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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
128x128artemus_5
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Do I need to run a network wire from my router to the Streamer? OR Can it run on wireless? I have good enough signal to stream video. I also have 1-3 GB usb hard drive which I can put near streamer. Can I download necessary files for streamer to a USB hard drive and have streamer read it off hard drive plugged via usb into streamer?
Depending on streamer you might have to run hard wire. For example the Vault2i is hard line for internet only.
A lot of other units are both wired and wireless for internet, Auralic for sure.

Just as matter of habit I have always run hard wire to ensure no dropouts on signal.

Most good streamers can read a USB HDD as well, the vault and Aurender definitely can. Both will allow you to browse the contents of the USB drive just like it was on your computer.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,124 posts
 
@artemus_5,

Do I need to run a network wire from my router to the Streamer? OR Can it run on wireless? - You can run it wirelessly but hardwired is better as it rejects any RF noise interferences and dropouts. 
Can I download necessary files for streamer to a USB hard drive and have streamer read it off hard drive plugged via usb into streamer? - Yes, that’s what USB input is intended for on a streamer.


soma70
153 posts
 
+1 innuos
+1 Roon 

make sure your hardware is Roon compatible and factor in the subscriptions for Roon and either Qobuz or Tidal. 

nothing worse than a poorly designed app to manage your music. Roon is just amazing.

Auralic also have a good app and i hear good things from Aurender but that’s not Roon compatible and more expensive.
djones51
4,947 posts
 
artemus_5,

 I'll stick with one streamer so you don't  get confused you can research others, the Node2i can be wired or wireless it has 2.4G or 5G, it has a good android app which should work on your phone unless it's more than 3 or 4 years old, it has all the major streaming services as well as radio services, you can connect a USB drive to it, you can also simply share a file with your music in it on a computer or have a NAS. You can use it's internal dac or attach external. If you can stream video seamlessly wireless then you should be able to stream audio but if your network is busy someone is streaming video at the same time you might have problems.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Even though not a huge fan of the Auralic lightning app this is a killer deal......

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa0cd3-auralic-altair-wireless-network-streamer-dac-d-a-converter-1tb-remote-22846-music-servers-docks
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