2. digital
  3. 158399-147523

Educate me on music streamers, please.

I just recently started a trial of Roon, Audirvana, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz and Spotify.  In the past, I just played FLACs on Foobar or streamed on Google Play.  

Roon and Audirvana are pretty cool and I like that you can add Tidal and Qobuz but you can't add Deezer (I really like Deezer's Flow).   I don't like that I can't stream Deezer to my Raspberry Pi with RopieeeXL.  

So, I was thinking that maybe a music streamer that has all of these services would be a good idea.  Anyone have one they like?  Do they have their own "sound"?  I have a DAC  - so would the DAC sound change whatever comes out of the streamer?

Sorry for the basic questions.  I appreciate any help.


soundchasr
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,305 posts
 
veroguy did you try any of the mods from Fidelity Audio on a Node 2i?

If so how much of an improvement is there?

soundchasr I just tried Deezer on my Node 2i and find the SQ about the same as Spotify that is to say both are a step below Tidal and Qobuz imo.

fwiw


soundchasr OP
159 posts
 
@philjolet  - was it Deezer HiFi (16-bit 1,411 kbps)?
Spotify only goes to 320.
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,305 posts
 
I selected the only option I saw, I do not know the answer...
rbstehno
1,406 posts
 
I use the bridge II with my ps audio ds sr dac. Usb is flawed, use either Ethernet or i2s to a dac for best sound. Using Ethernet, your dac becomes an endpoint.
You also don’t need a server/streamer in your audio room, keep the server in a different room.
I used Audirvana for years, then went to Roon the last couple of years. I have heard the new audirvana MIGHT be a little bit better sounding than roon, but I have 6 Roon endpoints in my house, and the last I saw of audirvana’s interface, Roon is far superior
soundchasr OP
159 posts
 
Just received and set up the Node 2i.  So far, love it!  It's great having everything in one place, the interface isn't bad and it sounds pretty good to me.  

Especially happy that it streams Deezer since I couldn't send their stream to my Raspberry Pi.

Look forward to researching some of the upgrades available for the Node 2i.  


More to discover