Streamers/DACs
Just picked out gear for our new hifi room and I’m starting my search for a good streamer or streamer/DAC combo. We have Paradigm Persona 3F speakers, Persona Sub and Anthem STR amp. I’ve narrowed streamers options down to 3 well-reviewed choices: Aurender, Lumin T3, and Cary Audio DMS-700. Not sure if I’d go with the Aurender A15 which has the option to just do digital out if I feel the urge upgrade to a better DAC or start with the N200 and either use the Anthem’s DAC or buy a separate unit right off the bat. Mostly interested in streaming Quboz, don’t care about Roon. The audio room has no realistic way to add an Ethernet port so I’ll need to work around this with a Wi-Fi to Ethernet bridge (or comparable solution) if I choose Aurender or Lumin, whereas the DMS-700 has a built-in Wi-Fi option (but a seemingly rudimentary app by comparison to the others). Any experience with these products is welcome. Of particular interest would be experiences from other Persona owners and why they chose the streamers/DACs they did but all input is welcome. Thanks much, this forum has helped immensely in the build thus far.
There's nothing inherently wrong with using WIFI for your streamer as long as the WIFI is consistent and can sustain bandwidth suitable for streaming audio (which really isn't that demanding). You can get a wifi extender with a hard-wire port on it (to connect to your streamer) for $50, probably cheaper. I stream hi-res audio, and 4k video over mine in a detached garage, with nary a hick-up. |
Lots of talk on how to improve Ethernet to the streamer. I am a big fan of Sonore and its use of optical to decouple your system from the noise on the line. USB to you Anthem and off and running. I am roon user so not much help with which software to use but they support many options to control the streamer all via software and a web page. It’s a nice simple and not to expensive way to get that job done |
I agree with @jerryg123 Don’t depend on anything but an independent DAC. Even in a great amp or streamer. DACS get radically better every year. I run a NUC server with an Innuos streamer and I have never heard anyone’s system at any price sound better than mine. |
The Lightning DS software from Auralic products is light years better than the aurender app and I prefer the Auralic products over aurender products. As good as lightning ds is, Roon is much better. As far as sound quality, I would take Roon or Audirvana over the others, followed by Auralic, then lumin. |
