I am curious as to how others regard the audible contribution of the server versus the streamer. Does it matter more, less, or the same?
Do streamers make a difference?
Just added the Nagra Streamer and I can wholeheartedly say yes, it does. Without buttons, remote control or a screen, it is elegant in its simplicity. On the other hand, its music selection is anything but simple as it accommodates Qobuz Connect, Tidal Connect, and Spotify Connect. It is Roon ready/Roon Tested, JPLAY Certified, and plays with Audirvāna, Airplay 2, UPnP/dlna for local files and vTuner for radio access.
It is a wonderful device and I hear more music and I hear the music more clearly. But in the interest of full disclosure, is it the streamer or the result of removing a USB connection?
My previous system used a Roon Nucleus Plus as server and streamer and was fed via an AudioQuest Vodka RJ/E ethernet cable from an Xfinity XB7-T modem/router. The Nucleus was then connected via an AudioQuest Dragon USB cable to a Playback Designs USB-X4 interface, which connected to a Playback Designs MPD-8 DAC using their proprietary high-bandwidth fiberoptic cable. In addition to the fiberoptic connection providing galvanic isolation, the USB-X4 also reduces jitter with a clock that is identical to the clock in the MPD-8.
The new system has the Nucleus and the Nagra Streamer each connected via Vodka ethernet cables to the Xfinity XB7-T. Nagra and Playback Designs share design technology and the Nagra Streamer connects to the MPD-8 with the same proprietary fiberoptic connection as the USB-X4 and also incorporates the identical clock, yielding the same sonic benefits in terms of noise and jitter reduction.
There is definite improvement in terms of detail and space. There is simply more to the music. I venture that the streamer contributes the lion’s share but acknowledge that I have removed a USB connection from the flow, which may also contribute to the difference.
While I believe it is a great addition to my system, the Nagra is not for everybody since its connectivity is limited to only two outputs, the second being an S/PDIF. The USB port is an input for hard and flash drives.
The matching Nagra Compact PSU almost doubles the purchase price so I have ordered a Teddy Pardo LPS to replace the included SMPS.
I do not use a network switch since I have only the two ethernet connections and see no reason to isolate one from the other. I also believe clocking is not an issue, but I am interested in what others think on both fronts.
Of note, EMM employ a similar proprietary fiberoptic cable set-up but utilize a different format that is not compatible with Nagra and Playback Designs.
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@tcutter I have some thoughts on this subject. Over the years I’ve used these streamers: Auralic Aries Sonore microRendu Aurender N10 Innuos Zen MK3 Innuos Zenith (latest) Lumin U1 Mini Lumin U1 with X1 supply Lumin U2 mini Lumin U2 Playback Design MPS-X Direct PC over USB Servers have been: Roon Core hosted on NUCS(ROCK OS and Windows OS), Windows machines of various classes, Roon hosted on Innuos, Nucleus One (latest), Melco basic one (forget the model) DACS have been: Meitner MA1v2, Meitner MA3, MSB Discrete, Chord Cutest, TT2, DAVE, Mojo2, Bricasti M3, M1, M21, Denafrips Terminator II anniversary, Moon 791,Playback Designs MPD-8 SACD Players: Luxman D08u, D03X, Marantz SA-10, Accuphase DP-770 (latest) Switches/gadgets: Various Netgear, SFP cages, USB reclockers, Ethernet filters, linear power supplies, $$$ eth cables, Melco S100/2 (latest) What I’ve noticed, in terms of rank from biggest to least, impacts on sound quality (1 being most important): 1) speaker room integration (a sufficiently capable speaker is assumed) 2) Amplifier 3) Preamplifier 4) DAC 5) Streamer 6) Cables 7) Network accessories These are digital only observations. Vinyl will have its own set of tradeoffs. My latest digital front end, Accuphase DP-770 SACD player with USB input option and fed by a cheapie $300 ifi Zen Stream 3 seems to leave nothing off the table in terms of resolution, transparency, functionality, ease of use, audio performance, etc. I’m reasonably sure to improve on say noise floor to get blacker blacks, would require a huge outlay for say something like high end Aurender or Lumin. But to me I see no value in that play whatsoever. The DAC’s noise and jitter rejection over its USB port is significant to the point that I see zero reason to invest any further on improving streaming. The SQ is very close to the primary purpose, which is playing CDs and SACDs. In a sense I’m both shocked—and not, at this result. I think the USB implementation DAC side, is super critical and pays dividends in the end. I am using a Wyred4Sound USB Reclocker on the iFI and feeding the iFI LAN port with my Melco S/100 which hilariously cost a few X more than the streamer, so these accoutrements might have something to do with it. As always YMMV :) cheers
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“Server” and “streamer” are often used interchangeably…it really comes down to how they’re implemented in a system. I’m a Roon user, but I don’t run a separate server for Roon Core. My DAC has the Roon endpoint/renderer built in, and that’s all I use. My music library lives on a portable Samsung 2TB SSD, plugged directly into the Merging DAC via USB for seamless playback. I mention this because your Nagra streamer follows a similar philosophy, keeping noisy servers out of the chain. It’s a clean, minimalist approach to music playback without heavy processing or added noise 😊 |
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