Streamer advice

[Stumper]

First time poster and apologies if this has been asked before. I have Sonos in use throughout the house which does perfectly fine but for my main hifi the connect doesn’t quite do it for me I’m happy to leave it there as option b but I have been using a raspberry pi/ifi nano one dac with Roon for almost a year which I think sounds better plus gives me access to my own hires and tidal hi res also. That’s all fine but my issue now is do I pay for a lifetime membership of Roon as I do like it and upgrade my dac to something better or do I move to another streamer that could integrate tidal in nicely. The dac does need an upgrade it kind of lets the rest down but as I am using an old pair arcam alpha 10 integrated and power amp for my kef r500 fronts in my av setup I don’t know where to start to upgrade I had thought keep Roon and the raspberry pi and get a chord qutest. Or can anyone recommend a streamer that would be a better all in one fit or do I look at a new amp with a dac and av bypass and fit that in. Any advice welcome.

 

[muljao]

I use a raumfeld connector, I think renamed to a Teufal connector. It has a digital optical out and does higher resolution than Sonos if that matters to you, so in theory if the inbuilt cirrus dac doesn't cut it you can use any better dac.

Do you live near a recently renovated castle?

 

[Stumper]

Thanks for the reply and yes there is a newly renovated castle quite close. I’m intrigued now. I will have a look at that streamer.

 

[muljao]

I think I bought a Blu-ray player off you about 7 months ago, same user name on that website. I live on the same island as you, if you'd like to try it out let me know

 

[Stumper]

Small world. Thanks for the offer I may take you up on that. I need to do a bit more research. Hi res in itself isn’t a deal breaker but I just feel I could get better sound with either a better Dac with the sonos connect or an overall better streamer that integrates with tidal.

 

[muljao]

Did you try using the ifi dac with the Sonos, I thought the dac decided the sound,cso it should sound identical to the raspberry pi setup then? If so it just means getting a dac you like better than the sonoS

 

[Stumper]

That’s actually my plan this week to try Sonos through the ifi dac see is there any improvement in quality. I need that ifi dac elsewhere soon enough so will be looking for a new dac in this setup if I can’t pick a new streamer.

 

[bruny]

This is a great little streamer. Does roon, Tidal, Qobuz, and Spotify. You can even add a hd drive. Only down side is you need Apple iPad or iPhone to set up. I think the LDS software/control is very good, as software lets many other streamers down. If you already have Apple products certainly worth a bit research. Plenty other reviews online.
Auralic Aries Mini Streamer and Linear PSU Review

 

[Stumper]

Great I will have a look at this so. I had seen Auralic listed on the Roon site but don’t know much about them. I am an IOS user so the Apple part is a non issue.

 

[Stumper]

Well tidal updating to allow mqa on iOS might just change my priority of what to do and buy.

 

[potshot]

Companies like Auralic do themselves out of business with only using IOS Apple. I would try the Auralic mini but hell would have to freeze over before I bought anything Apple.

 

[Stumper]

Agreed they cut of a chunk of potential customers by not offering an android option. As for iOS I use it I like it that’s a personal choice. Im leaning towards Naim the more I look. Although they don’t support mqa the app is pretty good and even though I sent my muso qb back last year I have since solved my upnp issues so may consider the Uniti and muso ranges for my streaming and multi room.

 

[potshot]

I have looked at Naim in the past, I stream via my PC through a Pioneer streamer into an MDac, I am looking for improvements in the Dac but it seems I will have to spend thousands to find a better Dac. If anybody could suggest a better Dac what doesn't cost £4000 plus.

It's OK if you already use IOS but having an android app would boost their sales seeing there are so many people using android.

 

[Stumper]

Would something like a chord qutest be a step up without going mad and spending 2k plus. Also why stream from the pc into the pioneer then to mdac. Could the pioneer be taken out of the chain ? Or are u effectively casting to the pioneer from your pc ? With regards to Naim I am curious to see the next generation of muso and uniti devices if they added a few small bits in to the next generation they would be the perfect solution I think despite the price tags.

 

[potshot]

I am casting to the pioneer wireless and then instead of using the Dac in the pioneer I go on to the MDac. I got told by a dealer I need a Naim server and instead of using flac use wav to a Naim Audio NDX2 Network Player. Nice if had £7000 to play with, I have plans for speaker upgrades as well. I just want a Dac upgrade. Had a hugo for a week and wasn't overly impressed on how it sounded, went back to the dealer.

 

[Stumper]

Ah well if you had a Hugo a lesser chord isn’t going to be better. With regards to Naim flac worked fine when I had it and it picked up my NAS and found my music alright though it was not sorted properly I since have set up a upnp server for this so it wouldn’t be an issue again if I was to go back to Naim but flac ALAC and all the lossy formats worked fine on the muso. I’m not sure where you go Dac wise. Is the pioneer the limiting factor or do you believe a bit is a bit and it can’t sound any different no matter what device you use until the Dac converts it being in the IT industry this is my view with it from my head yet my ears say otherwise with certain devices I have heard.

 

[Michael Bayleaf]

I got told by a dealer I need a Naim server and instead of using flac use wav to a Naim Audio NDX2 Network Player.

Why don't you have a look at the original NDX? I bought one second hand on eBay for a decent price and absolutely love it. Sound is amazing, it's connected to my NAS and I am trialling Tidal. It comes with the Naim app which is actually pretty good.

 

[Stumper]

Is tidal integrated into it in the app or is it from the tidal app that you effectively cast to the ndx.

 

[potshot]

Why don't you have a look at the original NDX? I bought one second hand on eBay for a decent price and absolutely love it. Sound is amazing, it's connected to my NAS and I am trialling Tidal. It comes with the Naim app which is actually pretty good.

Thanks, I think I will look at the NDX, the dealer said the Dac hasn't improved since the original NDX.

Ah well if you had a Hugo a lesser chord isn’t going to be better. With regards to Naim flac worked fine when I had it and it picked up my NAS and found my music alright though it was not sorted properly I since have set up a upnp server for this so it wouldn’t be an issue again if I was to go back to Naim but flac ALAC and all the lossy formats worked fine on the muso. I’m not sure where you go Dac wise. Is the pioneer the limiting factor or do you believe a bit is a bit and it can’t sound any different no matter what device you use until the Dac converts it being in the IT industry this is my view with it from my head yet my ears say otherwise with certain devices I have heard.

I am of the view a bit is a bit and it will stay the same bit until converted.

 

[Michael Bayleaf]

Is tidal integrated into it in the app or is it from the tidal app that you effectively cast to the ndx

Tidal is integrated into the Naim app. When I use the app to play music from my NAS, it will go and find suggestions/related music on Tidal which is pretty sweet

 

[Stumper]

Tidal is integrated into the Naim app. When I use the app to play music from my NAS, it will go and find suggestions/related music on Tidal which is pretty sweet

Ah I didn’t know that. that’s similar to roon I will have to look into older naim kit on eBay see what’s out there.

 

[Michael Bayleaf]

I think there are quite a few Naim products out there on eBay. If you get the chance to listen before you buy even better, my preference may be very different from yours!

 

[Stumper]

Very true I do like “the naim sound” but ya I have never heard naim kit paired with kef so maybe something to try and get a listen to before I crack open the piggy bank.