Do network streamers need to be expensive?

[Hatto]

Looks like part of the sentence has gone. Anyway, was going to say that I personally don't run the cable across the room as I have iPad close to the dac. The room isn't particularly small either. But I get that this wouldn't work for all, especially when people have TV connected to a dac and sofa few meters away. But above all, I'll rather go for access to anything I want than a very limited access to whatever the streamer manufacturer included. There is no streamer on the market that would satisfy (access to services wise) me anyway.

What services are you concerned about lacking access to without a direct cable connection?

 

[Liya]

What services are you concerned about lacking access to without a direct cable connection?

Apple Music and Apple Music Classcial, Bandcamp and Bandcamp Daily, Pitchfork, You Tube Music, BBC Sounds (including on demand programmes), NTS Radio (including on demand access to their massive library of programmes), sometimes I like reading Gramophone Magazine articles or booklets while listening to new classcial releases.

 

[Hatto]

Apple Music and Apple Music Classcial, Bandcamp and Bandcamp Daily, Pitchfork, You Tube Music, BBC Sounds (including on demand programmes), NTS Radio (including on demand access to their massive library of programmes),

I thought you could audio stream anything that's available on Apple devices through Airplay2, but not those?

sometimes I like reading Gramophone Magazine articles or booklets while listening to new classcial releases.

That's the exact scenario where I prefer my mobile device to be cable free.

 

[Liya]

I thought you could audio stream anything that's available on Apple devices through Airplay2, but not those?

We don't use much wifi at home. I have ethernet cable on my iPad. Ethernet and cable to a dac! That's already two cables. Very savage.
I also use Mac connected to the dac and control Apple Music playlists with an iPhone Remote Control app, so not totally savage

 

[Hatto]

We don't use much wifi at home. I have ethernet cable on my iPad. Ethernet and cable to a dac! That's already two cables. Very savage.

Love it!

I also use Mac connected to the dac and control Apple Music playlists with an iPhone Remote Control app, so not totally savage

Looks like you have your "streamer" right there, a much more sophisticated one than most people have.

It's always great to see some diversity every now and then. Enjoy your setup!

 

[Liya]

Love it!


Looks like you have your "streamer" right there, a much more sophisticated one than most people have.

It's always great to see some diversity every now and then. Enjoy your setup!

Yeah, it's Mac mini so when used as music streamer (for Apple Music) then the monitor is off and iPhone remote app is used to control playlists etc.

Cheers.

 

[MaxBuck]

The bluesound is not able to stream DSD as far as I'm aware. You can't use it as NAA entpoint either.

Fair enough; neither of these is important to me, but if it is to you so be it.

Personally I love BluOS, but each to his own. My best need not be yours.

 

[freedomgli]

I think of Wiim as great for 2-channel, but for multichannel streaming AppleTV makes much more sense. Those are cheap too.

The downside is the AppleTV doesn’t do “real” hires and also requires that the display screen also be on. That’s not ideal for me as I don’t always want my motorized projector screen to be down and my projector on when I’m just listening to music. I know I could probably setup a second display in my utility closet near my AV rack just for this purpose (probably a good idea anyhow just for troubleshooting) but multiple displays can introduce other issues.

Do people ever listen to multichannel audio (say on Apple Music or Qobuz via Roon) and not have a display screen on?

 

[ErVikingo]

I use a Wiim Pro, it does everything i need. It has the digital output I want, a fool proof interface and it accesses services I like.

 

[cyclo]

I have an Apple TV and recently got a WiiM Pro (after my very positive experience with a WiiM Mini) hooked up to my audio-video system. I prefer to use the WiiM to stream music compared to the Apple TV (using the Spotify app for Apple TV). Spotify on my phone allows faster searching and is more full featured compared to the Apple TV Spotify app. I also prefer not having the TV on when listening to music. Finally it is very easy to search my uncompressed wav files on my PC from the WiiM app. Haven't tried that with the Apple TV. The WiiM Mini is now in my other room attached to a Aiyima A07.

 

[jhaider]

The downside is the AppleTV doesn’t do “real” hires

Not a real downside for humans who listen to music, just another one of those audiophile sideshows.

and also requires that the display screen also be on.

Fair point - and I think you're right though I've never tried without. Certainly it would be hard to navigate immersive content Apple Music or Tidal on AppleTV without a screen, because those services rely on the TV to display their interfaces.