Please be gentle with me! 🙏


I am a vinyl diehard and know very little of the streaming world.

My son has just bought his 1st amp and speakers a Leak 230 integrated and some JBL 4312G speakers and is currently streaming his music using an Android phone via the USB C on his phone into the USB B input on the amp, using the built in DAC on the amp. So the question is would something like a Bluesound Node N130 as a straight streamer be an audible improvement to his phone?

128x128alan60

@alan60  depending on your son’s age and/or technical inclinations, many folks use a DIY dedicated device starting with a single board computer (similar or same as those in all off-the-shelf $treamers). There are free operating systems for such a project available online. The reason I bring this up is it’s a great way to kickstart a youngster into a learning x DIY aspect of stereo hobby as opposed to just introducing a new purchase habit, device-wise. 

If he’s too young or the household prefers ready-made, obviously this suggestion can be disregarded 😉

  Lots a accolades for the BS unit.  But I agree with @mahler123 the improvement potential is a crapshoot.

Demo an Auralic Vega 2.2 DAC/streamer…don’t buy it but at least get a reference point.

To answer your question, I feel going with something like a Bluesound Node N130 would offer better sound quality.  On the other hand, if he is Satisfied with his equipment situation and sound coming out of the speakers, I say all is good. Cross that SQ bridge when he gets to it.  It's his money and development into as my girlfriend calls me, "Stereo Lunatic".

 

Nobody knows what a streamer is or what it can do or can’t  do. What’s the difference between a server and a streamer? Isn’t a streamer a computer running some OS? Or do you call a computer running an OS a server? 

Can a streamer read ripped songs off a local disk? If so, that’s not a streamer is it?

Can a server running Roon access Qobuz/Tidal? Isn’t that a streamers function. If you are going to talk digital get your story straight. Or do what Aurender is starting to do to muck up the waters, they are now calling their boxes streaming server which is basically a computer running an OS, running some software, that can both read local music files and access Qobuz or tidal. Big deal, I’ve been doing this for over a dozen years, it’s nothing new.