Hi,
From what I have read so far on this device, it seems that the "Hi-Fi" field has a new battle going on...
So far, we had the endless debate between "objectivists" who claim there is no audible difference if it can't be measured and the "subjectivists" who claim they can hear a difference even where non can be measured.
But now there a new field for debate : all-in-one (with compromise) or separate (without compromise) ?
Well, I think we all have our goals and preferences. So what follows is just my own opinion and I have no intend to force my views upon any member of this group...
I have tried a lot of things to stream :
- Bluesound Node : disgusting. People rant and rave about it's software. I urge them to NEVER give a look at Symfonium, Bubble UPnP or Emby...
- Computer : on Linux I use GMusicBrowser and all my DAC's are recognized without the need for any driver. I use ALSA output and have "bitperfect" output. But, it is difficult to drive that remotely (so when I am lying in my bed at night, I have to stand up and go to computer to change album or skip tracks).
- Raspberry pi with all possible OS : rAudio, moOde, Volumio...
In it's latest iteration, Volumio is simply too bugged to be used nicely. Unless, of course, you stick to their own way of thinking the thing should be used.
rAudio is now more or less abandoned.
So moOde is the way to go. This solution is really nice : you have a UPnp/DLNA renderer, you can drive it with third party software or a Web interface ; you can customize it fully and it has parametric EQ to compliment your headphone. It can be used "as is" with the headphone output built-in the pi4, or connected to a DAC with USB or add a DAC with headphone amp and you can use it as is. This is the smallest and least expensive solution to stream... BUT to get good sound, you will need : the pi4, an external DAC, a headphone amplifier... and a display should you want to see what you're playing directly.
- Dedicated "all-in-one" streamer : I have used the Cocktail Audio N15D and the Shanling EM5.
The Shanling was a magnificient device and included a dedicated power amp (2X60W) which was nice and all that for the price of 650€ (got itrefurbished). Sound was absolutely goergeous to my ears but the software side was hoorible. The in-house app was really not enough and was not stable and third party apps showed some problems at playing all tracks. It randomly decided to stop playing after 1 or 2 tracks... So it had to go back to store after 10 days.
The Cocktail Audio N15D, I have bought used for 250€. It is a UPnP/DLNA renderer AND server... So it is possible to stream
to it using a third party app. But is is also possible to stream
FROM it to another device (i.e. my Oppo BDP 105 I have in the living room). You can add an internal 2.5" SSD drive and store your music locally. To fill up the drive you can simply browse to it from the computer over network (with SMB or FTP) and copy your music to it... (not super fast). It is also possible to copy your music to a USB 3.0 stick and then copy it from the USB stick to the hard drive from their dedicated (ugly but OK) app. It's much faster should you need to copy large libraries... It has a decent headphone amp (largely enough to drive my Dan Clark Aeon Flow Closed) and is nicely built. But it misses three features for me : no web interface to drive it from the desk ; no display on the device so you're not really sure what it's doing unless you look at it from the app :-( and, more important, no equalizer at all and no DAC filters :-(
Now there is a machine I've be looking at for some time : the Fiio R7 which seems to be nice... But has no DLNA renderer so far. So you're stuck with the in-house Fiio app which is really not nice :-( Of course, I could add USB Audio Pro App, but I really do not see the point in having such a device to use it with a third-party app to get a feature that should be included. Fiio promises to add the feature in a future update, but until that is not included, I won't trust their promise :-(
And now I've come to discover this DMP-A6. It looks fantastic. It seems to have all features I am looking for... except one :-(
It has no headephone output !
BUT it seems that it's XLR output is rated at 5.2V RMS which should be sufficient (the AUNE S6 I own has 4.2V RMS XLR output and drives my Dan Clark Aeon Flowx Closed at super loud level without being at maximum...).
- So what's the most versatile solution ? All in all, should you have about 850€ to spend on a device to listen to music and stram and have a display and all music services included, I think there is a really decent solution. That will offer almost everything you'd like. Just take a really nice DAP (I use the FiioM11 Pro). Install USB Audio Pro App on to it.
When you're at home, you can hook it up to a dedictad headphone ampd or pre-amp with active speakers connected. Or even just use it as is (headphone amp is enough to drive the Dan Clark).
When you're on the run, 2 cables to unplug : USB-C charging cable and connection to headphone amps/pre-amp. Once done, you can use it as a dedicated DAP with the local storage on SD-Card or on USB OTG stick... and you can of course stream everything you'd like from any music service.
But, as far as I am concerned, the DMP-A6 is the kind of devices I'd like to get. Personally, I am done with dedicated separate device : 1 streamer, one DAC, one headphone amplifier/pre-map and a display to add up...
I would be looking for an all-in-one box that does it all.
And the DMP-A6 looks like it does it all :
- UPnP/DLNA renderer ;
- nice customizable display ;
- decent sound quality
- packed with features...
Now two questions :
- will it play gapless while streaming (not playing from included SSD drive) ?
- will the XLR output be able to drive my headphones (I assume it should but if anyone can confirm this I'd be grateful).
If the answer to those questions is "Yes", then it's definitely the device I would be looking for...
So between this and the Fiio R7, it's a tough decision
Looks and feature says "DMP-A6". Headphone amp says "Fiio R7". Or maybe I'll find enoughmoney to get a Zidoo Neo thingy... But that is a 50% more :-(