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Any point in upgrading digital only streamer?

J

jamington2004

pfm Member
I have a Wiim pro into the dac in my speakers - it works well with Spotify connect and allows 192 / 24 streams if needed (I am sure Spotify doesn’t anyway!)

only slight issue is the volume control steps with the remote aren’t small enough sometimes but not a major issue as Spotify app has a slider

Any point whatsoever SQ wise, in upgrading to a Blusound Node n130 for my purpose?

I await your opinions. :)
Cheers
Jamie
 
jamington2004 said:
I have a Wiim pro into the dac in my speakers - it works well with Spotify connect and allows 192 / 24 streams if needed (I am sure Spotify doesn’t anyway!)

only slight issue is the volume control steps with the remote aren’t small enough sometimes but not a major issue as Spotify app has a slider

Any point whatsoever SQ wise, in upgrading to a Blusound Node n130 for my purpose?

I await your opinions. :)
Cheers
Jamie
Click to expand...

There may be a point not to upgrade, but to downgrade to something which uses Logitech Media Server. The reason is that this server has a feature which, as far as I know, is unique and for me, is very useful. It allows you to make a single playlist comprising of tracks from multiple sources - Spotify, Qobuz, YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, your own tagged files etc. It also imposes no limit on the size of your own media library, that may be unique too.
 
jamington2004 said:
I have a Wiim pro into the dac in my speakers - it works well with Spotify connect and allows 192 / 24 streams if needed (I am sure Spotify doesn’t anyway!)

only slight issue is the volume control steps with the remote aren’t small enough sometimes but not a major issue as Spotify app has a slider

Any point whatsoever SQ wise, in upgrading to a Blusound Node n130 for my purpose?

I await your opinions. :)
Cheers
Jamie
Click to expand...
Would you connect the Node to the DAC in your speakers? If so then I doubt you would notice much difference in SQ. If the Node DAC is better than your speaker DAC and your speakers have a line in, you might get something out of that. Only real way is to try it out somehow. What are your speakers?
 
I think it would be marginal unless
you start upgrading the Node. I have both a Wiim Mini and a Node but haven’t done back to back comparisons as they are used in different systems. My Node is also upgraded. The Node has a lot more functionality though. For instance, it will take a flash drive and you can run an analogue and a digital signal through it.
 
jamington2004 said:
I have a Wiim pro into the dac in my speakers - it works well with Spotify connect and allows 192 / 24 streams if needed (I am sure Spotify doesn’t anyway!)

only slight issue is the volume control steps with the remote aren’t small enough sometimes but not a major issue as Spotify app has a slider

Any point whatsoever SQ wise, in upgrading to a Blusound Node n130 for my purpose?

I await your opinions. :)
Cheers
Jamie
Click to expand...
To my mind if you are stuck with using the DAC in the speakers then no point in spending money, also whilst Spotify has passable SQ it will also nullify any spending on a 'better' streamer.
The Node & Wiim Pro are probably around the same SQ level, with the onboard DAC, and UI being the deciding arbiters.
Moving to Tidal or Qobuz would be a better use of your funds for an SQ uplift, then from there, if your speakers will accept line-in I would audition a few DACs to see what level of uplift could be achieved.
 
Thanks all - I’ll not bother then :)

I do have a Tidal account that used to be the highest quality but I think you need to pay extra now

I would only be using tidal connect anyway on my phone no high res usb mqa nonsense for me anymore - I would fail a blind comparison every time I’m sure of it :)
 
Paul Hindle said:
If the Node DAC is better than your speaker DAC and your speakers have a line in, you might get something out of that. Only real way is to try it out somehow. What are your speakers?
Click to expand...
GGNTKT M1S - they convert Analogue to digital anyway I think as they have loads of DSP going on inside.
 
jamington2004 said:
GGNTKT M1S - they convert Analogue to digital anyway I think as they have loads of DSP going on inside.
Click to expand...
In that case id stick with the WiiM unless you can home dem a Node. I suspect that you’d only notice a SQ improvement if you moved significantly up the streamer food chain but if you are always using the DAC in the speakers then it’s difficult to imagine that any improvement would be significant / worthwhile. GGNTKT might include a streamer within its next Gen speaker range. It seems to be the way to go for powered speakers. I’ll be interested in your findings if you try anything.
 
mandryka said:
There may be a point not to upgrade, but to downgrade to something which uses Logitech Media Server. The reason is that this server has a feature which, as far as I know, is unique and for me, is very useful. It allows you to make a single playlist comprising of tracks from multiple sources - Spotify, Qobuz, YouTube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, your own tagged files etc. It also imposes no limit on the size of your own media library, that may be unique too.
Click to expand...

Neither are unique. Lots of products using LMS such as Innuos allow the creation of a playlist from any source for example.
 
It all depends how granular you want to get with it. If buying off the shelf stuff it really is just suck it and see. If going diy with say a rasp pi then you can really get stuck into the variables and drive yourself insane ;) Things do make a difference though, just changing the clocks on my Ian Canada fifopi board changes the sound. Changing the psu also changes it, as does adding a reclocker, and this is all at the transport level before getting to the dac, where psu changes also make a difference, as does output stage, it really is a potential path to insanity! Not to mention quite expensive evaluating all the options over time. As you can tell though, I highly recommend it as a path o_O
 
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