No experience here with either. Do they include DACs, or are you pretty set in that department?
I love my Melco N 100, which is a great streamer and NAS with a 2 TB HD. No DAC included and you need to supply a CD ripper if you are going to convert a CD collection. Price ranges around $2K.
My worry with new boutique companies is support. Streamers are a different animal than other components. They are basically networking computers in audio casework. If you have ever had a problem getting a recalcitrant printer and PC to talk to each other, or have your IT server crash at work, you can imagine what might happen. They might be great companies with fantastic support, but even so they might not be in business 3 years from now.
My Melco has simply worked from the get go, no support required. They are the audiophile branch of a long standing computer peripheral company if that means anything. No, I have no affiliation, just a satisfied consumer |
streamers are dedicated computers designed to produce a pure low noise bitstream, and they rely on software to work and interface with the user and a menagerie of streamed music sources
the software aspect, and the integration of the software with a changing set of streamed music sources is a key variable... for example tidal connect is a form of service-to-streamer coupling software that must be properly coded into a streamer... i would be reluctant to rely on small makers to forever keep up to date on the ever changing streaming world and have their user interface and operating software fully up to snuff |
“i would be reluctant to rely on small makers to forever keep up to date on the ever changing streaming world and have their user interface and operating software fully up to snuff.”
@jjss49 makes an excellent point. I would look at offerings from Aurender or Lumin. Even a Node paired with an external DAC gives you much more robust platform and SQ to stream music from vast variety of streaming services. |
what @
jjss49 said. Even Bryston a respected hardware supplier of streaming devices , IMO, struggles with the software side of their streaming devices. Having said that their streaming devices sound great. On the flips side look a Sonos; midfi hardware at best but have captured a large segment of the streaming market by focusing a producing superior software.
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Never hoid of 'em.
For that reason, I'm out.
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I recommend a Raspberry Pi. It's what I use in my system with my Benchmark DAC3. Sounds great!
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100% agree with yage69. RPi 4 with a decent HAT and power supply is less the $500. Add a lifetime subscription to Roon and you still have $$$$$ for a better DAC, or amp, or room treatment. There is no better streaming interface than Roon, period. Read Darko or Twittering Machines. A streamer is just plumbing. Don’t overpay!
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I follow the path of yage69 and x5owner1 with a little different twist. These days some DAC's have streaming capability designed into the product. Go look for a DAC with an internet connection port or Wi-Fi and work from there.
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The A Cappella III by Musica Pristina exclusively uses Roon as it’s operating system, so you would not have to rely on maker to "keep up to date with the ever changing world of streaming". When looking for a dedicated streamer that outputs I2S formatted correctly for my Holo Audio May KTE DAC, I landed on this streamer. I have not yet purchased it, but had several really informative conversations with the maker, Kevin Welsh.
There are nearly endless choices for streamers currently on the market. You can spend anywhere from a couple hundred bucks to upwards of $40K. The more people you ask, the more unique answers you will receive. Musica Pristina is a USA company. Strike up a conversation with the owner and I think you’ll find him very knowledgeable about his product and digital audio in general. (I have no affiliation with Kevin Welsh or Musica Pristina). |
I have a Lucas Audio lab mini somewhat customized. Lucas is one of my audio heroes and is honest, generous, and helpful as I've ever worked with in this business. For the quality he provides in service and build, can't beat the value. He'll build the best server you can budget for and support you for the long haul. You'll need it, too, as software, firmware, specs of DACs are always changing. |
I have a few streamers: Orchard Audio PecanPi, LUMIN U1 Mini and a Sonore UltraRendu. I am happy with all of them. But granted I have a little bit of a complex chain from the switch to the streamer, but sometimes the UltraRendu loses its IP address. I switched it out for the LUMIN and I haven’t had that problem yet. |
Thanks for all the input.
I have talked with owners of both companies and I like very much the way they approach the digital chain.
I have also looked at bryston bdp 3 3.5k as well as Wolf Audio 5K starting point
I am leaning towards lucas audio labs.
I did also look at lumin mini
Dan
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Definitely look at Matrix Audio. At the lower end is the Mini-I Pro 3 for under $2K. High end is the Element X for about $3.4K. Excellent pre-amp streaming DACs with headphone amp included. Or Hegel h190 or Naim Uniti Atom integrated amp DAC streamers also under $4K. |
I had the Bryston BDP3. Sounds great but buggy, very difficult to operate. Sold it to pay for my Melco |
Melco I will give it a look see.
I am leaning towards Lucas Audio though. I really like the 2 box approach with seperate power supply
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Yeh N30sa waY out of my league. At 24k I am in around 4k USD tops.
But looks like a end game product for sure
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mahler123I had the Bryston BDP3. Sounds great but buggy, very difficult to operate. Sold it to pay for my Melco That's interesting. What you describe was my experience with Aurender. I dumped it in favor of the Bryston BDP-3, which has worked very well for me. I do use
Rigelian.
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"
That's interesting. What you describe was my experience with
Aurender. I dumped it in favor of the Bryston BDP-3, which has worked
very well for me. I do use
Rigelian.
"
@cleeds Can you configure Rigelian to stream a music service like Qobuz? Or do you just listen to your own library?
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As a former owner of an Innuos Zenith Mk3, I believe that the combined Roon core server/streamer market is very overpriced. I sold it, and replaced it with a fanless Azulle Inspire i5 mini PC with ROCK installed. I will be selling this soon, as for fun, I upgraded it to an Intel NUC10 i7 in an fanless Akasa case. This runs my Roon core and the streamer is separated in a different unit. The SQ is fantastic. Roon remote and Roon run quicker and better. Plus it is a satisfying little DIY project. |
Cleeds I used Rigelian with the Bryston BDP-3. It definitely was an improvement over Manic Moose, but ultimately there were many days Bryston just wouldn’t play nice, and just tired of it all. There were may times, usually Sunday afternoon, when the whole Bryston site was down, and then Rigelian won’t work. Why doesn’t Bryston just use an App?
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jbuhl Can you configure Rigelian to stream a music service like Qobuz? No, I still use Manic Moose for that. mahler123... I used Rigelian with the Bryston BDP-3. It definitely was an improvement over Manic Moose, but ultimately there were many days Bryston just wouldn’t play nice, and just tired of it all. There were may times, usually Sunday afternoon, when the whole Bryston site was down, and then Rigelian won’t work. That doesn’t make sense. Rigelian doesn’t require the Bryston site to work - it’s a self-contained app. |
