Just like Jan Didden I look for a streamer below 1000 Euro that is designed for audio so with low jitter clocks and good regulated PSU's so no RPi etc.
My experience is that any well designed ARM device where care is given to clean rails outperforms RPi contraptions and they look better. The comparisons of Ifi Zen Stream with a few RPi devices were also clear on this.
What I see is that although I like DIY this area is very hard to DIY except the RPi devices hence their popularity. I don't consider using non audio designed stuff for audio. Point is that I know what I want but it is impossible to DIY. I notice hardcore DIYers to go back to analog even. The days of DIY are over when SBC's are concerned.
My experience is that any well designed ARM device where care is given to clean rails outperforms RPi contraptions and they look better. The comparisons of Ifi Zen Stream with a few RPi devices were also clear on this.
What I see is that although I like DIY this area is very hard to DIY except the RPi devices hence their popularity. I don't consider using non audio designed stuff for audio. Point is that I know what I want but it is impossible to DIY. I notice hardcore DIYers to go back to analog even. The days of DIY are over when SBC's are concerned.
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I am thinking that it might best to give up big expensive valve amps and roll it all into one with the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120.
That is maybe why I like my Old Synology that stream trough its usb output towards my fifofed tda15r1 dac with its async crazy clock.
However a computer is still a computer and not sure it is about number of pipes and so on, so a rpi core on a good layout like Allo is certainly electry clean, then after anyway you need an async input in your dac or you are prisoner of a streamer dac standalone device with its embeded clock. Anyway each computer needs its own clock...you still have jitter so. I am not aware of music server slaved by a clock shared with the dac for zero delay streaming. Even the pro studios have long tcp ip cables....
We need a pure streamer, it means usb or tcip/ip streaming, jitter is iirelevant as it is async (the inputs are at minima buffered at the dac input chips then reclocked (async), the plus is if the dac has a fifo or not for jitter worrieds.
However a computer is still a computer and not sure it is about number of pipes and so on, so a rpi core on a good layout like Allo is certainly electry clean, then after anyway you need an async input in your dac or you are prisoner of a streamer dac standalone device with its embeded clock. Anyway each computer needs its own clock...you still have jitter so. I am not aware of music server slaved by a clock shared with the dac for zero delay streaming. Even the pro studios have long tcp ip cables....
We need a pure streamer, it means usb or tcip/ip streaming, jitter is iirelevant as it is async (the inputs are at minima buffered at the dac input chips then reclocked (async), the plus is if the dac has a fifo or not for jitter worrieds.
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Rfbrw....if I had monney I had jumped in hexasound multichannels dac and little amps after for a full active filter stuff.
The Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 is affordable (at twice the budget) but ... no local storage and no Roon included 🙂 It also does not play DSD FWIW.
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The Lyngdorf can talk to the Melco or the NAS and is Roon-ready and I can live without Roon. If I must have DSD there is the '3400 though at around £5000 it is not really viable.
If you really buy the device please let us know how it performs. Seems a winner for you (on paper at least).
It seems the Yamaha NP-S303 has many satisfied owners. Far under budget as well.
Design from 2018... Musiccast app... Anyone familiar with this one?
Design from 2018... Musiccast app... Anyone familiar with this one?
My Yamaha RN 803 w/MusicCast is why I bought the Elac Discovery……..you want to talk about unintuitive and glitchy! Well maybe not because we’d be too busy talking about Yamaha’s non-existing customer support or if by the slightest chance you do get some help it’s straight up denial.
🙂 Ok it seemed OK on paper and software seems to have been updated to stable but I already got the impression it is outdated. The low price makes it perfect for modification though.
The Elac... I can write a book about it 😉
The Elac... I can write a book about it 😉
Follow up: all Elac DS-S101-G I found new in box had the 24-48 limitation via SPDIF. Even devices that are delivered as a replacement for defective devices by Elac Germany are exactly the ones with the error...
Nuprime Omnia WR-1 and S-1 have been introduced a while ago. They are quite hard to find in stores. The WR-1 is affordable but therefor has some artificial limitations like no high res via digital outputs. The S-1 seems nicely designed but some communication errors were made and the final product was different from what was first mentioned. Secondly the OS was abandoned for a completely new one. That is a rare phenomenon that indicates that there were some real issues. S-1 does not have its own app.
Ifi Zen Stream is still buggy and some promised features like MQA playback have been removed in a firmware update.... This product seems a waste of time. Too bad...
The Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 seemed a nice All-In-One device until I read the measurements. Secondly it would be the end of DIY for the person that buys it. Oh oh.
SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - Lyngdorf Audio TDAI-1120 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
Bluesound Node 2021 is an improvement of the previous one and it is convenient but the analog outputs are simply mediocre. It is capable of many features but sound quality over analog is not one of them.
So products that have most desired features AND good digital outputs or analog outputs AND a well designed app seem to be rare. Any suggestions? 🙂
Nuprime Omnia WR-1 and S-1 have been introduced a while ago. They are quite hard to find in stores. The WR-1 is affordable but therefor has some artificial limitations like no high res via digital outputs. The S-1 seems nicely designed but some communication errors were made and the final product was different from what was first mentioned. Secondly the OS was abandoned for a completely new one. That is a rare phenomenon that indicates that there were some real issues. S-1 does not have its own app.
Ifi Zen Stream is still buggy and some promised features like MQA playback have been removed in a firmware update.... This product seems a waste of time. Too bad...
The Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 seemed a nice All-In-One device until I read the measurements. Secondly it would be the end of DIY for the person that buys it. Oh oh.
SoundStageNetwork.com | SoundStage.com - Lyngdorf Audio TDAI-1120 Integrated Amplifier-DAC
Bluesound Node 2021 is an improvement of the previous one and it is convenient but the analog outputs are simply mediocre. It is capable of many features but sound quality over analog is not one of them.
So products that have most desired features AND good digital outputs or analog outputs AND a well designed app seem to be rare. Any suggestions? 🙂
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I picked up a minidsp SHD for the new system I’m preparing to put together, it runs volumio with mixed reviews……haven’t plugged it in yet, mostly have it for room correction/sub XO but never know. Anyone use this unit as their main streamer?
Gonna be a minute or two……probably not until after the holidays.
Wife seems to think family is more important than audio….go figure! 🙄
Wife seems to think family is more important than audio….go figure! 🙄
I use the Yamaha wxc-50ds which isn't perfect but does a great job for the money. I use it as a DAC and background music device with occasional serious listening.
It's a terrible shame that in this day and age we don't have better software and plug and play streaming devices for a few hundred dollars. From browsing this thread, it seems we have to spend $1000 on up, DIY or have marginal software. All Yamaha would have to do is modernize musiccast.
I gave up on usb dac inputs for serious listening, the latest Bluetooth options are about as good for normal use.
Using a digital audio (SD card) arm based player to my DAC via IIs for the main system for the last few years.
A device like that might be in my future however, if corporate computer restrictions begin to exclude my music files.
Using a digital audio (SD card) arm based player to my DAC via IIs for the main system for the last few years.
A device like that might be in my future however, if corporate computer restrictions begin to exclude my music files.
Compressed versus uncompressed and also "about as good" and RF everywhere as a bonus... simple choice one would think.
I guess I dont understand how BT compresses. Even 5.0? I also dont understand the mechanism with which it introduces a ~250 ms delay, which underscores my complete ignorance in how it works. Let's start with compression, if anyone cares to explain. Seems to have the bit-width in 5.0 to not need to do that. Perhaps someone at Qualcoom decided they had to do it anyway, to keep SQ perception in line with previous versions.
I'm going to guess MBs containing a processor (used as a streamer) are going to have their own sound, like anything else electronic. Perhaps this can be categorized into different processor architectures and physical implementations. One would have to believe there was / is some competence in the the power supply groups at the larger manufacturers, like Apple / Intel. When I left the industry, MB designers were specifying noise levels our probes could not measure above their own noise floor...
I also dont understand the abandonment of USB as an interconnect. So it's so bad, than even something like a JLSounds USB to I2S, with the isolation and reclocking - cant recover its atrocities?
One would think a mix / match / architect of a DIY system could prove satisfactory. Streaming from the NAS degrades? Use the SD card mentioned above; that's an architecture choice. There must be a whole list of things you can do / avoid to get there. At <1000.
I'm going to guess MBs containing a processor (used as a streamer) are going to have their own sound, like anything else electronic. Perhaps this can be categorized into different processor architectures and physical implementations. One would have to believe there was / is some competence in the the power supply groups at the larger manufacturers, like Apple / Intel. When I left the industry, MB designers were specifying noise levels our probes could not measure above their own noise floor...
I also dont understand the abandonment of USB as an interconnect. So it's so bad, than even something like a JLSounds USB to I2S, with the isolation and reclocking - cant recover its atrocities?
One would think a mix / match / architect of a DIY system could prove satisfactory. Streaming from the NAS degrades? Use the SD card mentioned above; that's an architecture choice. There must be a whole list of things you can do / avoid to get there. At <1000.