Solo streamer

You can buy off the shelf components build a single board computer, get an operating system  and save a ton of money, And have a nice server/streamer.  Will it be as good as a 23,000 Aurender or a 35,000 Taiko extreme? I seriously doubt it. It would be a fun project and could save you a lot of money to upgrade another component! 

Just about any streamer under 4,000 is nothing but a SBC  with $500 worth of parts.   Ask to look inside the streamer first before you buy.  Add up  the value of the parts? You'd be shocked. You can buy  some high end parts from Pink Faun and  Jcat and improve your streamer also as funds grow. 

There is more to Aurender than the fact it is a PC that's hot rodded. It is,  BUT for me it takes the computer out of computer audio.   As I type this with two fingers. I have to say that's worth something to me .....

Ever pick up an Aurender ?   They're heavy.   They reek of quality inside and out compared to any computer.    Support is great.  There's a lot to like.   You can also say that about Innuos. Auralic, Lumin too , they are more than just a PC.  

You are also buying into a slick user interface and real support with most companies that only do dedicated streamers .    

I started streaming with a Vault and I could not consume enough music.   I stream all day at work,  if I work from home it's going on in the background.   It absolutely made sense to me to buy a N200.   I can justify it when. I see buddies spend the same amount on a week doing their favorite thing, skiing,  golfing , whatever. 

@brunomarcs your post reminded me of “One Piece at a Time”, a song by Johnny Cash

@brunomarcs 

@oddiofyl +1

My Aurrender streamer weighs 46 pounds. I have listened to PCs and streamers at every level all the way to top level ones. Dedicated audio streamers sound better than PCs nearly without exception because the fact it has a processor is a minor part of the component and design effort involved in producing one. 

You miss my point @ghdprentice Im not comparing a sbc with a high quality over engineered 46 lb streaming device built with precision and fitted with  custom hardware, No expense spared on your streamer.

I'm saying that  these manufacturers who build sbc's in the 3,000 to 4,000 range are using some off the shelf parts made in Vietnam, they may have some custom tuning and support, that's worth something! 
I'm suggesting we could build these same kind of sbc streaming devices ourselves for a lot less money without having  specialized training and install free programming. If we budget more we can up the anti somewhat! 
 

There is a guy on what's best forum who builds his own streamer with no expense spared, I would post a link if I knew how. I suggest everyone finds that thread, it's very interesting.  I'm speaking of high end DIY.  I've been down this diy path for a while now and that my friend makes this audio hobby all the more worthwhile!