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Music Streamer Quality

This may be a dumb question but does the quality of a music streamer ultimately affect the sound? So here's some detail. I currently have a Sonos music streamer fed into a Simaudio Moon 300D dac. In the interest of having higher quality sound I could upgrade the dac or I could buy a dac with streaming capability such as the Simaudio 280D. I'm looking at a R2R ladder dac but would have the same Sonos feeding it. Does that make more sense than something like the Moon device? I appreciate an comments.
128x128falconquest
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falconquest OP
1,108 posts
 
Any sense of how the MicroRendu compares to the Auralic Aries Mini? The latter seems to be quite highly regarded also. I get what you're saying about the upstream component so I will focus on that for now. One thing I have to say for Sonos is the interface is incredibly simple and stable. As for power issues, I don't worry about power with the BPT in the system.
falconquest's avatar
falconquest OP
1,108 posts
 
BTW, I have been communicating with another member who says he could not get the Soekris dac to work properly with his MicroRendu so I guess one has to watch out for compatibility issues.
jond's avatar
jond
5,655 posts
 
I can't comment on the MicroRendu but I will say I am a happy Aries Mini owner with the Sbooster upgraded power supply.
mdelrossi1
79 posts
 
+3 for the Bluesound node2. It's a really well designed unit. The remote works a treat.  I've used it's analog out against the Schiit multibit Bifrost, and found it quite close. 

@williewonka 
What c7 plug did you use? I tried the Pangea 14se, and it is a loose fit and falls out. Sounded better but…
Thanks.

kendrick2
41 posts
 
I have not listened to the Aries Mini and cannot comment on the sound quality.  My guess is that with a linear power supply (e.g. Sbooster) and a good dac, the sound would be very good.  You can probably find some discussion here or elsewhere that compares the different Aries models.  The manufacturer is getting ready to release a new model, so you might see some used Aries and LE units for resale.  These would give you an option of using Roon, which the Aries mini does not provide.   A major downside, IMO.  

Yes, the Sonos interface is terrific.  But having made the transition to Roon, there is no going back.  I tried Roon free for 30 days last fall, using the office iMac as a temporary server.  You might do the same.  

About your possible dac choices, I was unfamiliar with the Soekris dac and went to the company website to find this notice. "Due to declining sales, limited resources available to design new products, and increased competition from Asia, Soekris Engineering, Inc. has suspended operations in the USA as of today."  There is a down side to buying good stuff from small, boutique companies whose products are not well known (think resale) or have limited financial resources.   

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