2. digital
  3. 164147-525

New to streaming, looking for a budget streamer

I live in the country and up till a couple day ago my internet service was not suitable for hi-rez streaming, I use spotify to stream for new music, not for serious listening.

We now have a Frontier9472 Network modum/router installed. It affords WiFI and has 4 ethernet and 1 USB output. I am looking for a streamer that can receive signal via any of these outputs and serve Qobuz. The Bluesound Node 2i seems a likely candidate as I will use streaming for music exploration and background listening. I will play the Node into my Audio Mirror DAC. 

I have 2 questions)

1) are there other streamers available that would serve my purposes that are around the Node price point? 
2)  Would a ethernet or USB connect best the Wifi for SQ?  I know there are other threads on this, some quite lengthy describing ways to improve over ethernet. I just want to use either WiFI or a cable.

As I explore the merits of streaming I will likely upgrade my approach. 
mesch

Showing 1 response by yyzsantabarbara

yyzsantabarbara
4,466 posts
 
I am getting an AudioMirror Tubadour III SE DAC today (finally) and it will be hooked up to a Sonore OpticalRendu via Fibre Optical cable from a Ubiquity Networks switch ($200) and direct to the OpticalRendu, then USB to the AMT3SE.

https://www.ui.com/unifi-switching/unifi-switch-8-150w/

https://www.sonore.us/opticalRendu.html

The above 2 are so good that I have 2 OpticalRendu’s now for my Benchmark DAC3B and the AMT3SE. My opinion on this is that Fibre is the best that one can get for streaming (at any price).

A cheaper solution would be to use a microRendu with a LPS power supply. I have an old mircroRendu and I am waiting to compare that with a new integrated amp I am getting that has built-in Ethernet streaming.
More to discover