Streaming

miner

For weekend background music I have been using a 6gen iPod iTouch for my music shuffling and occasionally AppleTV. I am not well-versed on streaming (an old school analogue guy) so what would be the best route for me to take to get into the streaming realm? I prefer quality over quantity.

rooftop59

How much do you want to spend?!? Lots of options. Cheapest option is to get a chromecast audio on eBay and run it into a decent dac. You can also get a Squeezebox touch used and do the same. I have a couple and they still run great, although at this point you basically need to be running roon on your pc to use a SB Touch.

Middle of the road is probably a Cambridge CXN v2 or Azur 851n. And of course you can just go up from there...the sky’s the limit...

miner

I don't want to spend more than $2000 until I know this is right for me and my musical dependencies. I assume a subscription is additional - can Apple Music be used on a streaming device, other than Apple TV?

rooftop59

miner wrote: »

I don't want to spend more than $2000 until I know this is right for me and my musical dependencies. I assume a subscription is additional - can Apple Music be used on a streaming device, other than Apple TV?

Tidal and Qobuz and the two cd quality and hi Rez streaming sources. Spotify has the best overall selection, and is similar quality to Apple Music.

With that budget I would probably get a Cambridge 851N off their eBay store and that way you can sell it without much loss if you decide it’s not for you...

GlennDog

miner wrote: »

For weekend background music . . .
I am not well-versed on streaming (an old school analogue guy) so what would be the best route for me to take to get into the streaming realm? I prefer quality over quantity.

You just described me, Miner! Except mine is been playing about 8 hours a night

About 6 weeks ago I picked up a LUMIN U1 Mini, which is a DAC-less transport ( so you’ll need your own DAC to connected it to). There’s a slight learning curve, but I like it quite a lot. I think you will too ... it’s in your price range and coupled with Tidal, it works very well

The sickness has already set in after six short weeks .... I’m already thinking about a separate PSU or possibly moving up to a U1 (as I have a mini love affair going on with my Supremo)

The world of unheard music, to my ears, is vast. Extremely vast. Albeit, there’s a huge mountain of crap (muzik) to avoid but I’m sure you can navigate around that.

Give Skip a call and he’ll hook you up. Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Edit: Lumin is compatible with Apple AirPlay

jdjohn

If you don't have a DAC already, the Lumin D2 (or used D1) would be a good comprehensive choice in that price range. You can control it via smartphone/iPhone or tablet/iPad.

tonyb

Probably the 3 most used streamers around here are the Lumin, Aries, Cambridge. Followed up by the Bluesound Node 2i, and Sonos.

Lots of choices, with dacs or without.

tophatjohnny

tonyb wrote: »

Probably the 3 most used streamers around here are the Lumin, Aries, Cambridge. Followed up by the Bluesound Node 2i, and Sonos.

Lots of choices, with dacs or without.

Agree and if any of those choices would have lit me up like The Auralic Vega G2..I might have went that way..So thankful I found the G2.

miner

My Mc MA8900 has a built-in DAC I would be able to use. Do the mentioned streamers have the ability to connect via WiFi? My only network connection in the room is used by my U-Verse.

joecoulson

IMO the Cambridge is a great way to dip your feet in without stretching your budget, either the CXN or the 851N, of which I believe Skip has both?
They allow you to get used to the streaming atmosphere without dropping $2-4k+ right off the bat. The screens are a nice touch IMO

Ask @verb how he likes his, he has both..

tophatjohnny

joecoulson wrote: »

IMO the Cambridge is a great way to dip your feet in without stretching your budget, either the CXN or the 851N, of which I believe Skip has both?
They allow you to get used to the streaming atmosphere without dropping $2-4k+ right off the bat. The screens are a nice touch IMO

Ask @verb how he likes his, he has both..

Agree 100%

verb

joecoulson wrote: »

IMO the Cambridge is a great way to dip your feet in without stretching your budget, either the CXN or the 851N, of which I believe Skip has both?
They allow you to get used to the streaming atmosphere without dropping $2-4k+ right off the bat. The screens are a nice touch IMO

Ask @verb how he likes his, he has both..

Agree with Joe! I'm a newbie to the whole streaming thing, for many years I was doing the iTunes thing, thinking "yeah this is about it, never gonna be a good as physical media". Boy was I wrong. There is a whole universe beyond iTunes!

My first, the 851N, went right down in the basement on the big rig. My initial impression, was OMG (not in the audiophile glossary, BTW). Running Tidal (again new to me), I was very impressed. Running Tidal Masters, IMO even HIFI, is a worthy addition to any rig.

I was so impressed with the Cambridge 851N, that when Joe's CXN v2 offered up for sale, I jumped on it. This piece is now part of the living room rig.

I never have done a A/B comparison between the two, but others here have, and I have learned to rely upon and trust their judgement. They say the 851N is better, and I believe it. However for the living room, with in wall speakers, ya know, again it has become a worthy component in that rig.

What I love most about the streaming thing is access to a multitude of music out there, that I probably would never have been privy to. Depending on your service, but I believe most do this, is that it will offer up recommendations of music similar in genre to what you have played. Kinda opened up a whole new world of musical discovery for me. Almost infinite in possibilities! Wow! For me that is among the real values with streaming.

