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Stepping into streaming, finally

As the title states finally I have gotten into streaming realm. Wanted ethernet streamer connectivity and started with Wiim feeding Denafrips Venus II 12th then into Pathos Inpol Remix and finally to Sonus Faber Venere. Well, I was not thrilled with the sound quality not to mention lack of cooperation from Wiim with pure ethernet path. Tried Bluesound Node, small steps. No dice with Node either. Came across EarMen Stacatto with exclusive ethernet connectivity and no DAC built in, exactly what I needed, very few reviews but took a chance. Well, all the boxes of my needs checked, with sound quality matching CDs, transported by Jay's Audio CDT2 MK3. I think that says a lot. Very satisfied, expectations exceeded.

knock1
jond's avatar
jond
5,687 posts
 

Congrats on the new streamer knock1 and glad it sounds better it should looks like it's twice the price of the Node. I do have one question what does exclusive ethernet connectivity mean?

knock1 OP
199 posts
 

The price I paid was $249 from EarMen web site. There is no WiFi connectivity with Stacatto.

mahler123
3,083 posts
 

The Wiim and Node are entry level.  I haven’t heard the Wiim but have seen enough negative comments about SQ to not want to investigate, although the price of admission makes it tempting.  I have a lot of experience with the Node and it gets most things right but you do notice the improvement when you go up the ladder 

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,842 posts
 

I had the Node into an external DAC and upgraded the streamer. I cannot say the streamer alone made much of a difference in sound. For me, the differences always come back to the DAC. Streamers always fed with ethernet and the BluOS interface is very very stable and convenient. 

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