly inferior to other streaming softwares, I’ll start planning my next upgrade. Forum members here seem to indicate that BluOS, Lumin, and Roon have the most robust software. But right now, my priorities are inexpensive, convenient, and good sounding. A tricked out CC Audio seems to check those boxes for me.

@Mazian, Yes Chromecast will work with Tidal on both Android and iPhones. If you have at least one castable device (like the TV you mentioned), you should see the cast icon in the top right corner for most of you streaming apps. In fact, if you see that you can cast to the TV but not to the Cambridge, that probably means that you need to update the Cambridge software on their website. And like for all casting, your casting devices need to be on the same network. 

@cal3713 do you see any benefit to using Bubble if I only stream from Qobuz? My understanding is that Bubble might work best for those who play music from multiple sources. 

I can't believe this thread is over a year old. I feel a lot has changed since then. In the spirit of OP's desire to balance sound quality with software convenience, I'll post about my new streaming plans. The change on the horizon I am most excited for is Spotify's upcoming CD tier. I am hoping that the CD tier from Spotify is on par with the sound quality from Qobuz and Tidal because I plan to build my streaming system around Spotify. 

I used Spotify for 5 years before trialing the high res tiers of Qobuz, Amazon HD, and Tidal. I ended up going with Qobuz, but not having the software superiority of Spotify has been a constant pain point. I believe Spotify has superior marks in the following areas: curated and rotating playlists, music indexing, music discovery, content layout, user interface, various AI implementations, and the ability to share music. The only thing Spotify has been lacking was sound quality. 

In my mind, streamer manufacturer apps are unlikely to ever rival the streaming services' apps. And Spotify provides the best app from all of the streaming services. (In my mind, Roon is neither a streamer manufacturer nor a streaming service. Rather, Roon is just a software company that tries to help the boutique HiFi manufacturers level up their software experience to match Spotify.) 

So, to build my rig around Spotify, I plan to use a Raspberry Pi 4 as my reference streamer. The aftermarket support of Pi HATs allow for many configurations to find the best digital output to match up with most DACs.  Darko released a super relevant video on using a Pi as a Spotify endpoint. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CfnXOlYiz8

See also his blog post for more info: https://darko.audio/2021/03/12-more-thoughts-on-the-raspberry-pi-as-spotify-connect-endpoint/

Lastly, I also want to give Roon a fair shake before leaving the world of boutique HiFi services for Spotify: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/what-features-of-roon-are-worth-the-price-compensate-for-roon...