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Sotm neo ultra streamer.. any users past or present?

Moppit

Moppit

pfm Member
Having seen the Hans Beekhuyzen video of this he raves about the jump in SQ compared to the Allo Digione Signature in his reference system.

Anyone got any experience? What's the difference between the neo and non-neo version. Or the standard vs ultra?

I'm considering this as a Roon endpoint. Alternatively the Elac discovery looks attractive too as it comes with a lifetime Roon core built in.

Any experience much appreciated.

M
 
Moppit said:
Anyone got any experience? What's the difference between the neo and non-neo version. Or the standard vs ultra?
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I would suggest having a word with Elite Audio whe sell the SOtM product range and I believe are members on here.
 
Moppit said:
Having seen the Hans Beekhuyzen video of this he raves about the jump in SQ compared to the Allo Digione Signature in his reference system.

Anyone got any experience? What's the difference between the neo and non-neo version. Or the standard vs ultra?

I'm considering this as a Roon endpoint. Alternatively the Elac discovery looks attractive too as it comes with a lifetime Roon core built in.

Any experience much appreciated.

M
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Roon's "lifetime" might not be worth buying a lot of food for, Amazon are now offering high res streaming at a good price, Roon have no relationship with Amazon, Roon's other streaming partners, Qobuz and Tidal, could go down the pan, Amazon could and probably will make their software better. An expensive streamer that can't stream from one of the major players is not good value imo. I would keep my streaming solutions as flexible as possible, and put my money towards DACs that aren't upset too much by what they are connected to. $1200 for the base model without clock input or power supply is serious money.
 
You are not wholly reliant on using an sMS-200 Ultra with Roon - you can run with internally loaded programs such as Squeezelite - Roon is optional in that sense. The sMS-200 tends to use open source software internally.
 
beammeup said:
You are not wholly reliant on using an sMS-200 Ultra with Roon - you can run with internally loaded programs such as Squeezelite - Roon is optional in that sense. The sMS-200 tends to use open source software internally.
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But can you use Amazon HD, the cheapest currently available streaming service with, I think, the largest catalogue?
 
Not that I am aware of. Neither does the Auralic which is my other favourite streaming brand.

I guess I'm just OK with Spotify and Tidal. You may be able to stream Amazon HD via Roon or via DLNA to the SoTM.
 
I use my SMS-200 as a DNLA renderer, almost always via Bubbleupnp app for Android. It's a great little device, nice to use and seems very flexible. I haven't used Roon, Squeezelight or HQPlayer, which are all pre-installed apps. No experience yet with Amazon streaming, either.

On the whole it's a rock steady device, sounds great, plays nicely with any DAC it's met.

An interesting little thread here: https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/...apacitor-details/?tab=comments#comment-999465
 
beammeup said:
Not that I am aware of. Neither does the Auralic which is my other favourite streaming brand.

I guess I'm just OK with Spotify and Tidal. You may be able to stream Amazon HD via Roon or via DLNA to the SoTM.
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That’s my point. Why be stuck with an expensive lump of hardware that doesn’t stream what may well end up being the major source of streamed music? Now is not a good time to buy expensive streamers.
 
AndyU said:
That’s my point. Why be stuck with an expensive lump of hardware that doesn’t stream what may well end up being the major source of streamed music? Now is not a good time to buy expensive streamers.
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Has a good point - Amazon Music HD dont seem to be forthcoming with offering DLNA/UPNP compatibility which would put this to rest strangely.

OTOH, Qobuz whilst costing a little more than Amazon (once price changes go through) will work via DLNA/UPNP using Bubbleupnp.
 
I wouldn’t worry about current streamers not supporting Amazon Music HD. A lot of manufacturer likely have models that don’t directly. Linn have updated firmware over the years with the result that even Linn’s earliest streamers, from more than ten years ago, can play music from Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify, and can be used with Roon as well, so it’s not necessarily the end of the world if a prospective buyer were to buy an ‘expensive’ streamer as it could well support Amazon in the near future.

Mick
 
Wolfmancatsup said:
I wouldn’t worry about current streamers not supporting Amazon Music HD. A lot of manufacturer likely have models that don’t directly. Linn have updated firmware over the years with the result that even Linn’s earliest streamers, from more than ten years ago, can play music from Tidal, Qobuz and Spotify, and can be used with Roon as well, so it’s not necessarily the end of the world if a prospective buyer were to buy an ‘expensive’ streamer as it could well support Amazon in the near future.

