Recommendations for good sounding streamer


I am looking for a decent sounding streamer without breaking the bank. My daughter has Spotify premium and it would be nice to connect up to my audio system (de Havilland UltraVerve tube preamp, McCormack DNA-1 amp, Martin Logan SL3s).

I mostly listen to vinyl (Pro-ject RPM5) and CDs (Ultech UCD100) using the internal DAC. I do have a V90 DAC however that I used for playing digital from my phone. 

I don't really have the money any more for expensive digital playback. So what a recommendations for bang for the buck system. Could include using my V90 DAC. 

Reading through the forum here it seems that Spotify is not the best quality digital (Tidal seems to come up a lot). But for now we have tons of Spotify playlists - just looking for an affordable way. 

Some considerations:

Bluesound NODE 3

iFi Zen Stream

Any others? Pros/cons?

1trackmind

Another vote for the BS Node. I have a Denefrips Pontus ii on order and look forward to running the Node through it to see what happens. Mostly I got the DAC for CD sq. 
I stream Spotify for the same reasons mentioned. Note that you can select your sound quality in the Spotify setup menu. At the highest quality (and bandwidth) setting, I hear little difference vs Tidal. Sounds very good. Once the DAC arrives, perhaps that will change. 

For Spotify quality, utilizing your V90 DAC, the simplest, most inexpensive, expedient solution is a Wiim Mini. I use it in a 2nd system over WiFi with Qobuz at up to 24/192 into an external DAC through optical, controlled by the iPhone app. The interface is adequate, the setup is easy.

I do like the Bluesound app better. The Node also has a much better internal DAC than the Wiim so it may not be worth the trouble of connecting the V90. It also has more connectivity options for external DACs which might be helpful if you later decide to scale up. 

I’m assuming your home WiFi is decent. You can hardwire the Node. I don’t because WiFi is more convenient for me, and the little LED showing the connection was bright enough to annoy me.

I’m sure there are better sounding solutions, but either of these is a good start.

 

 

I used the blue sound for a couple years and thought it was a bargain 

very reliable and reasonably good sound quality 

underrated DAC

Given how good their DACs sound, I'd be curious about the HoloAudio streamer: 

 

As far as cheap streamers go I've had or have the Node, Cambridge CXN2, Ifi Zen Stream, WiiM Mini, and Arcam SA30. If Digital really isn't your "thing" and you mostly will be using Spotify, along with wanting the Streamer to be family friendly (Bluetooth) I would go with the $80 WiiM Mini or wait just a bit for the WiiM Pro which will have an Ethernet port. With the WiiM I'd suggest using the toslink out into your existing Dac input.

Spotify is not Hi-Res, I find it along the lines of quality as YouTube Music. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't see the need to over pay for a higher end streamer when your choice of Streaming Service doesn't call for it. The WiiM's Home app is better than most in my opinion, but I also feel like most of them out there have issues or a pain to navigate. 

When using my external DAC and streaming services such as Quboz or Tidal I didn't hear much of a difference if any between the WiiM and the Node. The Zen Stream is a step up in sound quality but I'd say the Zen can have issues at time..not so much a problem I can't navigate around but I wouldn't call it family friendly. Others may disagree. 

So that's my 2cents on the subject, I think the WiiM is a fabulous entry level product. It doesn't have a wired Ethernet port but that was never an issue with my Wifi. Its so cheap that if you ever decide you need better I doubt you will cry about what you spent. Move it to another room or a cheap secondary system. Good luck