Wanting to upgrade my streaming sound quality.
I would really like to get my streaming sq up to my analog sq. My equipment is a McIntosh MC 452, C47, TD 124 with an AT 150 SA on a SME M2-9 tone arm, a Rega P8 with an Alpheta 3, a restored MR 74 tuner, driving Aerial 7t speakers. My streaming now is an iPad with a usb cable into my preamp with Tidal. I would be willing to spend around $2500 . A one box solution would be preferable for a steamer/dac combo although two boxes could also work. I’m not interested in multiple clocks and separate power supplies etc. Also I don’t use CD’s for a source. I do have AT&T fiber internet with up to 1000 mb speed and my modem is only around 5 feet from my audio rack. Balanced inputs is preferable but not a deal breaker. I’ve looked at the HiFi Rose 250 and the 150 although the latter is more money than I want to spend. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m an Analog guy in a digital world.
Greg
@wc1, I really love the user interface of Roon. So going from a MacBook Pro to a Nucleus to run Tidal and Qobuz was a no brainer. I feel that I’ve really helped the sound quality by adding a 19v Sbooster linear power supply to the Nucleus, and using a Network Acoustics ENO Streaming System Ag between my network switch and the Nucleus.
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What I always find interesting is people who spend a lot of money on their analog system; turntable, arm, cartridge and phono stage and then spend a bare minimum on setting up a digital system and talk about how analogue sounds so much better than digital. I am not saying you will fall into this trap just that if your analogue system is a lot better than your digital system this is how you will feel. If you want digital to sound as good as your analogue set up then spend close to that amount and don't limit it to a third of your analogue's cost. Go for the Rose 150 or something in the $5k area. Just your turntable and cartridge falls into this range. Once you begin to enjoy the convenience of digital you will stream equally to playing vinyl and maybe more I am guessing. This is not because you will like the sound better but the convenience is there in terms of ease and access to so much music. Why end up feeling like you want to upgrade so soon from starting your streaming adventure. If you have the money available buy something in the $5k area. You might just want to go to some highend audio stores where you can audition and compare a $5k system to one half the price. If you don't hear a difference then you saved a bunch. Also compare the two price points not just to themselves but to an analogue system equal to yours at home. If you do own CDs then I would suggest ripping them to FLAC format and stream your digital files and explore ROON which will manage your digital files and integrate with some of the audiophile level streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal. One of the nicest things about ROON is their ROON Radio that will integrate with one of the streaming services you subscribe to. This way you will explore a lot of new music that falls into the type of musical areas you enjoy. Your iPad will be your control center, nothing I have found is easier but I do have a very large digital library. |
I think the OP made a good choice in a one box solution. His original dilemma was, not being a digital guy, he needed something simple, but to match the rest of the gear that either meant higher than $2500 budget or going up the learning curve of the less expensive but sonically equivalent way of doing things. Digital is a different skill set. Kudos to the OP for recognizing that. So many of the "digital is crap" crowd simply don’t know what they don’t know. I love the analog feel too, but sometimes I want iced coffee, sometimes I want hot coffee. Is either really wrong? I'll also throw in that the Mytek line of products probably would have been a good choice for the OP. The Brooklyn Bridge II has the same DACs as my Liberty II and sounds beautiful, plus that version streams. |
Over the years I've gone back and forth with upgrades to analog and digital in my system. For me planned upgrades to either side need to outperform the present superior side. I'm presently at point where it will take $10-20K to bring analog up to or surpass digital.
I've always found analog needs to outperform digital side in order to motivate me to use. My digital side has been at least satisfying for years, and the convenience trumps analog. Digital has gotten all the attention in recent years, reason analog needs major expenditure to catch up.
For vinyl only guys just getting into streaming expenditure will depend on how ambitious analog system is. Reaching too low on digital side will result in disappointment, it really takes quite a large expenditure and paying much attention to every single little detail to reach upper echelon of streaming. Streaming at highest level is complex and so many choices! |
