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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
agosto
45 posts
 
Joining the conversation as a relative newcomer to streaming: I am too coming from the analog end of the spectrum and about 18 months ago purchased a node 2. I am using an external DAC (Mark Levinson 30.5). While I am overall happy with the node 2 I have the occasional drop outs and I wonder if other owners have the same problem. I have a wifi setup and tested router positions and distances without improvements. I have a connection of 100Mb/s+ but I am still somewhat suspicious of the stability of the data service provided. Question: Do other node2 owners experience drop outs?
Second question: If I would opt to upgrade to the next level streamer (w/o DAC) what would be the most economical choice? Is there a difference between node2 and node2i?
djones51
4,947 posts
 
The main difference between the Node2i and 2 is the 2i has 5ghz wifi. I had dropouts using wifi so I ran a wire.
ericsch
752 posts
 
I have a Node2i that I purchased on USAM  a couple of weeks ago. I had drop outs and on the recommendation of someone on this  forum I got this and now use a wired connection:
  https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-universal-wi-fi-range-extender-with-ethernet-port-white/2733324.p?skuId=2733324

Problem solved.
agosto
45 posts
 
Thank you  both for your responses. I worked with tan extender as well but at then ensured that the router is in close proximity to the node2. I also discovered that the distance of my iPad (I am controlling the node2 with my iPad via Bluetooth) to the node2 had an influence on the amount of dropouts. Anyway, it seems to be a well known issue so I may run a wire.
Any suggestion on an upgrade for the streamer?
ericsch
752 posts
 
I'm going to give my Node2i to my son, so I will also be looking for a streamer only upgrade. I would prefer to use a separate DAC, perhaps Orchid.
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