Streamer recommendations? whats acutally good

[locoliberty]

Im looking for a streamer to do better on the audio front than my NVIDIA shield. Say budget is 500 or less, preferably less, for 2 channel only and no need for a DAC(running a Topping D70).

Functions:
Bluetooth
spotify
tidal
Home library access(roon, or other system, either network access or setup a server/service)

what should I be looking at?

 

[Apesbrain]

Your Topping has BT so no need for streamer to duplicate that. Are you willing to snap together a Raspberry Pi solution? If so, there are many options.

 

[BDWoody]

Im looking for a streamer to do better on the audio front than my NVIDIA shield.

What would the improvement be? You're going usb out into the D70 I assume?

 

[locoliberty]

What would the improvement be? You're going usb out into the D70 I assume?

The Shield does either 44 or if you put it on "high quality stereo" it outputs at 192khz. regardless of what the source file is, maybe it doesnt matter in some technical sense but I dont like that its doing upscaling in a sort of black box. I hate it and want something that just outputs what the source is.

 

[locoliberty]

Your Topping has BT so no need for streamer to duplicate that. Are you willing to snap together a Raspberry Pi solution? If so, there are many options.

def thought about a PI, but been hesitant if that output quality would actually be good even in digital. I try not to get into the vudu/snake oil, but I still wonder on a 40 dollar device.

 

[BobPM]

If you don't need the DAC, the Bluesound Node 2i had great functionality, regularly updates software to add new services, is easy to use, and expands for whole house audio. I use the Coaxial output on a Node 2 to another DAC and really like the ease of use. Maybe not quite as good as ROON, but close, and it accesses more services than ROON. The DAC was the main issue when Amir reviewed it.

 

[maverickronin]

Your Topping has BT so no need for streamer to duplicate that.

BT is lossy and higher bitrates codecs aren't likely to work at anything more than pocket to headphone range.

 

[BobPM]

But sometimes you just gotta have Bluetooth. Although it isn't the ultimate way to transmit data, it can be very handy frequently enough that having it is worthwhile. Convenience can sometimes trump purity. Again, that is why I like the Node 2, it does a lot, including Bluetooth, and it can get out a high bitrate stream if you have the content to transmit.

 

[locoliberty]

A node is the main thing on my list, and I was looking tonight I got the D70 without bluetooth. lol

 

[somebodyelse]

def thought about a PI, but been hesitant if that output quality would actually be good even in digital. I try not to get into the vudu/snake oil, but I still wonder on a 40 dollar device.

Measurements both here and from archimago suggest otherwise, and it was good enough for Bryston to use in a >$1000 streamer. Also your D70 shows good immunity to source problems. If you don't like that hardware then many of the same software solutions will run on a fanless PC, thin client or NUC.

 

[locoliberty]

Measurements both here and from archimago suggest otherwise, and it was good enough for Bryston to use in a >$1000 streamer. Also your D70 shows good immunity to source problems. If you don't like that hardware then many of the same software solutions will run on a fanless PC, thin client or NUC.

I wasnt able to find a PI review, link?

 

[locoliberty]

The hifiberry actually looks like a nice add-on for what im looking for here. hmmmm

 

[somebodyelse]

There's not a pi review as such here, but it's an inherent part of the system when Pi-based DACs are tested so far as its data handling is concerned. You can find these in the "DAC (bare board)" section of the review index. Archimago compared output of a Pi 3, ODroid-C2 and MS Surface via USB DAC and found them essentially identical. If you go down the Pi route and don't already have one then get a Pi 4 to avoid a potential glitch issue on USB with some DAC and software combinations.