Streaming Curious

With Air Tight ATM-300 amp and DeVore O/96 speakers downstream…Node wouldn’t satisfy your appetite especially if you rely on its internal DAC.  Node is a good starting option to get your feet wet in streaming. Buy a used Node for now and later step up to one of the offerings from Aurender, Innuous or Lumin. 

Correct. You can start with the node. You can later add a DAC and improve the sound quality or get a better single box solution or even separates. Streaming can sound really good but comes at at a cost just like vinyl. Think of bluesound node as an equivalent of a Rega P1 with the included cartridge. It’s a stepping stone. 

I don’t know how you are with dipping toes in. But that is a ticket to spend a lot more money by incrementally climbing to get to where your satisfied with digital. well, at least that is the way it would work for me.

Let’s start with the current state of technology:  Streaming can sound as good or better than your vinyl rig. If it sounds as good, then it is likely to completely change your life… for the better.

So if you have a cheap Walmart turntable and phonostage, then the BlueSound will sound better. Streamers / DACs generally conform to the same constrains that all the other components of a system do. In general, you must carefully research and choose wisely compatible equipment of the highest quality for the investment, and you get what you pay for.

My really good vinyl leg (see my virtual systems) sounds nearly identical to my digital end… and the investment level (TT / Phonostage and misc vs DAC and Streamer) is the same… and each roughly the same as preamp and amp.

So, it is really a great idea to add a digital end… but expect to be disappointed if you try it on the cheap.

I may do that although I am pretty content with the sound.  How is the audio quality better?

@ellajeanelle  I have both Qobuz and Ultra HD Amazon and find Qobuz superior listening to the same recordings.  It’s clearer, more 3 dimensional, more dynamic, and just better overall.  Hey, it’s a free trial so why not?  I will say that the Qobuz search function is not very good, but I’ll take that relatively minor hit for the better sound quality any day.

The Bluesound Node is a decent inexpensive starting point to try streaming, but its user interface is just one of many options so the sound quality and user experience, which are the two most important parts of a streamer, aren't necessarily going to match what you are looking for. Particularly since you said i would be sound quality that sells you on it.

I recommend looking into, and trying out before buying anything if possible, the software of various products to first figure out if there's a user experience that appeals to you. Lumin, Auralic, Roon, Bluesound, etc. all have software you can download and for some of them, parts of the UI will work even if you haven't bought anything yet.

After that, figure out what hardware works with the software you like. Personally I'm a fan of Lumin hardware and the Roon software.

I do agree with others that Qobuz would be an excellent source. Versus other services that only offer lossy sound quality. Qobuz has their own app, of course, and will work over AirPlay and Google Cast.