Suggestions for a streamer only (I have a great DAC)

Hi Naperaudio,

My suggestion would be to get an ifi Zen Stream (only $300 or so), and an upgraded power supply. I recently upgraded from a Bluesound Node 2i to the Zen stream, paired with a linear power supply from McRU (around $350). Beats the pants off of what I had before, and costs far less than most streamers (and probably sounds just as good, though I haven’t heard others like Auralic. In any case, I’m using the Zen Stream to stream from Tidal using Tidal connect and it works and sounds great! 

Rasberry pis are for nerds :)

Josh

i agree that the ifi zen stream is really a terrific streamer for very little money, esp with an lps powering it - it has a good deal of noise filtering built into both input and output sides of it, which is why it sounds very pure

some wifi connectivity issues have been reported but i suspect software updates have solved this -- i use it with ethernet feed and roon, so have avoided some of the early pitfalls

It will interesting to see what the PS Audio streamer quality will be. I believe they will release it 2020.

@naperaudio

If an Innuos Zenith Mk3 ends up as a contender, it just so happens that I placed an ad for one on US Audio Mart yesterday evening. The price falls within your stated budget: https://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649831352-innuos-zenith-mk3-music-server-2tb-storage

Aurender N replaced by N20, a iittle more expensive than N10 , But half the cost of W20SE !! Take a lppk, a sweet spot in the line !!