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Another post about a streamer upgrade

Hello

I’ve read a lot of the threads here about streamers and moving up the chain.

However, it seems there’s not a ton of info for relatively modestly priced streamers … most threads focus on the Bluesound / Ifi Zen range or the Aurender N200 range.

I have an Ifi Zen Stream with an LPS fronted by an Ether Regen and would like to move on to something better… mainly from a usability and app standpoint but would like to spend significantly less than $2k.

I think the writing is on the wall with the Innuos Pulse Mini but curious if others have a suggestion that would be a sq improvement from the Ifi and a much better user experience for around $1500 give or take.

I currently use the JPLAY app to access Qobuz to stream DLNA to the Ifi but it’s frustrating and connectivity isn’t great. 
 

I don’t use Roon so the Sense app from Innuos is probably the best bet from what I gather.   I’d also be interested in the Aurender system but according to many the N200 is where to start there and that’s significant higher priced than where I want to go at this point.

Are there any other options with great usability and sound that I’m not thinking of.

I typically run Spdif coax out to my dacs but could also run usb.

thanks in advance 

j_andrews
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,138 posts
 

@mdalton no. The steamer is what is connected to the DAC.
The Mac Mini in my example is just a Roon core that sends the data feed to the streamer, via network. The streamer is connected to the DAC.
For the mac mini to be considered a streamer it would have to be connected to the DAC directly via USB without a dedicated streamer in between. Not sure where the gap is in this communication. The review you’re linking to talks about testing roon nucleus as a streamer via its USB out. But that’s not my configuration. 

mdalton's avatar
mdalton
480 posts
 

@audphile1 

Again, I apologize for any confusion but isn’t the data stream from a Roon core to a streamer (or dac) a digital data stream?  And if it is, isn’t that a potential source of jitter?  You’re right that the link I included had a different setup from yours, but the point was that the data stream from the Nucleus included jitter, but at a substantially lower level than if a pc (e.g., a Mac Mini) had been used.  And that is completely consistent with a huge number of comments I’ve read from Roon users, and I believe Roon itself - that they hear a “substantial” improvement in sound quality between using Roon on a pc vs a dedicated core (e.g., Nucleus, or, in my case, a Small Green Computer). 

In summary, I was trying to (gently) suggest that perhaps your test between Auralic and Roon was a test where the Roon side was decidedly suboptimal.  No offense intended, and of course, I could be completely misguided.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,138 posts
 

Ok. Everything is a streamer - your ISP, your router, your mesh network if that’s what you’re using, your roon core and your streamer.
You’re 100% correct. And jitter exists between each of these communication points.

I hereby (gently) invalidate the test that I had conducted. 😂

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,138 posts
 

I would also like to add a DAC, well At least the section that takes the input and streams that data to the DAC chip. At which point, once it reaches the analog section it ceases to be a streamer because it passes the analog signal to the output RCA or XLR that feed the amplifier. 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,138 posts
 

Oh one additional detail..,Auralic Aries G1 wasn’t hardwired to network. 

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