Any good media streamers coming out, or just released lately?

[wink]

Will do!

 

[Stefan_DR3]

Ok, I finally pulled the trigger. Due to the fact I was looking for both a nice pre-amp to pair with the Coda #8 amp I just purchased, and a streamer to render not only the vast library on my Synology server, but also decode DSD and MQA files....I finally decided on pulling the trigger on an NAD M12. It does everything I need it to do features wise, now to see if it will be a good sonic match for the Coda...

Nice choice! I just bought a Bluesound Node 2i and getting curious about the NAD preamps. I hope it came with the BluOS streaming module because they’re discontinued.

 

[wink]

Nice choice! I just bought a Bluesound Node 2i and getting curious about the NAD preamps. I hope it came with the BluOS streaming module because they’re discontinued.

I bought the BluOS module...I had to have that module to render files from my Synology and decode MQA...
I wish I could buy another XLR module to give a little more connectivity through the preamp in 2-ch..

 

[JonFo]

I finally decided on pulling the trigger on an NAD M12. It does everything I need it to do features wise

Congrats, that's a nice piece of kit, and do keep us posted.

 

[wink]

Still waiting for the unit to come off back order...I’m anxious to hear the overall sound quality. Especially compared to the Dac’s in my Oppo UDP-205 which I consider to be excellent. Will be mostly used in HT-bypass mode...

 

[wink]

Update: received the M12, sent it back, was not for me. Too much A to D and D to A in one box with no straight path analog option.
Bought a Coda FET 07x, with a Lumin D2 coming in short order for the digital side of things.

 

[zigman]

@amey01 Super delayed response on my part, just wanted to mention that while most DACs will separate out components to remove noise across components they do not really do it for power and other noise coming in. Of course there are exceptions like Aavik, Borresen uses Ansuz technology in some of their new stuff.

@wink, Lumin D2 is a great choice. Make sure you break it in, let it play for a couple of weeks. As far as I know you can do this without having your amp on. I had one for a bit, liked it enough to upgrade to the T2. If you have the time (and computer to host the server) you may want to try out Roon vs. their own app. Interface is better, but they do sound different. I personally think Roon works well with some pairings and not others. It worked great with the T2 but for natural or warmer sounding DACs not so much. Native app is bit perfect, from my experience Roon is not.

 

[MAGSL3]

Anything in the Cary Audio line up. I just purchased the DMS 500 and it has been rock solid! I’d love to try the 700 out at some point. Functionality is second to none and the sound is superb. It is Roon ready to boot! Best upgrade this far in my setup.

 

[JLasher22443]

Update: received the M12, sent it back, was not for me. Too much A to D and D to A in one box with no straight path analog option.
Bought a Coda FET 07x, with a Lumin D2 coming in short order for the digital side of things.

Any word on the D2 and how it is?

 

[wink]

Any word on the D2 and how it is?

Haven’t freed up the funds to make the purchase,yet. Will let you know my thoughts when I do. I am expecting a very stable and clean sounding streaming device, along with an intuitive cataloging platform.
Dan

 

[Sunkenpirate]

It exist already

Bluesound node

 

[zigman]

Haven’t freed up the funds to make the purchase,yet. Will let you know my thoughts when I do. I am expecting a very stable and clean sounding streaming device, along with an intuitive cataloging platform.
Dan

If you have an extensive library, you may potentially consider either Lumin + Roon solution or Aurender. While the Lumin app is decent, it's not at the same level for catalog management, search etc. as the other two.

 

[amey01]

If you have an extensive library, you may potentially consider either Lumin + Roon solution or Aurender. While the Lumin app is decent, it's not at the same level for catalog management, search etc. as the other two.

And with Roon, all you need is a Raspberry Pi endpoint. Have a look at "Ropieee".

 

[RCHeliGuy]

Since I'm using the DAC in my OPPO 105D just about any means of conveying data to the DAC will sound the same and it is more a matter of features.

I may have to check out that Raspberry Pi solution!

Ideally I would like a solution that supported my JRiver Media Center so I could play all the music I own locally as well and they have supported the Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 for a while now. It looks like I can set up a tiny little box and attach my music SSD's to it. Ideally it will be cooled by convection, but I'm sure I could manage a whisper quiet Noctua fan if I needed it.

