Streamer wanted

As an owner of the Arcam st60, I can say that it is a solid piece that checks “almost” all of the boxes one would want.  It has chrome cast built in, will do tidal MQA decoding(important to me), Spotify connect, upnp, and digital in (toslink & coax). It also works with Roon. Has single ended and balanced (important to me) outputs, digital outs if you don’t like the “sound” of the unit(you can adjust the ESS filters on it) and want to run your own dac.  It can also act as a preamp if you’re only running streaming/digital as a source.  The music life application that comes with it is nothing fancy but runs without hiccups. My only “issue” with it is lack of a usb input.  Now in Arcam’s defense it is a “streamer” and not a DAC, but if you’re going to include digital in’s...   I’ve owned or have used streamers from Marantz, blue sound, And the RPi4.  I can say without a doubt I’m very happy with the sound from the Arcam.  

Unfortunately, my RPlay Arcam model, although ostensibly designed with hi res,
has been incompatible with my DACs.  Otherwise, the sound is quite impressive.

I have the Cambridge Audio CNX V2. Paid $700 on ebay for a refurbished unit. Great unit,  greater deal and I could not be happier using it as my only source for my Acoustat 33's w/ Roy E. Rebuilt TNT200 converted Monoblocks..

Interesting post. I wonder if anyone has tested the Matrix Audio mini I-pro 3. It is a bit over $1000. Compared to the Arcam ST60, it has a USB input, it is already already Roon certified, and it has a similar DAC (ESS9038Q2M versus the Arcam’s ESS9038K2M). The only disadvantage is that it is not a uPnP Streamer.

https://www.matrix-digi.com/en/products/489.html

I have the Matrix Mini-I-3 Pro and it has very good streaming options. I am about to pack it up today and send to my buddy so he does not annoy me with he crappy music listening options. The unit has Apple AirPlay2, ROON READY, WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth for streaming. It also has a cool GUI showing the album being played.

The great thing about this DAC is that is is low priced (I paid $750 on Black Friday), it is very easy to use for non-audiophiles such as my buddy. He likely won’t get ROON but he will be able to play his music and computer audio via AirPlay2 using his iPhone, mostly YouTube.

You need Ethernet connectivity for all the best features to work on the Mini. WiFi restricts some features such as displaying the album image on the GUI. WiFi works well until it does not and then things need to be shut down and restarted. So WiFi is not recommended by me.

The DAC is not as good as my ESS Benchmark DAC3B or my AMT3SE tube DAC but it is comparable to the internal ESS DAC of my KRELL K-300i integrated (a $1000 option).

The Mini was used mainly by me with a Topping A90 headphone amp and Meze Empy headphones. I was shocked at the quality of this setup for the price I paid. Almost as good as my Benchmark HPA4 + DAC3B with the Meze Empy.

https://soundnews.net/sources/dacs/matrix-audio-mini-i-pro-3-third-time-s-a-charm/