A Bluesound with updated power supply and a Topping D90 sounds good to me. The Raspberry Pi 4 gets good comments. An R2R DAC would be a substitute and different sound. Denafrips etc.
Best streamer/DAC for up to $1500
I almost bought the Qutest. Even though it is still in my shortlist, I am thinking maybe I should go for the integrated solution of a streamar/DAC combo. My budget is no more than about $1500 MAX. MQA is not absolutely necessary. XLR outputs are preferable.
I am deciding towards a Cambridge CXN V2, unless someone here suggests an alternative.
Sound quality is obviously the most important criteria but right up there is also reliability too (at least 6+ years of trouble free reliable operation).
Any experiences ?
Thanks in advance.
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@cakyol - Given that source components costing around the $1500 mark generally have an inadequate power supply, which impacts their performance, I have taken a different approach in my streaming solution For me - it makes sense to have the least number of componnents in the audio chain
This may seem a little "extreme", i.e. using cables that actually cost more than the streamer,
Unfortunately, my cables are an advanced DIY design, so they are not "generally available". HOWEVER - Zavfino is a brand that produces excellent value cables like
The Bluesound Node 2 combined with great cables, punches way above it’s price point without the need for an external DAC, I realize it does not have XLR outputs, but XLR only really provides any benefit when long cables are used in very noisy environments - home audio seldom falls into that arena I do not make my recommendation without having experienced many different cables used with my Node 2 over the many years I have owned Bluesound product
FYI - I play content from
The Node 2 + the Cables recommended above is within your budget - with some wiggle room to spare Good luck with your quest Regards - Steve
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@cakyol - FYI - the Bluesound products also has tone controls built into the software interface You can customize by the selected player e.g.
To access select Settings - Player - Audio - Tone Controls from the interface software I opted not to go for the Vault because it only has one Hard Drive - My NAS has two mirrored RAID disks, which are great if a disk fails - just pop in another disk and the RAID asoftware rebuilds the mirror You should buy "server grade" hard drives - they are far more reliable Advantage of the Vault - you can load CD’s directly - but I use my computer, which also has access to the NAS, which I also use to purchase downloads - no more CD’s for me Regards - Steve |
My choice for the Mojo 2 is because of the overwhelmingly positive reviews of the product, as well as the fact that one of the the mojo 2 tone control bands is around 20 Hz, which is the low/subwoofer bass region, which is almost equivalent to the ’loudness’ settings which used to be available on older products and not on the newer ones, which I sorely miss. That is in fact one of the most important reasons I flipped to a Mojo 2 from the Qutest, which is considered to be a better (and more than twice as expensive) DAC. I am obviously giving up my XLR output requirement but I promise I will keep the wires very short :-) Thanks on all the suggestions. |
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