Streamers and software


It's been a battle.  I have had a Bluesound Node 2i for 5 yrs.  I upgraded the power supply.  There is nothing wrong with function or sound.  I switched to Qobuz a few months ago.  I transferred my songs from amazon to Qobuz.  Qobuz works great when using the Bluetooth function.  When I want to play Qobuz thru BluOS, I am missing several thousand songs, called Favorites.  Loading and searching times are not usable.

Finally after 2 months BLUOS says they have no solution.  QOBUZ is working on a direct connect app to the streamer, but no release date.  

So, reluctantly, I started looking at a streamer.  I find several other streamers but have buggy software.

So, from what I see the Innuous pulsar mini has good software I would like to spend as little as I  can but it looks like $1-$2k?  It would be nice to have a linear power supply. Thanks for any suggestions are welcome.

Here is some I looked at.

Holo Audio Red, Ever solo, Innuous, Volumio

 

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@zlone you went from a copper cable to a silver cable so forgive me for saying it is a no-brainer that it would sound better. I know people get tired of me saying it but digital cables need silver. the current is extremely low so most of the current is on the surface so digital plated is generally all you need. you went to solid silver and crushed it.

I think people have heard negative things about silver analog cables for so long that they don’t always realize that digital is different. the data is so dense that every little bit helps and silver conductivity is 7% higher than copper.

BTW, I tried some very nice silver plated speaker cables later and was shocked ho bad they sounded. I won’t elaborate.

I see people focusing in the brand. Pick the design first and then look at brands. There is often very little difference between quality brands. the difference is in the design. I don’t know why some high end cable manufacturers still make copper digital cables.

Jerry

@carlsbad2 you went from a copper cable to a digital cable

Assuming you meant 'silver' not 'digital'. Yes, I fully agree that pure silver is excellent for digital for all of the reasons you mention. I want to upgrade my ethernet cable to something similar from WireWorld, but they are quite spendy. 

I am also a fan of the OCC metals, my experience is that it makes a difference.

I also agree that silver plated copper is not the best option for audio applications and I generally avoid it. I think this is where silver gets a bad name. I think that solid silver is probably okay and I am currently trying out some https://silversolids.com/ interconnects, but I am still in the break-in period so cannot comment just yet.

 

@zlone Thanks for pointing out the typo and I was still in the edit window so I fixed it.  Post your results on the solid silver interconnects. I'm going to try to take some data and if I get good data I may make a post about my silver plated speaker cables.  but lets not derail the thread away from digital. 

jerry

I had silver plated digital coax, albeit Chinese. This replaced a Pine Tree Audio OCC coax.

I then I tried silver coated interconnects. Currently I left those in. I kept OCC interconnects.  So I could go back.  This has been a slo go. The siver IC have been in there a few months.

Now. When it came to speaker cable, I tried the silver coated copper, again Chinese. Nice looking with woven silver wire. I had used PTA rainbow ribbon. I went back to the copper ribbon speaker wire. More neutral and detailed. Soundstaging is good.

I digressed,. I am glad you pointed out the silver for digital. Makes me feel better, $170 is the most I have ever spent on one connection!!