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Streamer Comparison and Suggestions

I am considering options for a new streamer for the specific purpose of improving sound quality as a Roon endpoint feeding a DAC.  

The set-up:

  • networked server/Roon core in a separate room
  • connection to my main system using fiber, a converter and LPS
  • very short Ethernet cable into dual Bonn N8 switches
  • Network Acoustics Ethernet cable then muon filter
  • Metrum Acoustics Ambre Roon endpoint/streamer (currently)
  • Variety of DACs having USB, S/PDIF, and AES/EBU input options

The Ambre is a Raspberry Pi based device with internal LPS and femto clocking.  I am curious whether some of the more expensive, more well-known streamer options may result in improved sound quality as a Roon endpoint feeding my DAC - which is my only goal.  I intend to continue using Roon to control Tidal, Qobuz, and my server stored music files so the addition of fancy touchscreens, on-board storage, or optional player software will not affect my decision unless the device also offers improved sound quality.  

Streamers I have been considering are in the $5-8K price range and include:

  • Sonore Signature Rendu SE (optical or otherwise - USB output only) $5,300
  • Innuos Pulsar (USB output only) $7,999
  • Auralic Aries G2.2 (lots of flexibility) $6,099

Thanks for any suggestions and specifically any comparisons between the streamers listed above.

mitch2
mitch2 OP
4,007 posts
 

Thanks everyone, so far.

@joc3021  - I am glad to hear you have had good luck with the Pulsar.  I have heard several times that the SQ from Innuos' own Sense app is better than from Roon.  Do you know if there would be a way to toggle between Roon and the Sense app, depending on whether I were listening casually or more critically?  BTW, I have not considered Aurender because it is not Roon ready.

@fuzztone - You are saying the Metrum Ambre (not Alambre) is "hard to beat", right?  I am not surprised, because I also think it sounds good.   I wish I could try a couple of these streamers (mainly the Pulsar and the Sig Rendu SE opt.) in my system so I could compare them to the Ambre that I am currently using.

hhudo
15 posts
 

I have Pi2aes with LPS (running RoPieeeXL, HqPlayer upsampling, to Holo Spring 3 KTE), tried some Innuos and Aurender streamers that local shop had for demo,  and never found them worth the price difference. Paying 2-3k (or 5k!) for "I think I heard the difference on that song" is not worth it in my system, maybe would be if i have 50-100k setup, but for ~15-20k for my whole system definitely its not. So, be sure to try before buying and see if that money would better spent into something else.  

pennfootball71's avatar
pennfootball71
278 posts
 

I use an Auralic Ares 2.2 it’s solid.

If you can swing it get an Auralic if you

want the best of the best Taiko Extreme or Aurender N30SA.The Aurender is more reliable than the Taiko.

antigrunge2
1,418 posts
 

A well designed USB connection has the advantage of slaving the server’s clock to the Dac. Assuming the dac has superior clocking that at the highest level has significant benefits on SQ.

yyzsantabarbara
4,881 posts
 

If you are a ROON user, then the 3 streamers I owned would all work well. They best part is you do not need a superstar music server (also known as a computer).

  • Lumin X1, this is a DAC and streamer. Lumin has released the streamer part of the X1 as a new product.
  • Sonore OpticalRendu
  • PlayBack Designs Stream-IF (fibre optic only works with PBD and Nagra DACs)

These 3 are awesome streamers and the first 2 were used with fibre optic. Using fibre means it does not matter what was before the fibre, such as the music server.

I did not use fibre with the Streamer-IF since I have not purchased a PBD DAC yet. I used SPDIF with the Streamer-IF into a Benchmark DAC3B. Even in that setup the sound was comparable to the other 2. I am thinking there is some fibre inside the box that is hooked up to the SPDIF pathway.

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