Stream (Linn Majik DS) or a DAC + mac mini?

[TB303]

Hello People,

I'm woindering about a digital streaming solution for my system.

I heard and liked the Linn MAjik DS (£1,880) but also read reat review about the Benchmark Dac 2 (£1,650) - Which would then require a Mac mini or some other transport as I keep my music on a central server and would like to have an app control.I also heard and like the Chord Hugo.

The rest of the system is a pair of B&W CM10s driver by a Classe Cap 2100.

What would be the benefits and disadvantages of this set up a Streamer vs Dac at aournd £2k.

Thanks!

 

[Overdose]

Hello People,

I'm woindering about a digital streaming solution for my system.

I heard and liked the Linn MAjik DS (£1,880) but also read reat review about the Benchmark Dac 2 (£1,650) - Which would then require a Mac mini or some other transport as I keep my music on a central server and would like to have an app control.I also heard and like the Chord Hugo.

The rest of the system is a pair of B&W CM10s driver by a Classe Cap 2100.

What would be the benefits and disadvantages of this set up a Streamer vs Dac at aournd £2k.

Thanks!

An option perhaps not considered would be to use a media player such as the WDTV and plug that into a separate DAC.

Benchmark DACs do seem nice, but also consider other DACs that offer the same audible performance for much less.

Emotiva Stealth DAC and the Matrix Quattro DAC are but two.

Not much, if anything, separates the performance of digital sources, so spending big money on a DAC is unneccessary unless you simply what some hifi bling. The compactness of the newer digital devices means that this part of the system can be easily tucked away out of sight, such as behind the TV.

 

[nima]

I've seen SH Linn Majik DS form oct. 2012 on sale for GBP995. I'd demo it against Chord Hugo, that seems to be the best thing since sliced bread ATM.

 

[matt49]

For me this would be more about functionality and ease of use than sound quality (though I do also have a wicked suggestion re. SQ).

The Linn Majik will be a breeze to use and can be controlled with a perfectly decent (but not brilliant) iThing app.

The Mac mini option will be fine, so long as you're content with the functionality of iTunes. There are better media players: e.g. JRiver, which is massively configurable, does tagging properly (iTunes doesn't), has proper parametric EQ, and a much better app than the Apple Remote. But it doesn't work well on a Mac.

You might also want to think about whether you're going to use any other services, e.g. Spotify. This runs natively in some media streamers (e.g. Sonos) but not in others.

The Chord Hugo is a neat little box, but in case you're interested in DSD you should be aware that the Hugo doesn't provide pure DSD: it transforms the DSD stream into a version of hi-res PCM.

If the ultimate technical performance is what you're after, you could forget the streaming box, flog the Classe and buy yourself a Devialet, which has on-board streaming and the best measured performance of any system on the market.

Matt

 

[gowiththeflow]

It may be a consideration, but the Majik DS doesn't have WiFi so is limited to just the Ethernet option when connecting to a router or home network.

Do you really need to spend that sort of money on a Streamer, when very capable Streamers are available for much less money ?

I would have thought that the key aspects of these components are the quality and functionality of the control app and the quality of the built-in DAC ?

If the control app is good, but the DAC can be bettered, then an external DAC could be added (e.g. Sonos Connect using its digital out sockets).

 

[mpapo]

Intel NUC (mini windows computer) + jriver + jriverapp + ipad + DAC of choice = Win

 

[matt49]

Intel NUC (mini windows computer) + jriver + jriverapp + ipad + DAC of choice = Win

Yep, that's (more or less) what I do. Having tried JRiver on a Mac (not good) I moved to a Windows machine, where it works like a dream.

JRiver has more functionality than any other media player I've seen, and JRemote for iPad is outstanding.

Matt

 

[TB303]

Thanks people,

Lot's of great ideas here!

A couple of points that were raised:

I'm not really bothered by DSD, but woudl like to be able to do 24/192. I'm looking for a wired ethernet connection not Wifi and the reason I'd like to avoid a Mac mini is because I have iTunes... Are there any other DLNA servers for mac I could use?

I'd also like to have balnaced outputs and don't care about volume control - I have an integrated amp.

Basically my question is that a Linn Majik DS (Ex demo) costs about the same as a Chord Hugo (let's say) + a mini computer, the question is about audio quality, presumably there's more to the Linn (or otehr 'proper' streamers) than just a DAC and an enthernet port? Linn woudl say a switching power supply is important too?

Has anyone compared a stand alone stream to a dac setup SQ-wise?

Thanks for all the great ideas!

 

[CnoEvil]

I found the Linn Streamers to be preferable (at their various price points) to the following DACs

Rega DAC

Audio Note 2.1X Sig

Chord QBD 76

DCS Debussy

.......but I'm biased, and like to cut the computer (as a source) out of the equation.

You need to try this for yourself.

 

[matt49]

I'm not really bothered by DSD, but woudl like to be able to do 24/192. I'm looking for a wired ethernet connection not Wifi and the reason I'd like to avoid a Mac mini is because I have iTunes... Are there any other DLNA servers for mac I could use?

I'm assuming you meant "I hate iTunes"! You could try JRiver: I couldn't get it to be stable on a Mac mini, but that might just have been my incompetence. You get a 30-day free trial, so nothing to lose really.

Basically my question is that a Linn Majik DS (Ex demo) costs about the same as a Chord Hugo (let's say) + a mini computer, the question is about audio quality, presumably there's more to the Linn (or otehr 'proper' streamers) than just a DAC and an enthernet port? Linn woudl say a switching power supply is important too?

The main theoretical advantage of a Linn Majik or similar is that its PSU is designed to be low noise, and the ethernet connection isolates it from any PSU noise generated upstream by a NAS. Whether this is actually audibly superior I couldn't say.

