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Streamers that stream better

SteveG said:
I started off with a Pi as a streamer but after trying various software options found they were all a bit crap so ended up going with dedicated streamers in all of my systems (Cambridge Audio ones in 2 of them and a Squeezebox Touch in the other).
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I honestly can't see why you would describe Volumio or Moode as a bit crap - they both look and work great. Am I missing out on anything better?
 
Assuming we are talking about stuff available new, Bluesound stuff is excellent and being available at £399 currently, that has everything under £1k covered for me, in fact, if it’s a stand-alone streaming source you’re after rather than something with amplification integrated, it’s probably my only choice (maybe Auralic too), since it seems Linn have dropped their stand-alone DS units in favour of DSM systems.

If you have a big budget and want something fully integrated then Linn become of interest again. Their DS platform is extremely dependable and flexible and my next major upgrade is probably going to be an Akurate or even Klimax level DSM and Exaktbox crossover/DAC... but that is a LOT of money.

In all honesty, what I’d probably do (well did do) if spending over £1k on a streaming source, is buy a Linn Klimax Renew DS, it has proper Spotify/Qobuz/Tidal integration which works a treat and it just sounds phenomenal.
 
flatpopely said:
Not a troll post, I listen to a lot of Tidal and Spotify. What, in terms of SQ, does a streamer give over a PC connected to a good DAC?
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Simplicity of use, being able to sit on the sofa and control it from a slick app on your iPad/phone is a really nice thing.
 
James said:
Having just started streaming with my new Bluesound Node 2i, I fear I may never need to get off the sofa and reach for another CD again. It's so liberating.
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I'm thinking the same about my Raspberry pi running piCoreplayer with Hifiberry DAC 2. Not quite plug and play but I've enjoyed the experience setting it up.
 
I use a Raspberry pi running Volumio. I think it sounds better than my sonos connect playing the same flacs into the same dac. I also run it through a singxer f1 usb->spdif convertor which improved it again. There seems to be quite a bit to be gained/lost on the digital side before it reaches the dac.

If you want highend performance for sensible prices and don't need a fancy looking box, I'd suggest looking at the Microrendu/ultrarendu and a really good linear psu (UpTone or similar). It hosts a number of different types of server including being a roon endpoint.

From what I've read it seems to be comparable with the very top tier streamers available.

Start with raspberry pi though, it's dirt cheap, sounds amazing and volomio lets you play flac from the web interface and use spotify connect from your phone.
 
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