bluesound node 2i gets the job done... take digital out from its rca jack, use a decent cable...
Worth it to add streamer to Hegel H390
Hi Audiogon forum. Question for all of you who may have some experience. I recently bought a Hegel H390 and love it. I stream via UPnP Tidal MqA and Qobuz and think it sounds great. Currently hooked up to my Dynaudio Contour 30’s.
Not a fan of the mConnect app (or others) and have thinking about adding a Lumin T2 or U1 Mini. Not sure if the DAC in the T2 would be worth the cost vs going with transport only. Also open to other suggestions on other transports or dac/streamer combos that are <$5500 and will be an upgrade. Looking for a native app w/ Tidal/Qobuz integration.
Any thoughts or suggestions? My use case is strictly digital.
Thanks!
Not a fan of the mConnect app (or others) and have thinking about adding a Lumin T2 or U1 Mini. Not sure if the DAC in the T2 would be worth the cost vs going with transport only. Also open to other suggestions on other transports or dac/streamer combos that are <$5500 and will be an upgrade. Looking for a native app w/ Tidal/Qobuz integration.
Any thoughts or suggestions? My use case is strictly digital.
Thanks!
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I have the H360 and would stream tidal from my msi laptop. I struggled with delays and dropouts so I bought a roon nucleus and a usb hard drive. I downloaded my library to the portable drive, plugged into the nucleus which I made the "core'. As simple as it was I still got frustrated with all the pc firewalls thus the HD. Anyhow the nucleus is much faster than the pc, no more dropouts and I like access from my phone or ipad. |
@helloitsben did you ever sort this out? I am in the same exact scenario and wondering the same thing. I have a Hegel H390 and tired of waiting for them to update their streaming software (no Roon, no Airplay 2, no Tidal Connect)
Did you end up going with a T2 or U1 mini? |
I didn’t think onboard streamer and DAC were on par with the quality of the pre/amp when I had the H390. I think the streamer is on a level with some costing a few hundred bucks, like the Allo USBridge Sig I had, and the DAC maybe $1k-ish. Using a dCS Network Bridge and MHDT Orchid DAC (upgraded) brought a lot of refinement, depth, and musicality over the onboard DAC and streamer, which were a bit sterile with flat imaging by comparison. This held true for each component independently, using DAC loop to pair the onboard streamer with the Orchid, and Network Bridge feeding the onboard DAC over S/PDIF. While I haven’t heard a Lumin T2, I had an X1 and it was pretty extraordinary. Many great things have been said about the T2 as well. I would bet that you’d be very happy going from the built-in digital of the H390 to the T2. |
i agree, this is one area where hegel's crew has been quite disappointing... don't know what the problem is... airplay sucks anyway, no big deal, but roon and tidal connect are essentials for many serious audiophiles who sought out hegel for its wonderful sound |
Thanks for the update @helloitsben! |