Top 5 streamer devices by ASR community

[Ralph_Cramden]

I came across this when researching DIY RPI streaming solutions, thought it may be helpful in this thread, but I'm pretty new to all the RPI options (analysis paralysis and overwhelming) - Touchscreen Streamer with HiFiBerry OS & DAC for $150 - YouTube

Parts list in the video:
DeoxIT gold Mini-Brush Applicator
HiFiBerry OS
HiFiBerry Digi+ Standard
SmartiPi Touch 2 - Case
Raspberry Pi Official 7 Inch Touch Screen
Element14 Raspberry Pi 3 B+
PWR 5V Raspberry Pi Power Supply
MinimServer (DLNA UpNp Free Software)

Yeah, I tend to avoid all the distros that require the extreme bloat of a browser for their touchscreen UI. Makes zero sense to me, but I suppose it's because most coders these days only know web coding. These UIs are not just memory hungry, but tend to be less responsive than good old fashioned embedded-type UIs.

Jivelite is based on the original Squeezebox Touch UI, needs no bloated browser, and can run nicely on as little as a Pi Zero. The browser UIs pretty much require a Pi 4, as they're so inefficient. I'm sticking with piCorePlayer, easily the best of the bunch, IME.

Of course, you have the option of using the browser-based UI (Material Skin) with LMS on your piCorePlayer server via your phone or PC.

 

[guy80]

Yeah, I tend to avoid all the distros that require the extreme bloat of a browser for their touchscreen UI. Makes zero sense to me, but I suppose it's because most coders these days only know web coding. These UIs are not just memory hungry, but tend to be less responsive than good old fashioned embedded-type UIs.

Jivelite is based on the original Squeezebox Touch UI, needs no bloated browser, and can run nicely on as little as a Pi Zero. The browser UIs pretty much require a Pi 4, as they're so inefficient. I'm sticking with piCorePlayer, easily the best of the bunch, IME.

Of course, you have the option of using the browser-based UI (Material Skin) with LMS on your piCorePlayer server via your phone or PC.

Good to know! I do not enjoy sluggish touch screens one bit. Think I'll try the hardware you listed here on the 7" screen and go from there.

 

[Willem]

I didn't say it would sound better, I said it would have better performance (which is still true), and you can avoid google in your life. The CC also limits you to 24/96. You can argue that no one needs more than 24/96 but that doesn't stop it from being true, with a Pi you can use whatever the DAC can handle.

But why aim for performance that will not bring sonic benefits? To me, between decently designed streamers the only relevant differences are price and user interface/range of apps for streaming services. The latter argues strongly against streamers from most hifi brands because you get locked into their proprietary systems with only few streaming services and the risk that your system will be obsolete before you know. For these reasons, and because the sound quality is more than good enough in even the most demanding system, I prefer the CCA.

 

[amper42]

Hard to beat a $100 RPi4 running Moode for streamer duties. Most everything else offers more expensive features I don't need. I'd rather spend the extra $900 toward my speakers than a fancy streamer that offers no sound difference.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

If you don't want to DIY, here is a new and very economical solution:
https://polyvection.com/en/product/dac32/
https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?113633-DAC32-low-cost-high-performance-music-streamer

Because it is running Squeezelite, I believe it can be either a Logitech Media Server or Roon endpoint.

Their upcoming product has digital outputs.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/show...t-optimised-high-performance-digital-streamer

 

[NiagaraPete]

One thing I noticed was support for Apple "Airplay 1" surely that can't be correct and if it is yikes!

 

[somebodyelse]

One thing I noticed was support for Apple "Airplay 1" surely that can't be correct and if it is yikes!

Which device is this in reference to? The original Airplay was reverse engineered so can now be supported by open source code as used by some of the streamers mentioned here. The same isn't yet true of Airplay 2 so it's only available when licensed by/from Apple.

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

Their upcoming product has digital outputs.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/show...t-optimised-high-performance-digital-streamer

SINAD look nice!

https://forums.slimdevices.com/show...tal-streamer&p=1031722&viewfull=1#post1031722

 

[Snoopy]

So I wanted to talk a bit about the Cambridge audio Cxn V2 again since it might be unique but useful usecase for some..

Apple TV:
I currently got a apple TV 4k and I have a LG CX OLED. So I used a optical out from the TV into my CXA81 and I tried the Cxn V2 as well.

So this is a issue many people seem to have with the apple TV and lg TVs.
There would be a random cracking and popping sound every few minutes every time the audio and video stream are mismatched for a tiny Moment.

I tried all settings there are in the apple TV , LG TV , tried different hdmi cables.

But using Airplay from the apple TV to the Cxn V2 solves the problem.

Pre-amp:
Since the Cxn V2 is at the same time a preamp I connected my headphone amplifier with the XLR connection and I'm able to remote control the volume through the streammagic app.

XLR / RCA output:
Another nice feature is that you can use both without running into sound quality issues. My headphone amp uses the XLR connection and the CXA81 gets the RCA out.

Bypass the internal DAC:
Using a optical out its possible to bypass the internal DAC in case you want to use a better one or just stream music to another setup.

