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Please be gentle with me! 🙏

I am a vinyl diehard and know very little of the streaming world.

My son has just bought his 1st amp and speakers a Leak 230 integrated and some JBL 4312G speakers and is currently streaming his music using an Android phone via the USB C on his phone into the USB B input on the amp, using the built in DAC on the amp. So the question is would something like a Bluesound Node N130 as a straight streamer be an audible improvement to his phone?

128x128alan60
littleman
41 posts
 

What works for me....Fiio M11 DAP, line out Y cable into back of Bel Canto AMP, wired to speakers.....sounds perfect. More details here...

....recently acquired a very nice condition used Bel Canto 300 i class D for the recently added ML Ethos. Have tried and compared 3 three chains...
1. Sony STR da5700ES Pre / Amp only as before...
2. Sony Pre into Bel Canto AMP (Theater Bypass)...
3. Bel Canto Pre / Amp on it;s own.

Not knowing anything different...1 was very enjoyable.

2 improved the top and mids....much cleaner / clearer, better soundstage, depth, lower mids into bass more "fuzzy / whooly" by comparison to 1.

3 initially sounded very bright on top....fatiguing...almost unlistenable on some tracks.

Left Bel Canto on with CD repeat for 100+ hours...

3 now is far better up and down the frequency range including the bass with bass cabinets set at "0". Rocket 33 speaker cables gave a nice boost to mids and tampered down the top just enough.
 
alan60's avatar
alan60 OP
185 posts
 

All the Bluesound Node N130 is a streamer only and he is using the DAC in the Leak, so it's a case of is his phone as good a streamer as say a Bluesound Node N130?

alan60's avatar
alan60 OP
185 posts
 

Correction to the above the N130 does have a DAC, my apologies.

mahler123
3,398 posts
 

Your son is probably bypassing the internal DAC in the Bluesound , but perhaps not and he may be using the DAC in the Bluesound.  We know for sure he isn’t using the phone DAC, right?

  As to whether the Bluesound is a better digital transport than the phone, see my earlier answer.  The phone may actually be a good transport.  It depends.  Can’t make the answer more basic than that.

  Now, if you upgrade from the Node into better streamers, I am going to feel fairly certain that the phone will come in second place.  The Bluesound is an entry level product, and a well built phone might match it as a transport, but I haven’t seen a phone that will compete with a higher level streamer than the Node

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,340 posts
 

You have flexibility to try either of the dacs. And you can add an external dac down the road. 

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