Bricasti M3 is an excellent DAC but the network renderer is just not great. Use it as DAC only.
Looking for High Quality Streamer Only Options (NO DAC)?
I'm looking to find a dedicated streamer, ideally <$2k. Here are the objectives:
1. Must be Roon Ready
2. No internal DAC
3. USB, Optical or Digital Coax input
4. Great quality to feed an outboard DAC.
The idea here is to hopefully avoid paying for an internal DAC and just by a stable streamer, giving the manufacturer the ability to dump all the parts and labor costs into the streaming side only. In other words, why pay for an internal DAC I won't use.
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Well my global takeaways are that: in general you get what you pay for. The specifics vary between brands and investment levels. But in general the background noise (except on PCs not usually heard directly... not shhhh but the noise floor... allowing you to hear deeply into the music) drops as investment increases. The amount of detail can be good in budget gear, but the overall representation of the audio spectrum gets more continuous. By that I mean on really cheap gear you get treble and bass and little fleshed out in between... thin sounding. Hardening of treble also disappears with better quality streamers. The rhythm and pace, typically absent in budget gear gets better and better except in designs attempting maximum detail. If you want to look at the two things that most consistently are the biggest thing it is the noise floor and natural nature of the sound. The noise is suppressed through highly refined power conditioning, physical isolation, and vibration suppression. Hence, high quality streamers are heavy... all this stuff weighs a lot. Also, lots of folks attempt to make budget streamer sound good by adding linear power supplies or playing with their routers, and network infrastructure. A, high quality streamer will clean up the incoming signal without the need to clean up your entire network and incoming power supply. The second is the how natural the sound is. The DAC is critical here as well... so if your DAC isn’t great, then a great streamer is not going to shine through. |
Sonore opticalRendu Lite version - Roon Ready DLNA Network Player For Sale - US Audio Mart
The above is a screaming deal (if the power supply is included). I have 3 of these and if I had a 4th DAC I would get 1 more.. |
@jbhiller thanks for all the details and sharing some of your audio journey. Makes sense to question the value proposition in streamers. You’ll find a lot of debate on if moving up in models, brands really makes a difference. Your comments on longevity, life cycle also make sense. I think digital is evolved and matured to the point that you’ll get at least 5 years from a streamer but likely more without issue should you take the plunge in something in the 2-5 k range. How much difference there is between the various streamers will be debated by both sides. If possible, order a Wiim or Node off Amazon or a dealer with a return policy, compare it to using the T3 as a streamer only. If you notice a difference in favor of the T3, investing in a Auralic, Lumin, HiFi Rose priced in that 2-3 k range should yield some nice results. If you don’t, then you’ll know the Wiim or Node is all you need. Aurender is often mentioned as being the “gold standard” for streamers. If you found a used N100, N200 guessing you would be a really happy camper. And…. Thanks for the info on the LTA DAC, sounds like it creates some beautiful music. |
- 52 posts total