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Please recommend streamer

Strictly Stereo said:
What happened to the “smart” TVs?
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To not take too much bandwidth:
  • Exclusivity agreements between service providers and AV kit providers.
  • Change of underlying OS – no more service and security updates for now “obsolete” kit based on old OS.
  • Technical change by service provider not propagated to app. on a wide range of “obsolete” kit (some much less than 3 years old) so service fails.
These things have happened in a similar situation to audio streaming, when custom hardware and custom software interact with multiple commercial entities for services to work. It’s IMHO undoubtedly wise to manage these risks and their impacts. Perhaps you disagree. Out of courtesy to others reading the thread I won't argue with further details.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
 
I agree with the comments of John Phillips: be wary of investing too much in dedicated streaming, for the reasons he explains so well. If a streaming service changes its protocol (which it may do for technical reasons), the software of a streamer needs to be updated in order to work with the new protocol. You are left at the mercy of the manufacturer to provide a firmware update to handle the new protocol, otherwise you will find your shiny box loses access to your favored service.

However, I also find the ease of use to count for something. I don't want to spend masses of my own time to fiddle with Raspberry Pi software updates. Yes, I do know how to do this, it used to be my job to do such stuff and I still program and update libraries etc. under Linux.

To my mind the Bluesound ecosystem manages to find a happy medium between too large investments in soon-to-be-obsolete all-in-one hardware, and a bare-bones set-up you have to maintain on your own. A Node is only some GBP 500, which is a fair cost for the ease of use it provides. The interface is (after several updates) well though out and provides me simple access to Qobuz and Tidal.
The company seems to be sufficiently invested in keeping up its ecosystem, and continues to provide updates to all its hardware.

The important thing to me is that streaming seems to be Bluesound's core business, instead of hardware companies that only put in streaming to sell a new amp or so. You see the difference in many hardware companies only providing a few firmware updates for the first year, and then stop responding to user complaints because the software engineer has moved to new projects (or the contract with the developer has expired). See for example the Pro-Ject Pre Digital S2 saga. If you look at the Bluesound forum you see a thriving community of owners who discuss and request features, and a responsive developer contact, which has led to continuous updates over the 4 years I own a Node. While not every request is (or can) be implemented, this level of dedication shows to me that the hardware will at least for the foreseeable future be supported to continue working with major streaming services (which is the most important bit).
 
Just weighing in to support the view and points made by @John Phillips here.

I've been lucky with audio insofar as the only piece of audio-specific streaming hardware I've ever bought way back in 2011(!) - the Squeezebox Touch - is still in the game (despite Logitech pulling the plug years ago) largely due to the hard work and passion of the developer community. It's currently working well (albeit not with 100% functionality) with a Roon trial.

Contrast this with video where during the same period I've had:

Netgear NeoTV 550
Western Digital WDTV Live
Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray player

All of which are long out-of-date and a Sony BDP-S4200 Blu-ray player that has been unplugged for 9 months since I got an Nvidia Shield TV; the latter like a Ferrari with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc compared to the pony & trap of the Sony which is likely to become obsolete pretty soon too, other than as a Blu-ray transport.

Streaming music has come a long way but it's still a rapidly evolving field with myriad different manufacturers, protocols, streaming services etc and licensing agreements between them all. To this end I'd be loathe to drop any serious money on a deluxe streamer since you can never really be sure if it will be supported long enough to get proper value out of it.

I'm more in the mind to spend the money on the DAC and less on the streamer: the former is likely to remain useful for as long as you need it, the latter can be swapped out if the landscape changes. I appreciate that the OP stated he has a Rega DAC-R so only needs the streamer in any case :)
 
norliss said:
Just weighing in to support the view and points made by @John Phillips here.

I've been lucky with audio insofar as the only piece of audio-specific streaming hardware I've ever bought way back in 2011(!) - the Squeezebox Touch - is still in the game (despite Logitech pulling the plug years ago) largely due to the hard work and passion of the developer community. It's currently working well (albeit not with 100% functionality) with a Roon trial.

Contrast this with video where during the same period I've had:

Netgear NeoTV 550
Western Digital WDTV Live
Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray player

All of which are long out-of-date and a Sony BDP-S4200 Blu-ray player that has been unplugged for 9 months since I got an Nvidia Shield TV; the latter like a Ferrari with Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc compared to the pony & trap of the Sony which is likely to become obsolete pretty soon too, other than as a Blu-ray transport.

Streaming music has come a long way but it's still a rapidly evolving field with myriad different manufacturers, protocols, streaming services etc and licensing agreements between them all. To this end I'd be loathe to drop any serious money on a deluxe streamer since you can never really be sure if it will be supported long enough to get proper value out of it.

I'm more in the mind to spend the money on the DAC and less on the streamer: the former is likely to remain useful for as long as you need it, the latter can be swapped out if the landscape changes. I appreciate that the OP stated he has a Rega DAC-R so only needs the streamer in any case :)
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The future IMO opinion will be products like the new Sonos Amp uses DDFA technology. It keeps the audio signal in the digital domain until it hits the outputs to the loudspeakers. Makes things like standalone DACS obsolete.
 
I’ve got a Vault 2. Great piece of kit. Streams Tidal, internet radio and plays all my CDs without having them gathering dust on a shelf (they’re gathering dust in a box somewhere). I wouldn’t fancy messing about with a NAS either, but that’s just me. V2 sounds great. I also plug my TT into it and can stream vinyl to other Bluesound devices.

Speaking of which, I had a few problems with pairing the V2 with a Pulse Flex 2i. These were of my own making and, after a short delay (due to staff illness), Bluesound support were very helpful. I slammed them a little on another thread and have been meaning to correct what I said since it got sorted.

I’m hoping to get some more Bluesound kit in future.
 
i.j.russell said:
Volumio have recently released the Primo which seems to be getting good reviews.
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Having listened to the Hans Beekhuyzen review and then read the comments underneath it seems that he is clearly stating that the Primo is only an interesting buy if used with its analog outputs and that the USB & SPDIF are only of 'computer quality' rather than audiophile.

 
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