2. digital
  3. 183039-102854

Please help with setting up a streaming system

Hi guys and gals,

I would like to start streaming some high res and cd quality music. I am very computer illiterate so please take it easy on me. I would like to set something up fairly easy to use and not spend more than 2k. I currently have an older PS Audio PWD 2  with just the bridge card and the PWT memory player going to PrimaLuna mono blocks and pre amp. I would like to use my dac if it is still a viable solution because I really like the sound when the recording is decent. Can someone please offer some direction and experience with where to start?

Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions!

 

justinm
soix
10,337 posts
 

Innuos just came out with their Pulse Mini that comes in at $1249 and would be a great choice.  Their new Sense software is free and gets great reviews from both a performance a sound perspective, and they’re constantly improving it for free.  Plus, their customer support is excellent.  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

sfar's avatar
sfar
1,773 posts
 

A good place to start would be with the Bluesound Node streamer. One of its advantages is how is the very well designed software and how easy it is to integrate with all the popular streaming sources. It would allow you to use your existing DAC. 

 

gdnrbob
4,507 posts
 

For budget conscious systems, the Bluesound is excellent.

For a better quality, I would go with Innuos and Aurilac.

As far as your DAC goes, I think it would be the best start in order to attain higher quality sound. A used Ayre Codex,(now under $1K), will blow the PWD out of the room.

My 2 cents...

Bob

kota1
2,706 posts
 

The Martin Logan Unison are on closeout at 50% off for $199 and the ARC room correction is a game changer. No other streamer will offer this room correction except Paradigms:

https://www.martinlogan.com/en/product/unison

The Unison wireless pre-amp can not only stream music using your choice of DTS Play-Fi or Apple AirPlay, it also offers one of the best room-correction solutions on the market.

 

baylinor's avatar
baylinor
1,600 posts
 

Everyone usually recommends the one they use, so take that with a grain of salt. My only recommendation is to get a streamer with an OS  (Operating System) you like for your application. A lot of OS work best with Apple products and not so good with Samsung. And many are difficult to operate with phones, specially android. Some don't even do android. I only want to use my android phone as a remote to control my streamer and the bluesound NODE 130 does that flawlessly. Decide how you want to operate your streamer and dive into Google to find the streamer that will work best for it. As an example, Auralic, no android at all.

More to discover