I will use Tidal to get a taste of a new band, or sample one of Tidal's suggestions, without having to pay for another CD! I regularly play some of Tidal's suggested track lists.

In fact, this year the Mrs and I went to a music festival of which I never even recognized any of the bands. So I used Tidal, found most of em, sampled em, and decided which ones I would visit that day at the festival! Very easy to do with the search function! Where else can you do that!

So I'm a streamer now. Yeah I still buy physical media, of the bands I really like, both historically and of the recent discoveries I found on Tidal!

Sure without doubt, for me, the next step is to up my game on the streamers, as I love to follow the journey as others have already done. But for now, I am very happy with both of the Cambridge's

Footnote - I'm streaming Tidal on my PC right now as I type this comment!

verb

Another thing, some groups only offer their music digitally! I have mixed feelings about this, but here is one example.

miner

Thanks to everyone with their suggestions - time to do my research, read reviews and decide the direction I want to go.

tonyb

Cool man, while doing your research, also pay attention to the reviews of the apps to control them. Not all apps are created equal, some worse than others. Kinda takes the fun out of a nice streamer if the app sucks.

miner

Thank you Tony - I found that out with my Olive HD4

rooftop59

tonyb wrote: »

Cool man, while doing your research, also pay attention to the reviews of the apps to control them. Not all apps are created equal, some worse than others. Kinda takes the fun out of a nice streamer if the app sucks.

I agree overall, but with some there are good third party apps. Both my squeezebox touch and denon avr have third party apps that are not very expensive ($5-10) and MUCH better than the OEM...

And at this point, I really think that especially for someone like @miner whose kids appear to be grown and probably has a little more disposable income than those of us with youngins, Roon is the way to go. Adds $10 a month to your streaming budget, but both the software and the app work soooo well that I think its well worth the cost. Heck, I am the opposite of miner (four youngins) and I pony up the dough for roon because its just so damn convenient and works so well. I know @dskip doesn't think that it sounds quite as good as some of the higher end dedicated streamers with their own software, but if this is for weekend background music I really think roon is the way to go.

The cheapest way to test Roon is to get a used SBT and a roon trial. I don't think you'll look back.

And Bryston streamers are roon compatible. Stick rocking my BPD-1 that @BlueFox so generously karmed to me!

jdjohn

@rooftop59 Are you able to use Spotify Connect on the SBT with Roon? Since Spotify and Logitech parted ways, the only way I know of to get Spotify on the SBT is by using 'Spotty' - a third-party open source app - but my understanding is that it only works with Logitech Media Server (LMS)...at least that's what I've been doing. Obviously there are other choices besides Spotify, but clearly it is quite popular. The regular Spotify app won't recognize the SBT as a playback device at this point.

tonyb

In my opinion, the cheapest player, with the best app is probably Sonos, and easiest to use also. Not the best sounding when compared to the others, but you can still grab CD quality from it and it has all the music services built in, apple or android compatible. iTunes too. Use a good dac with it for best results.

rooftop59

jdjohn wrote: »

@rooftop59 Are you able to use Spotify Connect on the SBT with Roon? Since Spotify and Logitech parted ways, the only way I know of to get Spotify on the SBT is by using 'Spotty' - a third-party open source app - but my understanding is that it only works with Logitech Media Server (LMS)...at least that's what I've been doing. Obviously there are other choices besides Spotify, but clearly it is quite popular. The regular Spotify app won't recognize the SBT as a playback device at this point.

I don’t use Spotify, but as I understand it spotify told roon h to the no, as they only want Spotify connect as the option and since they are the market leader they can do that is guess lol.

I know that overall Spotify is a little bit better streaming service, but tidal has closed that gap quite a bit, and you can get the $10 a month option just like Spotify and can even convert your Spotify playlists to tidal fwiw...and you can’t beat cd quality flac files for $20 a month...

rooftop59

tonyb wrote: »

In my opinion, the cheapest player, with the best app is probably Sonos, and easiest to use also. Not the best sounding when compared to the others, but you can still grab CD quality from it and it has all the music services built in, apple or android compatible. iTunes too. Use a good dac with it for best results.

I’m sure your right for models in production tony. But I’m a cheapskate and SB are super cheap on the used market and work really well with roon with in turn works really well integrating your personal library with tidal. For the money all in, I think that combo is the one to beat if your willing to by used of course...

tonyb

True, lack of support may keep some away, while Sonos has support up the ying-yang. You also don't need to buy or use any 3rd party apps with Sonos, it's all there. It makes a library from all your sources, automatically too, no having to tag stuff or shove it off into a folder. Their software is probably one of the best on the market, and I've played around with many higher end streamers who's apps left me scratching my head. Roon is good also, but costs some coin.

Much of this depends on your needs. If your trying to put together a streaming system for the whole house, that you'll have many different users, you might want something easy to use for everyone. Ease of use translates to more being happy with it....and using it more often. If an app is a pain to use or navigate around, people will just stop using it. Unless your an audiophile nerd like us, we put up with certain aggravations in exchange for sound quality, but everyone in your house may not be an audiophile nerd.

WagnerRC

If Miner would like to listen and play around with a sonos. I have one sitting here. He can use it for free to get some idea of what sound can be provided. Shoot me a pm if interested.

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