Looking for an alternative to a Nvidia Shield TV as streamer for my D90/McIntosh/B&W M801 setup

[packeted]

Hey everyone,

Firstly thanks for such an awesome forum - I've read so many of the reviews here.

I've gotten the itch to upgrade my system and need some advice. So the current setup is

Nvidia Shield TV Pro (running Android TV, so can use Spotify Connect, Cast, Tidal) - connected by USB to
Topping D10 connected by phono outs to
McIntosh C35 Pre-amp
McIntosh MC7200 Power-amp
B&W Matrix 801 S2 speakers

I've got a Topping D90 arriving tomorrow and I intend to try the Shield TV via USB in to the D90, and then use the XLR outs and volume control directly in to the power amp. The C35 is a good pre-amp but it's a bit old and doesn't support balanced XLR and since I have no other inputs it seems to make sense.

Now the issue I'm running up against with the Shield TV is that I believe it automatically upsamples audio to 192khz - indeed the D10 always shows locked to 192. I've heard that this can be a problem in terms of audio quality and I really want a "pass through". I also have a Chromecast audio that I could use and plug the Toslink in to the D90 when it arrives, but I've also been reading here that USB (which the Chromecast Audio does not support) is preferable to Toslink and CCA has challenges getting beyond 44khz.

I have a great fiber internet connection here and don't really want to mess around with storing files locally on a server. I also love the convenience of being able to use my phone as the remote for the shield TV via Spotify connect etc.. and also seeing the info up on the TV (setup attached, all the equipment is in the fireplace behind).

Does anyone have any recommendations on what alternatives I have to the Shield TV as the streamer?

Cheers,
Francis

 

[M00ndancer]

I also have a Chromecast audio that I could use and plug the Toslink in to the D90 when it arrives, but I've also been reading here that USB (which the Chromecast Audio does not support) is preferable to Toslink and CCA has challenges getting beyond 44khz.

CCA supports 24/96 but is depending on the source material and app. The D90 will handle any eventual issue with the toslink. So I would use the CCA.
(Although I'm in the 16/44.1 is good enough camp, I wont hear any difference anyway)

 

[somebodyelse]

With well implemented inputs like on the D90 the only reason to prefer USB is for the extra formats it supports. For more on the Chromecast see this thread.

As Dialectric says, upsampling shouldn't be an audible concern unless Nvidia have messed up the implementation. Blind testing is a great way to make sure you're not worrying about things you can't actually hear.

If you want something that'll make a real difference look for streaming options that can do room correction, but the choices are probably quite limited, and may cost you some of the ease of use. The easiest options are probably Daphile, and Volumio with the BruteFIR plugin. If you're really lucky there'll be an app that does it for the Shield.

 

[Apesbrain]

Be sure you are running the latest Shield firmware:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforc...shield-experience-upgrade-811-released-22620/

I don't know that it will help, but I see on their forum complaints related to your issue going back over a year as well as a comment by a company rep that they were at that time looking into native audio pass-through:
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforc...hile-having-problems-with-shieldtv-probably-/

Toward the top of the thread there is a suggested workaround involving a 3rd-party app if the firmware update is a bust. Curiously, one poster reports that audio over HDMI does not have the issue.