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Newbie considering 3 streaming DAC/Servers

I'm considering a one box streaming DAC/Server and was wondering if anybody had experience with any of:

  • AURALiC Altair G1
  • Mytek Brooklyn Bridge
  • NAIM ND5 XS2

I haven't heard any of them but based on specs each seems to have at least something of what I'm looking for. SQ is my most important criterion, and I realize that's subjective. Any feedback from anybody on any of these units, or any comparisons, would be greatly appreciated. Or any other options. The three units are around my upper price range.

hadjimano
soix
8,829 posts
 
In that price range I’d add the Innuos Zen Mk3, which can be had used around $2500. 
volumizer
86 posts
 
I own a Brooklyn Bridge, but have no experience with either of the other units you mentioned.  The Mytek sounds superb. It's extremely quiet, and it's easy to use.  

I use it as a phono pre-amp, a DAC for the CD transport, a wireless TIDAL streamer, and a pre-amp/volume control for tube monoblocks from the XLR outputs and a 4-sub DBA from the RCA outputs.  It also has an excellent headphone amp.

I haven't gotten around to running an ethernet cable to it, because I'm getting ready to relocate the hifi to a new room.

Not sure how the MBB works with ROON...haven't subscribed yet.
hadjimano OP
5 posts
 
volumizer ... Thank you for your response. I like what I read about the headphone amp on the Brooklyn Bridge. But I’ve also read in other threads that there are issues playing music from an attached USB drive. One of my major asks is the ability to play from local storage at full resolution for PCM and DSD, in addition to streaming services like Tidal.


hadjimano OP
5 posts
 
soix ... Thank you for your response ... I've considered the Innuous Zen Mk3 and it's an attractive package with excellent reviews. And I may still go for it in the end. I am thinking about a DAC upgrade, however. I'm not really interested in ROON so good control software for the unit would be a bonus.
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