Mick
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It took Linn and naim years to support Qobuz and Tidal. Linn still doesn’t do a very good job with Roon. Small companies often don’t have the software capabilities to these things quickly. Indeed, in the past, the Squeezebox Touch community supported Roon and Qobuz before Linn did. In the case of Amazon, they have their own hardware that can act as endpoints so they may not be over keen to help tiny manufacturers. So I wouldn’t hold my breath. But if you have a pc or mac and a DAC with a few inputs you will have been able to listen to Qobuz, Tidal, Roon, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon HD from the first day they came out. Keep it flexible. Apple are rumored to be bundling Apple TV+ and Apple Music next year. Netflix may need to respond with a movies + music option. Amazon might then trump them both. Keep it flexible is my advice.
 
AndyU said:
Streaming is absolutely wonderful! Qobuz (for example) gives you unlimited access to 40 million CDs for about the price of a packet of crisps a day. And Amazon is even cheaper. Your heart should be leaping!
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I really like having actual discs that I either play on a TT or a CD player. I also like supporting the artists that make the music rather than sharing round the bag of crisps around 100s of musicians. I use Spotify for background & podcasts via Sonos.
 
Wolfmancatsup said:
... so it’s not necessarily the end of the world if a prospective buyer were to buy an ‘expensive’ streamer as it could well support Amazon in the near future.
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I think it’s more likely that Amazon will launch an Alexa “hifi” device...that isn’t actually hifi as most folks here would define it. I can’t see them ever opening their service to 3rd parties without huge licensing fees that would be out of reach of even the biggest audiophile players such as Roon, Linn etc.

It’s ok using the native Mac/PC/tablet/phone apps but the sad fact is that streamers sound better than Mac n DAC.
 
I also like supporting the artists that make the music rather than sharing round the bag of crisps around 100s of musicians
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I realise you prefer the ‘the long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free’ but you might want spare a thought for poor old Ed Sheeran’s bag of streaming crisps. He’s an estimated total worth of £160 million and has managed to double his wealth in the past year. ‘It is believed Sheeran earned more in a single year than any other artist in history’.

Consumers are not party to negotiations between the industry and artists. If artists are getting a crap deal in the streaming era they are either crap, being ripped-off or they need to negotiate. Meanwhile, we live in an era in which anyone can stick a song online and get heard. We live in a time when many millions of all ages can have access to almost limitless music of all genres for pretty much the first time in history. That sounds like a good thing, even if it makes things less exclusive to disc buyers. You can always go see a show.

If you need lots of streams to get the same rewards as for a disc sale, perhaps that is just a reflection of the fact that now, millions more listen to recordings and they all chip in a bit. Go ask Ed.
 
abbydog said:
I realise you prefer the ‘the long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free’ but you might want spare a thought for poor old Ed Sheeran’s bag of streaming crisps. He’s an estimated total worth of £160 million and has managed to double his wealth in the past year. ‘It is believed Sheeran earned more in a single year than any other artist in history’.

Consumers are not party to negotiations between the industry and artists. If artists are getting a crap deal in the streaming era they are either crap, being ripped-off or they need to negotiate. Meanwhile, we live in an era in which anyone can stick a song online and get heard. We live in a time when many millions of all ages can have access to almost limitless music of all genres for pretty much the first time in history. That sounds like a good thing, even if it makes things less exclusive to disc buyers. You can always go see a show.

If you need lots of streams to get the same rewards as for a disc sale, perhaps that is just a reflection of the fact that now, millions more listen to recordings and they all chip in a bit. Go ask Ed.
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Outliers like Sheeran & Swift don't really make the case. What about all the artists having to tour until they drop dead? Ask David Crosby about the current situation (or follow him on twitter) he is having something of a career renaissance but barely scraping a living.

Everyone is getting a crap deal in the streaming era, they make money through touring & merch. I used to buy about 100 albums a year, how can that compare with paying a tenner month across every artist whose ever drawn breath?
 
Hi Moppit,

I borrowed an SOtM 200 ultra Neo, PSU and USB regenerator for a month. I compared this to a Sonore UltraRendu, including a lot of widgets to ensure clean power with LPSUs.

In this context I found that I preferred the SOtM tad warmer presentation. It was also better at macro dynamics. The Sonore was better at detail.

Overall I decided that I preferred the sound & simplicity of the dCS Network Bridge .....at a bit of a price premium.

In the end I bought a Linn Klimax DS/1 Renew. These can be picked up for a VERY reasonable price, and I have spent the past eight months JUST listening to music, bliss!

M
 
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