Streamer advice for absolute beginner.

[RobDavies]

Hello.

I’m new to this streaming lark. I have a decent enough amp and speakers (Marantz PM6006 and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1’s) and I currently stream music from spotify on my iPhone via an Arcam rblink.

The sound is ok without being exceptional, which is understandable given the relatively low cost of the hifi components involved.

Therefore, I’m thinking of buying a dedicated streamer which I can also plug a hard drive into, containing a bunch of flac files.
Is it worth getting rid of my amp and buying an all in one solution like the Marantz NR1200? Or should I be looking at adding a streamer to my PM6006? Budget is about £300-£400 and I like my hifi to be fairly bright and detailed. Not sure if it’s worth mentioning or not, but I will also be looking to upgrade my speakers in the near future.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Gray]

Have you looked at the Bluesound Node 2i Rob?
Currently with £100 off it comes within your budget.
Not much to look at, not even a screen of any type - but your screen is on your controlling device(s).
It's got some potentially useful features, could be worth investigating.

 

[RobDavies]

Thank you. It looks like it might just do the job - reviews are certainly favourable...

 

[Longchops]

I was having a look at some of these things mysef

Tbh I decided the technology isn't quite ready yet. The best streamers imo have the ability to play Hi Res files, but these ones all seem to cost well over a grand, way too much for me to consider spending. I think I'll wait a few years until the technology improves!

 

[AVDude]

AV Stream boxes:

1. They have a software dependency that isn't interoperable with your preferred source of audio
2. The implementations are poorly done
3. Software heavy AV appliances are slow to interact with and kludgy.

Your best options are to DiY streaming VIA a compact PC and some other stuff. Regardless of the path chosen it won't be cheap and it won't be simple.
Home design and home wiring layouts are at the mercy of the builder, they don't care about modern stuff like smart home wiring - fiber optic - cat 7+ network cable - wifi layouts etc. Unless the home owner is tech savvy and has deep pockets these will continue to be unaddressed for at least another decade.

IoT is still in its infancy phase.

 

[Gray]

I was having a look at some of these things mysef

Tbh I decided the technology isn't quite ready yet. The best streamers imo have the ability to play Hi Res files, but these ones all seem to cost well over a grand, way too much for me to consider spending. I think I'll wait a few years until the technology improves!

No need to spend silly money for a streamer - otherwise I wouldn't have one.
I use a Raspberry Pi myself.
And how about this, currently £55......got its own DAC and control app:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-87bTO4MtU

 

[Longchops]

No need to spend silly money for a streamer - otherwise I wouldn't have one.
I use a Raspberry Pi myself.
And how about this, currently £55......got its own DAC and control app:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-87bTO4MtU

I have a Pi! What can I do with that?

That Arylic device looks pretty good actually. I bought a cheap MPOW BH259A in the end as I wanted a transmitter to add bluetooth headphones to my separates and a receiver to send spotify to my speakers. Just a cheap adaptor really though, nothing special. The Arylic looks like it would be much better for the receiving end of things though. Supports hi res and has a controller too!

 

[Gray]

I have a Pi! What can I do with that?

Well the good news is, you've already got yourself a perfectly good high-res streamer

The title of this thread is 'Streamer advice for absolute beginner' which is precisely what I got when someone on this forum suggested using a RPi as a streamer. So I bought one just for the purpose. Mine plays hi-res / FLAC music files from a HDD and internet 'radio' streams (including one streamed in 16/44.1 CD quality FLAC).

As you probably know, the Pi has line out on the 3.5 mm AV combi socket. You could use that to start with - but it's best (and easy enough) to use an external DAC*
You need an operating system on the SD card to tell the Pi what to do.
Several are available. Here's the one I'm currently using, which is great (and free):

Home - Volumio

Volumio is the music player designed to deliver a unified and high quality experience.

volumio.org

The 'image' for your SD card is downloadable from there, as well a step-by step guide.
A USB stick or HDD containing your music files plugs into one of the USB sockets but you can also store some music on the SD card - so it's not even necessary to use external drives.

Although you can control everything with a phone, tablet or laptop, I like to have physical 'transport' buttons as well. Volumio makes it easy to connect push buttons to the GPIO pins on your Pi.
These are my (not very subtle) light-up push buttons (more discrete ones are available ):

ILLUMINATED 'TRANSPORT' CONTROL BUTTONS

The 4 buttons trigger Shutdown, Previous, Play/Pause and Next using the ‘GPIO Buttons’ Plugin. The Play button lights green to show play status using the ‘Amp Switch’ Plugin (LED Anode needs constant +3.3v Cathode to GPIO pin, inverted ‘on’) Previous and next buttons light blue only when...

community.volumio.org

*I can advise on Pi-specific I2S (to get coax or optical digital out) or USB DACs some other time.

 

[AVDude]

No need to spend silly money for a streamer - otherwise I wouldn't have one.
I use a Raspberry Pi myself.
And how about this, currently £55......got its own DAC and control app:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-87bTO4MtU

Anything that doesn't use cloud based voice stuff is OK with me, i'm all for tech advancement but voice based controls (considering how they work currently) is more of a step backward in many ways than making steps forward.

 

[Longchops]

Thats very interesting Gray! I bought the Pi on a whim many years ago and never used it. Turning that into something useful and getting a streamer would kill two birds with one stone.

I'll give it a try with the jack socket first. I think that should be good enough for my very occasional use of spotify and a brief play around with hi res....

