I am looking for a one-box solution, roon ready streamer, DAC, Dirac and headphones Amp

[oppop]

State of the art preamp/DAC/headphone amp, Dirac and Roon ready streamer - in one box. Does it exist?

 

[Timcognito]

https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd-studio For Head Phones or as preamp
https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd-power With Amplifier

 

[NTK]

NAD M66. Status: Coming soon ...

NAD M66 - finally someone makes a decent 2-channel preamp!

https://audioxpress.com/news/nad-announces-masters-m66-bluos-streaming-dac-preamplifier The highlights: 4 sub outs Dlrac Live Bass Control No mention of loudness compensation, unfortunately (do NAD AVR/P products generally offer loudness compensation)? IMO it's on the pricey side, and unless...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[oppop]

Thank you.

I've considered the Minidsp Studio but no state of the art DAC?
NAD will be a huge box?

I was hoping someone like Boxem would come up with solution to pair with a power amp.

 

[ninetylol]

Thank you.

I've considered the Minidsp Studio but no state of the art DAC?
NAD will be a huge box?

I was hoping someone like Boxem would come up with solution to pair with a power amp.

WiiM amp - status coming soon

 

[MAB]

I've considered the Minidsp Studio but no state of the art DAC?

Actually quite state of the art:

Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

This is an update to the review of minidsp SHD that I did a couple of years ago. My tests have evolved since then and company has stated that they fixed a few issues I found in that test. The SHD costs US $1,195 and includes a USB DAC, streaming engine (based on Volumio) and of course, DSP...

www.audiosciencereview.com

As is the Flex if no streamer is needed:

Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

This is a review and detailed measurement of the Minidsp Flex audio signal processor. It was sent to me by the company and costs US $475 for unbalanced and $550 for balanced that I tested. Flex borrows the interface from SHD and puts it in a compact package. Seeing how I really liked that...

www.audiosciencereview.com

About the only way to beat this on paper is and RME ADI-2 and a Wiim, but that is a bit different beast.

For headphones, I use the RME, it's more ideal for me. I have little use for a streamer (I almost never use the streaming function in my SHD, it's just not my MO), but the SHD is an incredibly awesome piece of gear, well beyond just a DAC.

 

[Timcognito]

I've considered the Minidsp Studio but no state of the art DAC?

Here are the test results for SHD power, same front end with an amp too. DAC looks good

SoundStage! Hi-Fi | SoundStageHiFi.com - miniDSP SHD Power Integrated Amplifier-DAC

www.soundstagehifi.com

 

[yllanos]

WiiM amp - status coming soon

I don't think that one will include Dirac

 

[oppop]

Thanks for the helpful replies.
I've got a Boxem Arthur which I love. I find it amazing that there are so few decent one box pre/headphone amps with Dirac and Roon. Maybe it's me but the resonably priced DAC/ Headphone amps are ubiquitous. How hard would it be to integrate DSP and Streaming for around £1000? These things would fly off the shelves if done properly no?

 

[kemmler3D]

Thanks for the helpful replies.
I've got a Boxem Arthur which I love. I find it amazing that there are so few decent one box pre/headphone amps with Dirac and Roon. Maybe it's me but the resonably priced DAC/ Headphone amps are ubiquitous. How hard would it be to integrate DSP and Streaming for around £1000? These things would fly off the shelves if done properly no?

I think streamers are generally thought of as multi-room / speaker-oriented devices. For headphone listening a lot of people are at desks with computers handy, obviating the streamer. So I think the living room headphone streaming use case is perceived as being a small opportunity.

That said, I think you can plop a WiiM Mini next to any DAC/Amp and get the functionality you have in mind. A little double-sided tape and you could call it all-in-one.

 

[MAB]

Thanks for the helpful replies.
I've got a Boxem Arthur which I love. I find it amazing that there are so few decent one box pre/headphone amps with Dirac and Roon. Maybe it's me but the resonably priced DAC/ Headphone amps are ubiquitous. How hard would it be to integrate DSP and Streaming for around £1000? These things would fly off the shelves if done properly no?

I think what happened is many people don't stream. I was enthusiastic about streaming with my SHD when I first got it and convinced myself that would be my primary use, it still is connected over wired ethernet. But I quickly started just playing over USB or optical directly from the PC. And while the SHD is very responsive streamer, so many streaming boxes have odd delays, random volume glitches, issues with gapless playback, issues with formats, etc. I am more happy using the same computer I need to have for streaming to just play music over USB, like I said that is where I landed... The handful of features unique to a streamer seems outweighed by other issues.

 

[kemmler3D]

I think what happened is many people don't stream. I was enthusiastic about streaming with my SHD when I first got it and convinced myself that would be my primary use, it still is connected over wired ethernet. But I quickly started just playing over USB or optical directly from the PC. And while the SHD is very responsive streamer, so many streaming boxes have odd delays, random volume glitches, issues with gapless playback, issues with formats, etc. I am more happy using the same computer I need to have for streaming to just play music over USB, like I said that is where I landed... The handful of features unique to a streamer seems outweighed by other issues.

I'm quite similar when it comes to streaming. I currently have 6 WiiM units in my house (the mini refurbs are really cheap on eBay), but they're only used for secondary systems or multi-room situations. If I'm listening to one of my main systems, one at a time, I have things hooked up directly.

 

[JustJones]

I don't know of anything that meets all your criteria. The MiniDSP units mentioned , SHD Studio doesn't have a DAC and the SHD doesn't have a headphone amplifier.

 

[pogo]

How hard would it be to integrate DSP and Streaming for around £1000?

A NAD C658 should be available at this price. It is also possible to equalise a headphone via Dirac Live or to use ready-made measurements from databases, example DT 1990 Pro:

 

[MAB]

I don't know of anything that meets all your criteria. The MiniDSP units mentioned , SHD Studio doesn't have a DAC and the SHD doesn't have a headphone amplifier.

Agreed.
I use several MiniDSP, all used as speaker and subwoofer crossover plus room correction. They are great for that since I value the crossover functionality.
I use an RME ADI-2 FS for headphones. The things I value (in decreasing priority) are the PEQ, the excellent headphone amp, and the best in class DAC. If I needed it to also be a 2-channel stereo preamp, it's also be perfect for that. If I needed analog input, the Pro version would be also best in class perfect. I think the RME with a Wiim for the streaming part would be great. And OP could get the Wiim, use it with whatever DAC now and see if it is OK, for minimal cost.

 

[Jimbob54]

I think the RME with a Wiim for the streaming part would be great.

Exactly my current set up. If I could live with a few less PEQ bands I would probably be happy enough with a Wiim Pro Plus as streamer/ dac into a JDS Atom for most headphones.

 

[oppop]

A NAD C658 should be available at this price. It is also possible to equalise a headphone via Dirac Live or to use ready-made measurements from databases, example DT 1990 Pro:

View attachment 325302

Measures really poorly though....