Matt

 

[cheeseboy]

there's a a growing number of people having great results from a raspberry pi and either the add on dacs you can get such as the hifi berry http://www.hifiberry.com/ or the wolfson dac http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-accessories/wolfson_pi running volumio or something similar.

Either that or you can run a headless pc running something like daphile, all for a fraction of the cost of the Linn, but with more functionality and comparable sound quality.

 

[nima]

all for a fraction of the cost of the Linn, but with more functionality and comparable sound quality.

You know because you did proper home demo of everything you are talking about.

 

[cheeseboy]

all for a fraction of the cost of the Linn, but with more functionality and comparable sound quality.

You know because you did proper home demo of everything you are talking about.

Is that a question or a statement? :rant:

 

[Overdose]

all for a fraction of the cost of the Linn, but with more functionality and comparable sound quality.

You know because you did proper home demo of everything you are talking about.

He knows because digital audio is in effect, a level playing field. The products that stand out are actually the ones that have been stuffed up by the manufacturer/designer, ie stand out poor.

Of all the different digital audio products available, at all prices, the single biggest similarity is the sound quality. That might not be a welcome state of affairs for some, but it is the truth of the matter.

For someone interested purely in sound quality, I can think of no more an elegant, simple and effective streaming solution as a computer based source, which can be easily tucked away out of sight and other than reliability, user interface and cost would be the main and perhaps only other choices to weigh up.

 

[TB303]

I think I'm leaning towards the Chord Hugo + NUC pc with Jriver.

The reviews of teh Hugo are mind blowing and people on the naim and Linn forums say its sounds better than thier respective top streamers, at a tenth of the cost.

Network set up can be a bit tricky but I'll manage... (Famous last words)

 

[matt49]

That sounds like a good plan. I doubt you'll be able to get better sound (or more peace of mind) any other way ... short of getting a Devialet, of course :twisted:

I'd have thought setting up a NUC should be a breeze. If you're going to use the JRemote app on iPad, the NUC will have to be connected to a wireless network.

JRiver is a bit scary when you first look at it, but after a few hours it becomes a friend. If you have difficulties, you could always start a new JRiver thread here. There are a couple of other regulars on the forum who use it.

Presumably you'll connect the NUC to the Hugo via USB, yes?

Matt

 

[CnoEvil]

I think I'm leaning towards the Chord Hugo + NUC pc with Jriver.

The reviews of teh Hugo are mind blowing and people on the naim and Linn forums say its sounds better than thier respective top streamers, at a tenth of the cost.

I have found Chord and Linn to sound very different, so do try before you buy.....and not assume that someone else'e preference on the Net, will match yours.

 

[TB303]

I'm tempted to get Hugo now, even before the rest of the system,

simply to use it with my iPhone 5 as source, playing 16/44 Flac files into a pair of AKG K551 head phones.

I wonder how noticable of an improvement it will be...?

 

[Overdose]

Improvement? Not a great deal from most other DACs I'd imagine.

That money would get you a Unitiqute 2 or a pair of ADM9RSS speakers, for example and a lot more besides. I don't believe that the Hugo would be money well spent, uless you just like the look of it.

 

[mpapo]

Indeed, unless really badly designed, I don't believe DAC's make an audbile difference in all but the most resolving ultra high-end systems, and even then...

 

[MajorFubar]

With regards to a Windows solution, are there any considerations which would need to be considered in order to send the best bit-perfect output to the DAC? Plug-ins? Settings? Asking because I genuinely don't know and a newby to computer-based streaming probably wouldn't think about it.

 

[cheeseboy]

With regards to a Windows solution, are there any considerations which would need to be considered in order to send the best bit-perfect output to the DAC? Plug-ins? Settings? Asking because I genuinely don't know and a newby to computer-based streaming probably wouldn't think about it.

generally the software should allow you to select an output device, and providing the correct drivers are installed you want the wasapi or asio version of the driver. that's it!

Depends on what software you are using for playback though.

 

[nima]

Many times on this forum I have a feeling similar to being on a road bikes forum, that would get occupied by commuters or fixie fans, that would for some unfathomable reason feel the need to flood the forum with their partial, twisted, uneducated and completely useless views.

 

[cheeseboy]

Many times on this forum I have a feeling similar to being on a road bikes forum, that would get occupied by commuters or fixie fans, that would for some unfathomable reason feel the need to flood the forum with their partial, twisted, uneducated and completely useless views.

ironic post of the week methinks... :rofl:

 

[TB303]

Well I got myself a home demo unit from the fine guys at Nintronics, who were more than helpful.

So far the sound is amazing, The iphone has a very completent Dac and the AKG 551 are gfreat headphones and I thought it sounded good, but the hugo is much better. How much is 'Much better'? Hard to answer, I'd describe the sound op the iphone as 80% of the way there, but the Hugo get's it to 100% (of what the AKG K551 can reproduce) - it really reveales a whole layer of detail and seperation between the instruments... So it's only 20% of the sound, but really the icing on the cake... I hope this metaphor makes sense?

A part of that may be that the headphone amp part of the hugo is much better at driving the headphones than whatever chip lies in the iphone - which is of course true but I didn't felt the headphones weren't driven properly before, they cvertainl;y were underpowered. It's all taht detail and dynamic the's in the music where the magic lies - IMO.

In any case, I can't wait to try the Hugo in my car set up (Morel Hybrid 602, Sinfoni Presto Alegro amp).

PS

Another point which shoudln't be understated is how amazingly convenient it is to have the iphone as a portable music server for DACs and the like... trying to demo digital sources is always a struggle to get the music on teh dealers set up, oftenb unsuccesfuly...