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Streamers with best apps?

I tried this question on an Australian forum with no luck, so I'm hoping a more audio savvy community might do better. I currently have a Cambridge Audio CXN which as I discovered has 2 hopeless apps when you want to find classical albums saved on Tidal My Collection. So thinking of ditching the CXN and getting another streamer/server , preferably without a DAC as I will be running it through a Pure Audio Lotus DAC 5. Most reviews of streamers seem to focus entirely on sound quality but as I have discovered the apps used are of almost equal importance. I have considered an Elac Discovery DS-S101-G which is controlled by a Roon Essentials app. So first question. Does anyone know how the Essentials app lists classical albums in Tidal My Collection and does it have a search function for the albums saved? Second question what streamers can you recommend that at least are equal and preferably better than the Tidal app which does have a search function but very little logic as to how it lists classical albums. I have thought about the Bryston BDP Pi, Innous Zen mini or an Auralic streamer but know nothing about the usability of their respective apps. So anyone out there who can help.
128x128mazian
Post removed 
usery
131 posts
 
To the OP’s original post:

"So first question. Does anyone know how the Essentials app lists classical albums in Tidal My Collection and does it have a search function for the albums saved?"
I don’t.

"Second question: what streamers can you recommend that at least are equal and preferably better than the Tidal app..."
If you mean "what streamers have equal or better apps than Tidal’s app?"...

... good luck. I have the Micromega M-100 integrated amp/DAC that streams through its RJ45 interface (ethernet). Their control app is barely 2-star material.

So +1 to BubbbleUPnP-as-control-point app as recommended up in the thread ^^^.

For this 90%-classical listener all the music service apps suck in various ways as catalog & metadata browsers - and I mean all of them. If you want an effective ux you have to invest: building your own catalog with metadata (eg ripping your cd’s and tagging the music files), paying $$$ for an addt’l 3rd-party app/service (Roon etc), and/or learning about and applying alternatives to the beaten path. Personally I’ve invested in 1 and 3.
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,629 posts
 
Tidal Connect is convenient but it might be long time until they get to your streamer.
spiritofradio's avatar
spiritofradio
3,449 posts
 
@usery you may know about this service already but for a classical listener this is the best:

https://app.idagio.com/discover

check it out. You may be surprised by the absence of confusion.
tbayles
4 posts
 
Roon really is the best, and it’s the best by leaps and bounds. I’m a LUMIN owner and my opinion is that it’s awful. It doesn’t offer the functionality native to Qobuz or Tidal. Bluos is waaaay better than LUMIN. But in the end, Roon truly is vastly superior, especially if you want any info on what you are playing and/or want to discover new music. The downside to roon is that it requires a server/core. The app debate comes down to: you get what you pay for and the free options are simply bad. Using Tidal and Qobuz are decent experiences for their own content... but if you want access and metadata to your own media Roon is the way to go.
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