Check in: How quickly are streamers and servers evolving?

@yyzsantabarbara 

Thank you so much for your careful and perspicuous listening report. I learned a lot from your efforts, and I'm glad you came to a discovery.

Several years ago, a friend showed me his home built setup — he built two very simple computers with kits running Linux, one to process and store (mainly FLAC) files and the other to send them to his DAC. The computers are connected with fibre and have an LPS. Eventually they are played through VTL gear (monoblocks) and giant Maggies. It sounds lovely.

@mahler123 

And though as Audiophiles we argue endlessly about small sonic differences, essentially streaming and CD replay, into the same DAC, sound similar.  Both are sending 1s and 0s into the DAC.

I will admit I have a hard time hearing a difference. But I won't comment on your statement, because I suspect it's like a match tossed into gunpowder in this forum! 

Your other statement about the fragility of technology -- the ability of these IT devices to wind up divorced and non-functional -- is well taken. I have longed for the personal computer to achieve the simplicity and reliability status of other home appliances, but to no avail. It's a shame, as most people use computers for very basic tasks.

I am thinking of getting a Bluesound Node 2i to replace my tuner which is my 6+ (hours) x 7 days music source when I am not listening to vinyl or AV source.  I have a great jazz + NPR (KNKX), classical (KING) and classic rock (KZOK), all of course local.  All have streaming apps also.  Does the Bluesound coordinate internet radio streaming apps well all through an iPad or phone OS?

December of 2019 I added a Cambridge CXN (V2) streamer to the system from Music Direct, 60 day Satisfaction Guarantee.  It sounded horrid but I read somewhere someone else had the same result and it was much better with an upgraded power cord and interconnects so I went that route with a good Audioquest cord and Straightwire Expressivo interconnects..  it was better, not to be confused with good so I just left it on and after a few weeks it was much better....   not Sony XA 5400 ES better but close and that was an A+ Stereophile rated CD/SACD about 6 years ago.
The Cambridge has a remote and an app.  The app is VERY handy and has search functions by genre and sub genre and allows 20 presets all run off your phone.  I use Android but I'm sure they have an Apple version as well.  It also has input controls and has direct Tidal and Spotify access.  Seems there are > 20,000 stations on the net and it will take you awhile to identify those with the highest quality who play selections closest to your taste....  Metal, Hard Rock, Soft Rock... all the way down to acoustic string instruments and acoustic lounge music, singer songwriter and so forth..... literally anything and everything. 

Since I have a selection of about 750 CDs, I thought of getting a server and re-ripping my disks for better access when reading Blue Nodes server stuff in detail I found it takes about 20 minutes per disc..  .. if I commit an hour a day to building the stream library I can probably get through this in a year, and of course there is the issue of power cords, cables and I'm still stuck with Blue Nodes DAC. I decided to go another way and added a Benchmark DAC 3b to the system and then signed up with Tidal through Best Buy for $99 a year for the Hi-Fi level with some MQA's and renewals guaranteed at $119.  Tidal has about 70 million tunes, 250K MQA's and that represents about 6 million albums or so....  and about 50 million with Spotify.  In my experience Tidal has better quality and the way the app functions inside the Cambridge app is much better.
Functionally, I pick a radio station genre I'm in the mood for and play until I run across something I really like and then pull up the artist in Tidal and it will (seemingly always) have everything they have published.  Pick an album to play or que a bunch of songs from it and tap play.  Now, do they have everything in their library ...   I have not been able to find the Original Broadway Cast of Miss Saigon, only the London and International Casts so I'll keep my Broadway Cast CD..  Some of older (bought 30 years ago) Jazz CDs take some time to locate since re-issues and re-masters changed the cover art of many of them and my Mosaic compilations may exist differently there, but they are there along with dozens of albums released under the artists name and dam near everything they sat in on but didn't headline....  very impressive.

Oh yes, get your streamer off wi-fi and get in on Ethernet....  better everything.  Mine is 33 feet of Category 7 Ethernet Cable from our router.

@audio2design I was also very surprised that the volume seemed louder. I did not get out my iPhone DB meter to measure but subjectively I thought it was a bit louder. The fact that it was much better was without a doubt.

I am using the ROON ONLY version of the opticalRendu. I have no need for any other protocol other than RAAT. 

I should have added that when I listened to my setup with my Thiel CS3.7 speakers I used DSP Convolution files running on my ROON Core. Those DSP'ed bits were changed before they hit the DACs. On my RAAL SR1a headphones I have now removed all digital adjustments. In the past, had  bit of a bass boost using the ROON ParametricEQ settings but I have now removed that for the opticalRendu.

It would be so convenient if DAC's had a fibre input like the Lumin X1. Then I would not need an OpticalRendu.