Another person going digital and full of questions

@cat_doorman , thanks that makes sense to me, and thanks everyone for your input.  

I'm going to follow this advice with the Bluesound and borrow my RME ADI-2 DAC from the office to try that combination.  I'll get used to that and then compare other DACs to see if there's an upgrade worth having.

1.  Started with the Node using internal DAC...sounded great

2.  Added a Qutest (w/ SBooster) to the Node...sounded better

3.  Tried Aurender N150 with Qutest... didn't notice improvement in SQ and didn't love Aurender OS vs BluOS.

4.  Currently auditioning a La Volce S3 with Node...sounds better than Qutest/Node combo

Journey continues...and enjoying every minute of it!

 

 

 

Be always liked the less mainstream audio products like NAIM. The build quality is amazing and DAC quite good. 
I’m too cheap (says the guy w $25k in equip) to pay to download great music that I have on extensive CD collection, so I rip stuff (lossless) onto Naim UNITI CORE. Really fast, excellent integration w Naim UNITI ATOM & stand alone speakers in other rooms. APP is great, easy to use, fast. 
I understand there is a new ATOM with same general functionality but with top of line headphone amp. 
stay safe. 

Just read catdoors post. Even more credence to buying NAIM Uniti Atom or Uniti Nova.  All in one with quality circuitry & architecture. 

Wow, I seemed to have missed a lot.

In any case, let me put, in a nutshell, what I have learned in my Streaming Education.

DAC's and Streamers DO affect sound reproduction.

Remember, besides converting those 1's and 0's, it has lots of software to eliminate jitter, noise, etc. Compound that with the software to integrate various streaming services, and you have a match made in hell.

Bluesound has a very extensive list of streaming apps to choose from, and for most people it will be all that they need or want. But, when you are on the 'Audiophile' quest of 'best sound', you get caught up in the details.

As I mentioned, the Aurender N100 I had was a slight improvement over the Bluesound, but the apps are limited to Qobuz and Tidal. (Slight improvement to my ears meant a bit more 'clarity' and 'detail' YMMV).

So, let me detail my equipment changes:

Bluesound Node with Ayre Codex- good, easy to set up, nice sound.

Aurender N100 with Ayre Codex- more clarity and detail, but not earthshaking difference over the Node.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Codex- Definite upgrade, sounds more 'alive'.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Ayre QB-9 Twenty- (Ayre had an upgrade program so I bought a QB-9 and had it upgraded to Twenty status). Now we're cooking. Things seem to be dialing in nicely. More clarity, richness/.depth.

Innuos Zen Mk3 with Brinkman Nyquist 2- Wow! My first thoughts were:

This sounds like vinyl. Lots of subtle qualities that I don't seem to have the proper words for. It just sounds right.

 

Okay, yes, I fell down the rabbit hole.

But, I did see the reason why some spend so much money on their streaming systems. Yes, it does make a difference. 

So, what would be my recommendation? 

If you have a budget of $1-2K, get the Bluesound Node and an Ayre Codex (used).

If you have a budget of $4-5K get the Innuos Zen Mini or Mk3 and the Ayre QB-9 Twenty

If you have a budget above that, then you can pick and choose whatever you want.😉. But, using the Brinkmann Nyquist would be on my short list.

 

 

And, to those who say;

Why not just play vinyl?

I respond with:

I grew up with vinyl. 

I remember all the pops and ticks, the warped records, having to get up every 30 minutes to turn the thing over, and the space required to store them.

Streaming allows me to listen to just about anything I want to listen to, when I want to listen to it, and let's me listen to new artists/composers that I would be hesitant to buy an album unheard.

 

One of my longer posts, sorry, but I am hoping my experiences will help others make their decisions. (And, though I do give specific recommendations on equipment, I do so only from my experiences. There are lots of other manufacturers that I am sure are just as good/better).

Bob