A/B Comparison On A Pair Of Moderately Priced Streamers

Vault /  Node is a really good value when you factor user interface,  features , sound.   Hard to beat. 

I have a Holo May KTE DAC, very happy with that. So getting a good DAC is paramount. Then I find all streamers sound different. I’m using a LUMIN U2 Mini, which I like a lot. The app is good too. It sounds a lot better with a cleaned up Ethernet connection.

"... my experience is upgrading a streamer is at least as impactful as upgrading a DAC."

So ... what you’re saying is that, given the same (uncompressed) source file, different streamers send different bits and bytes to the DAC? I can’t believe that to be the case.

One might be able to hear the dfference between compression rates, but even that is hard ... find out if you have a 100% score below.

My buddy works for a local dealer.  His advice to me was that the Auralic was a better sounding unit.  That being said, the sound comes mainly from the DAC.  The DACs mentioned here IMO just standard mid-level DACs.

Happy Listening.

Talking about moderately priced streamers, has anyone tried the Ifi NEO Stream?  It’s relatively new and I haven’t seen many reviews