Discerning a difference between streamers is difficult...only me or common for all?
I have struggled to appreciate the upgrade to the streamer in my system. A couple years ago I had an Audio Research DAC 8 being fed by a Bluesound Node 2i. I picked up an Aurender N10 and did not appreciate anything so sold the N10. I tried a couple all-in-one units. First was the Aurender A20 and I was happy but curious about dCS. I got a Bartok 2.0 and felt the music was more natural sounding from the Bartok and sold the A20. I have always wanted the Audio Research DAC 9 to match all my other AR gear so got one that showed up on eBay a couple weeks ago. Since I couldn’t use the Bartok to stream I ordered a new Bluesound Node Nano so I could utilize the DAC 9 immediately. The pair sounded wonderful but I did not compare it to the Bartok. I ended up getting a quick buyer and it was already gone. The following week I purchase an Aurender W20. I was prepared to have my mind blown....but no. Some albums I could not tell any difference in the sound and others I think the W20 sounded slightly better but again...nothing huge. For the money and the space the W20 took on my shelf, I sold it. Over the years I always appreciate upgrades for all other components. This makes me feel like I am losing my mind. Have any others experienced this regarding streamers? I want to try more. Auralic and Lumin are on my list.
Thanks,
Dana
I’m not going to doubt what you heared but… Some of the things that can mask the difference between components and cables in a system: 1. Room acoustics 2. Speaker positioning 3. Objects like large furniture between listening chair and speakers 4. Excessive bass Something to consider when you’re comparing components. But you said you hear large differences in phono stages so perhaps your system is streamer/transport agnostic. Have you tried a CD transport compared to your streamer? |
OP, to get the most out of your digital, you have to optimize the whole chain from the wall to the DAC. This includes going to a fiber optic connection which can be a bit of work. The server/streamer to get is the Taiko if cost isn't a consideration, almost as good is the Playback Designs stack which would entail replacing your current DAC. A lower cost alternative would be the Lumin U1 and L2 streamer/file server stack which is what I use. |
@dxbwineguy Interesting results, but your test did show that there are difference in streamer SQ. Can you describe the differences and why everyone preferred the WiiM?
I recently bought a WiiM Pro for one of my sons and I just ordered a WiiM Ultra as a Christmas present for another son. I've never tried inserting one into my system. Might be interesting to try it.
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@sls883 I have never been good at describing music- but will try. The WiiM was much clearer, the Hegel was depressed. The WiiM sounded fuller, kind of blooming (not booming). I forgot to mention earlier- the Hegel of course was hard wired via Ethernet. The WiiM was on WiFi. Ideally the latter should have degraded the performance as compared to an Ethernet connected device but I guess it didn’t. I didn’t even think about this till now. My overall view of A/B comparisons is a few years when we used to buy TVs and the choice in the showroom was between LCD and Plasma. At that moment LCD would outshine the plasma TV- but if you got the plasma home, which I did, it looked great. I know I might get dissed for saying this - for sure some components provide phenomenal differences but eventually I think what matters is what makes you happy. I have an Eversolo streamer, a WiiM Mini and a WiiM Pro Plus. Am happy. Have always debated about getting an Aurender or a Lumin or something else but eventually decide against it - because the difference for me will be in the first few minutes and then everything sounds the same - to me. Apologies for long post. |
@dxbwineguy Thank you for the description I'm terrible about describing the sound of my system. I'm often inclined to say "it just sounds right", but that's not a very good description. I have an Innuos streamer that I like. SQ is excellent and it has a large buffer, so music doesn't stop if my internet drops (which it seems to do quite often). It also has a cd ripper which I do use. And the Sense app is excellent. I did notice an improvement in SQ over my Node 130, but I didn't spend serious time doing a comparison. I'm happy with the Innuos for it's SQ and features. |