Display: while the display is not the best, I really enjoy it to scroll through my Flac files If I'm not in the mood to grab my phone or tablet.

That's it really. Maybe it's helpful to someone out there. I certainly never thought I would be using airplay as a workaround. But I'm happy it's there.

Same as the whole Chromecast stuff.

 

[Kevin_Lane]

CCA is most convenient and most compatible device. Though availability is issue nowadays. One very convenient and even economical option of CCA is Mi Box. It comes with CC built in. Once you do first setup with a screen connected, It can be used as headless streamer, as good as a CCA.

Second best option is RPi based streamers. Gives you plenty of OS options and DAC options. Audiophiles grade iterations like DigiOne and Pi2aes are also available for jitter jittery crowd.

 

[RichT]

Hello, yes the Allo Boss2 should do the trick. It's got a very good DAC and can be totally controlled by a phone app, perfect and low cost. I have an Allo USBridge with Volumio controlled with a phone app. It needs a DAC with USB, I'm using a S.M.S.L. Sanskrit V2. There's a bunch of plugins including a parametric equalizer. This set-up sounds fantastic but the Allo Boss2 is cheaper and does it all, regards

 

[Oukkidoukki]

CCA is most convenient and most compatible device. Though availability is issue nowadays. One very convenient and even economical option of CCA is Mi Box. It comes with CC built in. Once you do first setup with a screen connected, It can be used as headless streamer, as good as a CCA.

Second best option is RPi based streamers. Gives you plenty of OS options and DAC options. Audiophiles grade iterations like DigiOne and Pi2aes are also available for jitter jittery crowd.

Do you happen to know if it is possible to use mi box usb port for audio? Connect mi box via usb to dac….

 

[Kevin_Lane]

Do you happen to know if it is possible to use mi box usb port for audio? Connect mi box via usb to dac….

Why not? Every Android device does.

 

[boXem]

Do you happen to know if it is possible to use mi box usb port for audio? Connect mi box via usb to dac….

Yes, you can. Just be prepared to have to switch on the screen connected to it several times a week to confirm that, yes, you want to listen loud and you are aware that this may damage your hearing . So not a good headless solution.

 

[nerone]

Have any of you tried to connect Chromecast Video to the television and go to the dac with the optical input?
With my Topping E30 it seems to work better than Chromecast Audio

 

[Kevin_Lane]

Have any of you tried to connect Chromecast Video to the television and go to the dac with the optical input?
With my Topping E30 it seems to work better than Chromecast Audio

Yes, it's routine practice. Another standard practice is using HDMI Audio splitter with CC and using it as CCA.

 

[nerone]

Yes, it's routine practice. Another standard practice is using HDMI Audio splitter with CC and using it as CCA.

however I don't understand why the sampling is fixed at 48.0 on the dac display whatever the format transmitted by Tidal Hifi

 

[aandres_gm]

I've posted this before, but a Pi-based streamer is really a fantastic solution. My build came up to 125€, has a bunch of storage, looks nice and is extremely functional.

 

[Mindhead1]

Not if you get away from third party assemblers' profit margin. You can roll your own USB-based streamer for well under $100 using Ropiee/Volumio/MoOde/whatever (I have two built this way). A 'hat" for SPDIF/Optical isn't too much more.

This is the way.

 

[freddianz]

So I wanted to talk a bit about the Cambridge audio Cxn V2 again since it might be unique but useful usecase for some..

Apple TV:
I currently got a apple TV 4k and I have a LG CX OLED. So I used a optical out from the TV into my CXA81 and I tried the Cxn V2 as well.

So this is a issue many people seem to have with the apple TV and lg TVs.
There would be a random cracking and popping sound every few minutes every time the audio and video stream are mismatched for a tiny Moment.

I tried all settings there are in the apple TV , LG TV , tried different hdmi cables.

But using Airplay from the apple TV to the Cxn V2 solves the problem.

Pre-amp:
Since the Cxn V2 is at the same time a preamp I connected my headphone amplifier with the XLR connection and I'm able to remote control the volume through the streammagic app.

XLR / RCA output:
Another nice feature is that you can use both without running into sound quality issues. My headphone amp uses the XLR connection and the CXA81 gets the RCA out.

Bypass the internal DAC:
Using a optical out its possible to bypass the internal DAC in case you want to use a better one or just stream music to another setup.

Display: while the display is not the best, I really enjoy it to scroll through my Flac files If I'm not in the mood to grab my phone or tablet.

That's it really. Maybe it's helpful to someone out there. I certainly never thought I would be using airplay as a workaround. But I'm happy it's there.

Same as the whole Chromecast stuff.

Hi I'm in the market for this kinda solution as well, wanting to connect my apple tv, to lg tv, then to studio monitors, still pretty unsure whats the best way here,

want to ask you, when using airplay from apple tv to the cxn v2, then from that, optical out to external dac,
will i still be able to control volume of apple tv using apple tv remote?

i figured maybe not, so I'm still scratching my head on how to achieve my dream connection, with only one single remote!