Another person going digital and full of questions

Just read catdoors post. Even more credence to buying NAIM Uniti Atom or Uniti Nova.  All in one with quality circuitry & architecture. 

Wow, I seemed to have missed a lot.

In any case, let me put, in a nutshell, what I have learned in my Streaming Education.

DAC's and Streamers DO affect sound reproduction.

Remember, besides converting those 1's and 0's, it has lots of software to eliminate jitter, noise, etc. Compound that with the software to integrate various streaming services, and you have a match made in hell.

Bluesound has a very extensive list of streaming apps to choose from, and for most people it will be all that they need or want. But, when you are on the 'Audiophile' quest of 'best sound', you get caught up in the details.

As I mentioned, the Aurender N100 I had was a slight improvement over the Bluesound, but the apps are limited to Qobuz and Tidal. (Slight improvement to my ears meant a bit more 'clarity' and 'detail' YMMV).

So, let me detail my equipment changes:

Bluesound Node with Ayre Codex- good, easy to set up, nice sound.

Aurender N100 with Ayre Codex- more clarity and detail, but not earthshaking difference over the Node.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Codex- Definite upgrade, sounds more 'alive'.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Ayre QB-9 Twenty- (Ayre had an upgrade program so I bought a QB-9 and had it upgraded to Twenty status). Now we're cooking. Things seem to be dialing in nicely. More clarity, richness/.depth.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Brinkman Nyquist 2- Wow! My first thoughts were:

This sounds like vinyl. Lots of subtle qualities that I don't seem to have the proper words for. It just sounds right.

 

Okay, yes, I fell down the rabbit hole.

But, I did see the reason why some spend so much money on their streaming systems. Yes, it does make a difference. 

So, what would be my recommendation? 

If you have a budget of $1-2K, get the Bluesound Node and an Ayre Codex (used).

If you have a budget of $4-5K get the Innuos Zen Mini or Mk3 and the Ayre QB-9 Twenty

If you have a budget above that, then you can pick and choose whatever you want.😉. But, using the Brinkmann Nyquist would be on my short list.

 

 

And, to those who say;

Why not just play vinyl?

I respond with:

I grew up with vinyl. 

I remember all the pops and ticks, the warped records, having to get up every 30 minutes to turn the thing over, and the space required to store them.

Streaming allows me to listen to just about anything I want to listen to, when I want to listen to it, and let's me listen to new artists/composers that I would be hesitant to buy an album unheard.

 

One of my longer posts, sorry, but I am hoping my experiences will help others make their decisions. (And, though I do give specific recommendations on equipment, I do so only from my experiences. There are lots of other manufacturers that I am sure are just as good/better).

Bob

 

 

Don't buy a combo streamer/dac. Dac technology is still advancing and you want to be able to swap it out when something significantly better comes along - and it will!

Building a great digital system requires that you start with a great front end (garbage in / garbage out). Forgoing discussion of routers, modems, switches, Wi-Fi, etc, your streamer makes a big difference. But, streamer technology is pretty stable, so if you get a high quality streamer you can likely move up to any future new/improved dac WITHOUT COMPROMISE. 

The Lumin U1 mini is a very solid choice. Even better is the original Lumin U1 with its separate linear power supply. I think The Music Room has a pre-owned U1 for ~$4500(?) (MSRP ~$7500). It's a top-shelf unit- Roon ready, and exceptional connectivity options allowing for future upgrades s to your system. 

Get one of these and you can concentrate on the rest of your system journey. But always, always optimize your front end first if you expect to hear the full impact of your downstream changes.