@firberger, Thanks. The most important capability for a music server/streamer is its sound quality in your system. The best case is to borrow the unit and use it in your system, if possible.
I also agree with @rockenator that the App controlling the music server is very important. "The accessing of your music plays a big part in your enjoyment of streaming content". This means the App needs to be intuitive to use, easy to find albums, support playlists and create favorites. You need to review the App to ensure it supports your needs to easily find and manage your music selections.
As you said, QoBuz is a terrific streaming service. Its hi-res albums, 24/96 and 24/192, are great sounding. In addition, QoBuz offers 500+ playlists with a variety of musical categories. Type in the playlist search for jazz, classical, blues, etc.
And, in the normal search area, type in #hi-res for a list of hi-res albums. Or, type in #hi-res jazz. Enjoy.
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Could I ask some naive questions about streaming and subscriptions, as I do not do any of this at present and am trying to conceptualize how it all works.
From the thread I understand that Qobuz, Tidal and others are subscriptions preferable over YouTube because of the higher Rez. What about YouTube Premium?
And I would need another "box" to process the signal, which is what the OP is inquiring about. Is the box like a smart TV with various subscriptions built in or do you add the App for the service you want?From the discussion I see that some of these boxes come with a DAC and some do not, and clearly you need a DAC somewhere in the chain.
Would this box for example then plug go into my Oppo 105 and does the box have a display and a remote or do I need to use an iPad or similar device to make it work?
Does the streaming service allow you to make a list of songs to keep in the box or is it like YouTube where you just look up the songs and play them so long as your subscription is active.
I will leave it at that and thank you for your patience. |
Qobuz is a music streaming service that runs on your music server. My Aurender supports Tidal and Qobuz. With Qobuz, you search for an album and, once found, you can make it your favorite for future playing. Qobuz allows you to build your own playlist or you can select from their list of 500+. Qobuz supports hi-res albums such as 24/96 and 24/192.
My Aurender uses an iPad to control its operation. Most servers provide support for Tidal and Qobuz subscriptions. Please check your server to see what it supports.
Some music servers include a DAC but I prefer the DAC be a separate box for maximum flexibility.
If your Oppo 105 includes a DAC, you could connect your server to your 105. Please check both devices to see what options are supported (probably USB).
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I really appreciate the input from everyone. I think I'm leaning toward the Innuos Zenith MkIII. But one thing's not clear to me, does using Roon actually impact the sound quality? If so, how?
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Did a fair amount of research recently and decided on the Lumin U1 mini.Late to the game because it seemed complicated. (Server, renderer, network storage Roon Core , Network bridge, reclocker, computer, CD ripper, streamer, WiFi, etc.) With the Lumin it is simple. Connect power cord, connect ethernet cable, connect AES EBU (or output of choice) to DAC (Yggdrasil) Quick app download to iPhone. Done!Streaming hi res Tidal in no time.
Don't need any other devices for my purpose. Complete setup can be done in just a few minutes.Obviously there are many, many different ways to proceed.People who say "This is the only way", or "this is the only device" are super annoying.I'm pretty happy with the Lumin, and for the money, I haven't seen any opinions on this thread yet that makes me wish I had made a different choice. YMMV.BTW I added the SBooster power supply and am very happy with the SQ.
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Innuos Zenith MkIII
probably a good choice if you need music storage. But Tidal has 60 million tracks that they store for me, so why do I need a storage device? If I added Lumin L1 to the Lumin U1 mini I would have a storage device and still save $1000 off the
Innuos Zenith MkIII. The kicker though is SQ. I have no idea which would sound better. If anyone has heard both, please chime in.
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No love for the Roon Nucleus's? |
I should say that like an earlier poster, I do have a magna mano ultra streamer. It’s raspberry pi based with a really nice linear power supply and high precision fento clocks. It sounds great, but unfortunately I haven’t had the opportunity to try other streamers.
It feeds an audio mirror tubadour iii-se, Don Sachs 6sn7 pre, first watt f4 mono blocks, Coincident PRE chain. |
Great discussion. I have an ifi Zen Stream and I’m curious if the ones mentioned here are much better? It’s the next thing on my list to upgrade. I just want a streamer “transport”, I don’t need any storage or server functions.
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If you want storage, ripping capability and Roon core, any of the Innuos ZEN line are outstanding pieces. If you're looking for just streaming without the storage, etc, then the new Innuos PULSEmini is really an excellent piece. The new Innuos PULSE is also starting to ship now as well. So, we're actually moving out a ZEN Mk3 from one of our demo systems to replace with the new PULSE as in this system we don't need all the extra capability of the ZEN Mk3. I also definitely prefer the new PULSEmini over the iFi ZEN Stream, but that should be expected for the price difference.
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@everest_audio thanks for the suggestions. The Innuos Zen S may actually be the setup for me. I don’t need the DAC function but the ability to rip CDs is very nice. I’ll check out the Pulse too.
Did you notice if the Pulsemini sounded better than the ifi zen?
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