What is your favorite budget streamer?


Looking for a bedroom streamer. I have a DAC and headphone amp and don't need to connect speakers or even need a DAC. Your ideas for a budget streamer at $350 or less? Experience is welcome here.

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I know this will get lost in the rah rah noise, but look at a Hollis Audio Labs MS6 streamer with a GAN power supply. Little nuc based running W10, streamlined for maximum audio performance. Better than a famed custom MacBook laptop and even beats any Node variety I've heard by quite a ways. You can run via traditional monitor screen and mouse or headless using your phone to control Foobar or via Chrome Remote Desktop. Lots of tweaks to the operating system to maximize performance on audio only. Don't expect to play games on this guy.

HAL MS6 Server thread on Audiocircle

In my opinion, worth looking at for sure.

For my 2-ch system, I have BS N130, NAD C658, and NAD M12 streamers (all in their boxes), while I use my wife's (broken screen) Samsung phone running DeX to stream anything through a DeX dock and HDMI audio stripper to Coax S/PDIF output. Connect the Coax (or Toslink) to a DAC (volume controlled with the phone). DeX allows wireless keyboard control, and/or voice. Works great, sounds great, cost very little, practically invisible, and if you use a monitor (as I do) - then the phone and dock can be completely out of sight (as I have mine).

MNX10, it does it all and it's simple, has good software, supports all the streaming services nativity. When I was looking to add a budget streamer to my vintage system, this one ticked all the boxes for me. 

My only issue is, got the silver one, like 6 months after they came out in black.