 

[wink]

If you have an extensive library, you may potentially consider either Lumin + Roon solution or Aurender. While the Lumin app is decent, it's not at the same level for catalog management, search etc. as the other two.

I’m looking at the Lumin D2. I do have an extensive library on a Synology NAS where I currently use DSaudio for cataloging. I’m open to other formats as an alternative

 

[zigman]

Since I'm using the DAC in my OPPO 105D just about any means of conveying data to the DAC will sound the same and it is more a matter of features.

This is not necessarily true. Of course digital is digital, but source matters. I have done some extensive testing with Roon vs. the app that comes with the streamer and there is definitely a difference is tonality and crispness playing the same streamed content. Not necessarily bad, just different.

Also of course, line noise is a consideration going into DAC, but again it all matters how transparent your system is.

 

[zigman]

I’m looking at the Lumin D2. I do have an extensive library on a Synology NAS where I currently use DSaudio for cataloging. I’m open to other formats as an alternative

Lumin would work in this scenario, it's just that the Lumin app isn't as versatile as Roon and others. With Roon and the Aurender you can mix and match your own music with streamed. But if you are not into fancier interfaces and just want to play tracks, Lumix app will work.

 

[RCHeliGuy]

This is not necessarily true. Of course digital is digital, but source matters. I have done some extensive testing with Roon vs. the app that comes with the streamer and there is definitely a difference is tonality and crispness playing the same streamed content. Not necessarily bad, just different.

Also of course, line noise is a consideration going into DAC, but again it all matters how transparent your system is.

If the app is impacting tonality it would have to be modifying the data which makes very little sense.

Obviously high bitrate vs low bitrate with compression can sound different, but 1's and 0's are either valid or corrupt, there is no tonality unless your DAC and analog parts are in the streamer vs. external then the analog components could have an impact.

 

[zigman]

If the app is impacting tonality it would have to be modifying the data which makes very little sense.

Obviously high bitrate vs low bitrate with compression can sound different, but 1's and 0's are either valid or corrupt, there is no tonality unless your DAC and analog parts are in the streamer vs. external then the analog components could have an impact.

Roon wraps the music in RAAT encapsulation for transmission and management across different devices. The end point processes the RAAT format and the music is extracted. So you are not transmitting the raw 1's and 0's directly as if you were sending raw music from Tidal direct to the streamer (what the native apps usually do). I imagine this enables Roon to work it's magic if you want additional processing at the Roon server, like tonality tweaks, DSD conversion, etc. What happens to the original music if you don't apply any processing I am uncertain. All I can say is I have tried both on two different streamers/dacs and had the same result. On one I liked Roon better and on the other native app was better. From my experience Roon smooths out the highs a bit to sound more natural. If you have a DAC that already has this sound signature then the highs could get a tad soft.

It's system dependent if you can hear the difference. I have a very transparent system both with ML and Borresen speakers.

 

[amey01]

Since I'm using the DAC in my OPPO 105D just about any means of conveying data to the DAC will sound the same and it is more a matter of features.

I may have to check out that Raspberry Pi solution!

Ideally I would like a solution that supported my JRiver Media Center so I could play all the music I own locally as well and they have supported the Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 for a while now. It looks like I can set up a tiny little box and attach my music SSD's to it. Ideally it will be cooled by convection, but I'm sure I could manage a whisper quiet Noctua fan if I needed it.

There are so many 'Pi music OSes - I'm not familiar with Jriver - but I assume it is straight DLNA? Try Volumio or Moode.

For Roon, there's Riopeee.

And for Logitech Media Server there is PiCorePlayer.

There are as easy as it gets to install - download the image, burn to an SD card, boot up the 'Pi and there you have it - a Squeezebox client, a Roon endpoint, or a DLNA client. Couldn't be easier.

You can use USB straight away, or there is a plethora of GPIO / HAT cards that let you do I2S, SPDIF, etc......even full DACs that give you analogue out.

Convection cooling is all you need......so they're totally silent.