Streamer opinion.. Pease comment on validity.

Yeah, and when CD players first came out they were all supposed to sound the same too.  Guess this now makes streamers the new “Perfect Sound Forever.”  Ya Mon.

Yes, I hear what you are saying, but I also wonder how much the harsh sound was the fault of the player versus the quality of the CD itself.  Remember all the different designations on how the CD was mastered (if that's the right term).  I thought some of the early Phillips and Denons sounded pretty good.

Idol ramblings of a recent purchaser of his first streamer
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Following the lead of an A’gon poster I purchased a Node 2i from Brite Audio who sells the Node 2i for $500, less 10% for a first time customer, so $450, all in including shipping. It did take about 3 weeks to receive it, drop shipped directly from Bluesound.

I received the unit in December and like the sound much better running it into a modded Musetex Meitner DAC. The Museatex Meitner presents the music with a very pleasing sound stage, tonality and depth. Taking my DAC out the sound does seem flatter. Without having actual experience, I wonder if comparing different streamers with the same DAC will not necessarily show which is the better sounding streamer, only the streamer that has the best synergy with that particular DAC.

But at last, what I want to say is that pleasure of the world of music that this (or any streamer with such a great OS) opens up overshadows any possible deficiency in sound quality. Its like having the music equivalent of the Library of Congress at your fingertips. I haven’t even needed to experiment around, I put on the 60’s and 70’s music station and haven’t felt the need to tune to another station. It’s like whoever selects the programming is reading my mind. I will note that where I live in Vermont there is limited FM programming available, even with my DXing tuner.

The node 2 streamer is a mid fi device at best. I liked the Auralic Aries mini much better, but I only used that for background music.

I love using my system for background music as I am going about my day.  Over the years of being on A'gon I have come to realize there is a small but vocal subset of members with not much better to do with their time than to sit in a room alone and stare into space listening for tiny differences in sound.  This is not meant to be negative at all towards anyone who spends mega bucks on equipment, as I get it, its how the equipment serves you. 

cleeds

Is that how you choose your audio components?

I hate to throw this out there but for the most part I buy online without any demo.  I just read as much as I can here, and try to buy from venders that allow returns if a product turns out to not have synergy with the rest of the system.

I live in rural Vermont and the nearest bricks and mortar stores with any type of choices are hours away.

But if a bricks and mortar store offered a blind test I certainly would not refuse it.  

Lalitk

Blind tests are for naysayers and skeptics. Trust your listening skills and you will know what sounds better in your system, regardless of the cost.

I agree with the statement above that you can and should trust your ears to determine what sounds best.

But respectfully, I don"t get why you would think that blind tests are for naysayers and skeptics.  Why wouldn't blind testing be another way to determine what sounds best?

From my viewpoint it would make common sense that a person comparing two different stereo units, without knowing which was which, and picking that which they liked the sound of the best is a valid test.

No need to provide the discussion that there is no such thing as a true blind test that another member here has written a thousand times.