Streamers - Auralic, Aurender, Lumin, others...

Check out measurements section of hifi news reviews of streamers.  Noise / jitter performance of Rivo was comparable to $30k+ streamers they also tested.  That was using usb - vanishingly low.  I believe one of the upgrades to Rivo+ is clock.

The Rivo+ offers excellent sound quality as a streamer, but you’ll need to work around some software glitches — for example, the Qobuz playlist doesn’t appear when you try to add titles to it. However, the Volumio app sounds better than Qobuz Connect so I stick with it.

@gabriel123  I am never really sure what status the Roon is - server or endpoint - I now have so many DACs and individual setups!

I bought a Roon Nucleus One and eventually migrated or backed up to it all the songs on my Innuous ZEN MK3 which I bought used here. It came with a lot of music on it that the orignal owner graciously left present for me to explore.

It is attached my my home server directly (an Ubiquiti build) and so I can access it from any network connection in the home. I tend to use wired over wireless connections. So it sits in a closet and my Innuos sits in my office attached to the network and my office sound system. When I open Roon on my desktop computer, it is one of my choices for output. The Innuos also shows up on my phone and iPad apps.

My streamer is attached to a mostly Laiv Harmony system and Closer Acoustics speakers in my home office.

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/12144#&gid=1&pid=1

My Bluesound Node is attached to a McIntosh integrated amp (MA252) in the living room and it too is to be found in my choices for output the app.

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/12143#&gid=1&pid=4

Slightly different rooms and sound characteristics, I guess, but both are available in the Roon app(s) as a place to output the sound.

Tim

@lanx0003 Qobuz isn’t available in my country so that’s not an issue. In fact, I’d probably use it as a Roon endpoint and only from time to time the native app to stream Spotify. Have you had a chance to compare it to other (more expensive) streamers, maybe?

@jjss49 Makes some excellent points about clocks and noise, switches and isolators but the most important thing is to get started . Pick a solid manufacturer with good customer service that's going to be around for a while. That's more important than worrying about getting the 9th degree of resolution, which can be achieved through cables and other means. However make sure you get a streamer with a clock input .