Brooklyn Bridge II ( or I) or Lumin T2. Both punch above their weight. Very good DAC’s on board. One box too.
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Hello, Its all about the DAC. If your DAC is good then you are good to go. I use the BlueSound Node 2i as the streamer. I want to upgrade the power supply because I heard it takes the BSN to a whole mother level. You say why spend the money? The BlueSound OS is really nice. Plus they offer other options to add on to your whole house music system. I tested the Ayre QX-8 DAC a few months ago and I thought it was really great for a five thousand dollar DAC/streamer. |
All Streamers do the same damn thing. What's key is the DAC that the Streamer is connected to. Your Internet Service Provider and the downlink speed is more critical. Don't get me started on the Fibre Optic Crowd (unless you have 100's of feet to run between you Streamer and you ISP's modem). I run a Bluesound Node 2i for AmazonHD only (no more Qobuz for me) & my PCM files into a PS Audio DirectStream DAC Sr. My DSD files are played back via Audirvana or my DLNA connected (wired Ethernet) Sony UBP-X10000ES via I2S Adapters into the PSA DAC. Spend your money on the DAC, and have at least 90 - 100mbs from your modem (ISP) into your streamer for dropout free listening. Stop the insanity ! |
“All Streamers do the same damn thing” All cars, watches, door to door salespeople do the same thing too. But all streamers, record players, systems and rooms do not have the same SQ. Stop the insanity. |
I echo the comments of people who say you don’t need to spend loads on streamers *for most people*. I’ve found the Auralic Aries G1 to be of very poor value against a Bluesound Node 2i in a review, used in a system it should fit into. The new 2021 node is great. Streamers as transports are one area in hifi most people don’t need to go crazy with, which I just wish was mirrored into the content of reviews which make out pricey streamers to be much much better. They can yield improvements in premium systems but diminishing returns are high. Mostly in hifi you don’t need to go crazy on streamers, unlike you can with your amp and speakers at any level, to get bigger changes. Spending on the DAC is much more worthwhile to the streaming transport and I like reviewing mainly the budget streaming transports since these are so good for what you get. These are some videos I’ve done that could be of help. https://youtu.be/ReE4wrTRoC4 https://youtu.be/dE_iSJM5h9w |
- 62 posts total