Logitech Duet replacement - " best" streamer

[doremafiso]

I am still using a Logitech Duet with iPeng, but it is time to upgrade
So, this leads to the question on best replacement. There is a great review on what HiFi that places Bluesound Node on top. I feel there are two ways of biasing a review, audio tech vs. apps/integration
As such I am considering currently Bluessound node and Sonos.
I am connecting to a receiver.
I like that Bluesound can extend in addition to connected receiver/speaker to a Bluetooh speaker (e.g. on porch). A bit bumped that it makes me port from Pandora to Spotify. I do like to use my ipad only as a remote and don't want to stream through (I guess with exception of Apple music). I know it is hard to predict the future, but future broad app support would be nice. Playing anything... Also, like to access music stored on a PC on the network. Not sure if either streamer can do it.
I am going to miss a local or portable display a bit. But even models with with dispaly appear to be very basic/informational only. So a good Ios ipad app is going to be important.

Appreciate any thoughts....

 

[nads]

Ok coming from a Squeeze environment you may find the Sonos does not like playing audio formats as well as the squeeze boxes.

I would have a look at the Project streamers.

 

[doremafiso]

Meanwhile I got a Node. Here are my first impressions.

Setup:
Ended up being more difficult than expected. Seems the device is going into certain modes and hard to recover. Ended up resetting a couple of times. For example its hotspot for initial config simply didn't come on many times.
I ended up using the web page config while having the node plugged into Ethernet. But the UI looks more like an interface from dial-up time area and is limited. Also, please be aware the MAC on the sticker underneath the device is the Ethernet MAC and not wireless... for wireless MAC do +=1.
Once setup, there is a diagnostics section in the App, bu this is very slow...
I could not figure out how to force the device o 5Ghz WiFi band which would be a plus as you see next.

WiFi
A bit of a surprise. I replaced a much older device in the same location (Logitech Duet). However, the node shows much lower signal strength. I tried a lot but WiFi signal remains an issue. Did not expect that from a newer device. (I feel very comfortable with Wifi as I setup Unifi installations). Also, despite my efforts I was unable to move it to 5Ghz band. Unless I forced it in Unifi.

Sound:
Sound is really good, an upgrade from my Duet setup. I am using now the node DAC and have it connected to an older Yamaha receiver with wharfedale evo's 4.2. Sound is more detailed. If any slight negative: the setup seems a bit bass heavy.

App:
The app is ok but not great. It can be hard to navigate around. Maybe I have to get used to it. But I miss iPeng already. Hopefully, they improve

Overall, a bit upgrade of course. However, the lack of Bluetooth extension speaker and app make me wonder if I try out something else first. Maybe Sonos?