2. digital
  3. 179080-171520

Need recommendations for a streamer

I would like to upgrade from a Bluesound Node to a higher quality streamer.

 

The Node sounds fine with my current system, but I am making a second system for my wife, and the Node is going to that new system. I thought I would take the opportunity to upgrade my streamer at this time.

 

My criteria are that it be a streamer only (no DAC/storage/CD player, etc), be able to hook into wi-fi/cloud without a physical wire/connection, have balanced outputs to go to my DAC, and cost less than 2,500 USD. Can anybody think of a streamer that fits this bill?

 

The rest of my system:

DAC: Terminator II

Preamp: Schiit Freya+

Amps: PS Audio M1200 x 2

Speakers: Thiel CS 2.3

 

Thanks.

cowhorn
juanmanuelfangioii
958 posts
 

@jasonbourne52 and inexpensive.

The Node and the iFi are both competent excellent streamers!

tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber
610 posts
 

Bricasti M5 Network Streamer took my streaming to another level. Only an Ethernet cable, no Wifi, no computer cables,  just a network connection. Should be a good companion to your Terminator. Check it out

duckworp's avatar
duckworp
257 posts
 

Streamers without DACs sound broadly similar in my experience.  However you do need a good interface to access your music which you lose by abandoning Bluesound.  I recommend Roon - it is even better than Bluos and will revolutionize your listening.   You would need a 'roon-ready’ streamer.  I recommend Pro-Ject Stream box S2 ultra as a good wifi or wired streamer (no dac). Or the Auralic Aries G1. The latter is a lot more expensive but in my a/b testing was no better in sound quality.

drbay
40 posts
 

You already have Terminator 2 as a DAC. If you have node as well, buy Denafrips Gaia. Digital to Digital converter which will improve all the problems of Node before sending signal to Terminator 2, you get significant improvement without extra 5K. Gaia  is $1800. If source is not gonna be combined DAC, don’t waste your money with more expensive servers, at the end all sends 0 and 1s to DAC.

arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,662 posts
 

If source is not gonna be combined DAC, don’t waste your money with more expensive servers, at the end all sends 0 and 1s to DAC.

Haha! I was waiting for the '0s and 1s' argument to show up. Applying the same logic, why invest in a nice DAC or DDCs. It's all 0s and 1s after all, right?

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