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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
128x128artemus_5
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,992 posts
 
@lalitk 

 
As many of us pointed out, you can get a Vault 2i (if you wish to rip your CD’s) or Node 2i as a start up device and add a DAC later on.
I am still on that track. As I have said I am getting tired from the research and have been taking steroids since Sat. So my mind is full and going 200 mph...at least. Plus my tendency is to overthink (Which you have been very helpful to overcome) One question. I've read that the caching process seems to be a problem for digital play. SSID is preferred over std HD. This seems to make a case for a SSiD NAS of some kind for playback. Is that a good  reason to buy the Vault over the Node? If i stream my catalog to the node, it will still be playing from the hard drive in essence. Hmm wonder if the HD's in the Vault are SSiD? Any thoughts?
BTW I messaged the guy with the Vault but have never heard back from him. I can still get the Vault 2i for $815 (Factory refurb) I'll get there. Thanks for your info. 
big_greg
6,670 posts
 
My music files are on a 7200 RPM spinning drive in an external enclosure that I share on my network.  I have not had any issues with lag or anything else when streaming to my Node 2.  And I'm sending files over my wireless network, the connection is not hard-wired.  

I don't doubt that having it hard wired and connected directly to the streamer might have some benefit, but the DAC is probably the weakest link in the chain if you're going with a Bluesound product, not the hard drive.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
The current school of thought is that ssd should be better than hdd but....
Whether any of us mere mortals could hear that difference is another question entirely.
Guess I am spoiled though as my N100 uses a small ssd to cache the music from the hdd so I have best of both worlds.

The bluesound products, vault, vault2, vault2i all use a hdd although.....
if you were really concerned over the ssd vs hdd you can attach a local usb drive to the vault and it will read it just like a NAS. This then could be a ssd so you have options with the vault variants for sure.
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
1,992 posts
 
@uberwaltz


I got this idea from Aurender CEO in a interview. He does not let hdd do the playing. OK for storage, but hdd hands off to SSiD for play. Thus the question as to whether the vault has ssid and therefore a better player?

https://www.audiostream.com/content/tips-setting-audiophile-nas-system-aurender-john-paul-lizars

At this point I’ve spent too much time reading and digesting. I have just enough knowledge to be dangerous...(-: ...and I’m wound tight on these steroids (for my back). One more day left


@big_greg.   

I hear ya. I overthink things. Maybe after I can get off this hunt I'll get centered up. Then too, it comes  down to that thought that everything matters. But hey, only one more day of these steroids!!! Yeah
big_greg
6,670 posts
 
@artemus_5 Perhaps I didn't make my point clear... if you want to get the best sound quality, consider something other than the Bluesound line.  Investing in something with a better DAC will have more of an impact on sound quality than whether the files are stored on a spinning hard drive or a SSD.  Most of my digital listening is through streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal, where files are quite possibly not even on the same continent and unlikely to be stored on SSD in their server farms.  Sound quality is excellent, and more so since I replaced my Bluesound with a better streamer (the TEAC NT-505). 

In other words, it's unlikely to make much difference if the Vault has a spinning hard drive or an SSD.   I doubt it's a SSD, or they wouldn't say "ultra-quiet" 2TB hard-drive.
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