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SUGGESTIONS PLEASE

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Looking at different streamers with high res capability, suggestions please.
 

Purité Audio

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BillG

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dkinric

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I'm currently using CCA to my DAC via Toslink. I can stream Tidal and Quobuz in 24/96 and control it all with the native apps on my Ipad. It sounds great, is inexpensive and effective. If your DAC is decent enough to eliminate jitter artifacts, it's a very good, simple solution.
 
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I'm currently using CCA to my DAC via Toslink. I can stream Tidal and Quobuz in 24/96 and control it all with the native apps on my Ipad. It sounds great, is inexpensive and effective. If your DAC is decent enough to eliminate jitter artifacts, it's a very good, simple solution.
what dac are you using?
 

DDF

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I use CCAs and PCs and there are pros cons to both. All comments below are for Tidal Premium and Spotify Premium

CCA is convenient & cheap but doesn't support equalization, for example to mitigate room modes in the bass. CCA plays directly from the server.
  • Some apps work around this by playing from the phone/tablet to the CAA (allowing use of the apps local EQ) but I find it hard on batteries.
  • Tidal Android doesn't have a built in equalizer. Bubbleupnp has Tidal integration and can cast, but no built in equalizer.
  • Spotify Android has an equalizer in the android app but it accesses the local android equalizer and doesn't work to Chromecast
Spotify cast to Chromecast uses 256kbs AAC.

Chromecast doesn’t support gapless. The application must convert individual files to one long stream, to avoid gaps. This consumes more battery IME as tablet is no longer just a control point, but all audio is routed through it.
  • HiFicast can do this (if setting is enabled) for local/home server files. File access is slower IME though.
  • BubbleUPnp (or Roon) supports Tidal and gapless. There is no gapless support for Spotify to Chromecast.
I've also had numerous instances where one or more CCA just disappears from visibility in my home network, then comes back later. I've read other numerous reports of this as well, but don't know how high the risk is in general.

PC on windows has all the usual inconveniences when windows insists on updating but does have advantages such as Equalizer APO (and PEACE GUI) free support for EQ along with more powerful desktop players such as Foobar200 and all the vst plug ins that it can support. You can still use a tablet as a control point for Spotify for example.

A minority of people (probably small but a risk not be completely ignored) also have trouble with interference from the PC to dac (eg ground loops) or processing on the PC causing drop outs (I was one of the lucky ones to have both on one of my 3 PC set ups).
 

dkinric

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what dac are you using?
Mine is included with my integrated amp, Cambridge Audio CXA60. Most competent modern DACs should have sufficient jitter rejection.

DDF above laid out a bunch of pros and cons. I have no interest in EQ (my subs have built in Anthem DSP) and I would move to another streaming scenario if/when I go to full frequency room correction.
I have encountered losing the CCA connection once or twice, it was easy enough to restablish, I am living with it to see how often it happens. So far, not enough to be a concern. Lack of gapless does not bother me that much either.

To me, it seems the transport/streamer product market is evolving quickly. Personally, I am enjoying streaming 24/96 hi-res content on my $35 device and just can't justify spending hundreds for something that does basically the same thing. I am keeping an eye on new products until something comes across that seems like a big enough jump in SQ/features for a reasonable cost.

The other thing I'm looking at is the Digione Player from Allo. It's a Rasberry Pi / HAT transport solution. Built for max sound quality at min cost, it can be had for about $175:
https://www.allo.com/network-audio-player.html
Of course, you would need a DAC as well.

May want to try the inexpensive route first, then upgrade later on as more options evolve.
Cheers.
 

DuxServit

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I looked at various streamers costing $$$ (too much) but decided to use an old MacMini + Roon on the server side. The endpoints are various, ranging from old PCs (several), to a couple of iPads and occasionally even my iPhone. Yes I’m Apple-biased ;)
 

BillG

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"CCA is convenient & cheap but doesn't support equalization, for example to mitigate room modes in the bass."

Chromecast Audio does support EQ, though rudimentary and akin to Tone controls on vintage stereo gear, but it's rather inconspicuous in Google Home app. See my screen shot below.

As for it losing network connectivity, I've had nary a problem with it doing this on the two that I own, and a properly configured and maintained network.
 

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BillG

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Chromecast doesn’t support gapless.

Chromecast Audio does indeed support gapless. However, this is dependent upon the client-server implementation utilizing it. (Ex. Emby server-Windows, and Emby mobile-Android/iOS have supported it for months now.)
 

DDF

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@BillG I should have said CCA doesn't "natively" support gapless. I mentioned HiFi cast and Bubble can support gapless to CCA as well but in my reading I found that they do this by stringing the playlist into one long file and playing from what would otherwise be the control point (eg phone or tablet). That's why I mentioned I found it harder on the control point batteries.

Roon supports CCA gapless as well.

Thanks for mentioning Emby Server, new to me. Does the free version work without pesky limitations (no ads and feature rich enough?). Premier version's not cheap, but not outrageous either. ($120 lifetime)
 
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thank you for all the responses, what if any DAC would you use with a Node2i, would it increase resolution or sound quality?
 
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