Airlens streamer thoughts


I had a bluesound node 2i with a Pontus dac. A year ago it was suggested here that my streamer was my weak point. I never believed it could make much difference. 
I finally ordered the airlens and I was floored. This was way more improvement than I could ever imagine. It’s cleaner and fuller base. Separation and depth is so apparent. 
Thank you guys for the suggestions. 

dahodevil

@dahodevil  Glad you like the the airlens.  My system is mostly PS Audio.  I agree they are a good company to work with.  I was using a Mojo Audio modified mac mini for years as my streamer and wanted something more up to date, as sw support on the mac had been discontinued for years.  I tried the airlens and it was comparable to the mac, but clearly better than other streamers I had like a sonos, which would probably be more similar to your node.  I returned the airlens as it wasn't an improvement for me, and I ended up biting the bullet and bought an innuos zen next-gen, which was several times more expensive than the airlens, but that's what I needed to do to get an unambiguous audible improvement in my system.  In any case, yes streamers matter.  enjoy  : )

I've been a PS Audio customer since they first released the first DirectStream (MK1) DAC years ago.  I enjoyed using a Roon Nucleus Plus server running Qobuz USB into my DirectStream MK2 DAC, which sounded awesome.  About a month ago I took the plunge and bought an AirLens, using Qobuz Connect from my Android phone, I2S into that DAC.  The improvement wasn't what I'd call "night and day", but it's definitely better at soundstage, distinctness of the individual instruments and voices and detail.  I'm glad I made the change.

@dahodevil, a lot of people believe a streamer can not make a difference in the sound of a system until they upgrade. That is assuming they have a system that can benefit from a better streamer. I switched to the Hifi Rose RS130 from a Raspberry Pi streamer I had built and noticed a big difference right away. Airlens was on my list as well, but I wanted a streamer with a screen. Glad you are enjoying the Airlens.