 

[AVDude]

External Add-on DAC's is where my head is at for a variety of purposes, that and as a dedicated headphone amp. I work with computers a lot, although in my current capacity its more because I want to then because someone is paying me to. I'm looking at DAC's that will handle sound duty for the PC but still give me some audiophile goodness on the headphone and Mic front.
I already have a list of possibles.

 

[Gray]

Thats very interesting Gray! I bought the Pi on a whim many years ago and never used it. Turning that into something useful and getting a streamer would kill two birds with one stone.

I'll give it a try with the jack socket first. I think that should be good enough for my very occasional use of spotify and a brief play around with hi res....

One downer is that you won't get the free version of Spotify .

 

[TomC]

Hi.
Since you are on Marantz why don't you try NA6006? I was using it for two years and it works perfect. I am using it with PM8005.

 

[RobDavies]

Thanks for the advice so far.

Due to a stroke of luck, my budget has increased so I’m potentially looking at the Bluesound Powernode 2i V2 or the Audiolab 6000a Play.

Partnering with Kef Q100’s

Any thoughts?

 

[manicm]

Bluesound Powernode 2i V2 for two reasons- 1. It’s amp section is good. 2. BluOS is now established. Also I think it pairs well with speakers like KEF or B&W.

 

[newlash09]

Hello.

I’m new to this streaming lark. I have a decent enough amp and speakers (Marantz PM6006 and Wharfedale Diamond 9.1’s) and I currently stream music from spotify on my iPhone via an Arcam rblink.

The sound is ok without being exceptional, which is understandable given the relatively low cost of the hifi components involved.

Therefore, I’m thinking of buying a dedicated streamer which I can also plug a hard drive into, containing a bunch of flac files.
Is it worth getting rid of my amp and buying an all in one solution like the Marantz NR1200? Or should I be looking at adding a streamer to my PM6006? Budget is about £300-£400 and I like my hifi to be fairly bright and detailed. Not sure if it’s worth mentioning or not, but I will also be looking to upgrade my speakers in the near future.

Thanks in advance.

Hello sir

I think I've completed the entire streaming merry goround

I started with a yamaha wxc50 in 2013 or 2014 i think. Then after reading on all the wrong sites, I went roon. I had a separate room core running off a lpsu. Feeding a dedicated roon end point. Then I added external clocking too

When my digital chain got too long, I decided to just plug back by the wxc50 3 months back to check how I've fared with my digital journey. And the wxc50 just sounded beautiful feeding tidal stream to my dac. Ever since I've sold my entire roon digital chain. Yes the yamaha music cast app is a little lacking compared to the bluesound OS. But it never dropped out on me. So I can recommend it whole heartedly.

 

[johnfryett]

Hello sir

I think I've completed the entire streaming merry goround

I started with a yamaha wxc50 in 2013 or 2014 i think. Then after reading on all the wrong sites, I went roon. I had a separate room core running off a lpsu. Feeding a dedicated roon end point. Then I added external clocking too

When my digital chain got too long, I decided to just plug back by the wxc50 3 months back to check how I've fared with my digital journey. And the wxc50 just sounded beautiful feeding tidal stream to my dac. Ever since I've sold my entire roon digital chain. Yes the yamaha music cast app is a little lacking compared to the bluesound OS. But it never dropped out on me. So I can recommend it whole heartedly.

I'd agree about MusicCast - well worth a look. The WXC-50 is a preamp as well as a streamer so you might not want to go that far. The WXAD-10 provides a streaming solution of similar quality at half the price. I have enjoyed using both of these. The app has some shortcomings but it has been rock-solid for me.

 

[johnfryett]

Well the good news is, you've already got yourself a perfectly good high-res streamer

The title of this thread is 'Streamer advice for absolute beginner' which is precisely what I got when someone on this forum suggested using a RPi as a streamer. So I bought one just for the purpose. Mine plays hi-res / FLAC music files from a HDD and internet 'radio' streams (including one streamed in 16/44.1 CD quality FLAC).

As you probably know, the Pi has line out on the 3.5 mm AV combi socket. You could use that to start with - but it's best (and easy enough) to use an external DAC*
You need an operating system on the SD card to tell the Pi what to do.
Several are available. Here's the one I'm currently using, which is great (and free):

Home - Volumio

Volumio is the music player designed to deliver a unified and high quality experience.

volumio.org

The 'image' for your SD card is downloadable from there, as well a step-by step guide.
A USB stick or HDD containing your music files plugs into one of the USB sockets but you can also store some music on the SD card - so it's not even necessary to use external drives.

Although you can control everything with a phone, tablet or laptop, I like to have physical 'transport' buttons as well. Volumio makes it easy to connect push buttons to the GPIO pins on your Pi.
These are my (not very subtle) light-up push buttons (more discrete ones are available ):

ILLUMINATED 'TRANSPORT' CONTROL BUTTONS

The 4 buttons trigger Shutdown, Previous, Play/Pause and Next using the ‘GPIO Buttons’ Plugin. The Play button lights green to show play status using the ‘Amp Switch’ Plugin (LED Anode needs constant +3.3v Cathode to GPIO pin, inverted ‘on’) Previous and next buttons light blue only when...

community.volumio.org

*I can advise on Pi-specific I2S (to get coax or optical digital out) or USB DACs some other time.

Another vote for RPi + Volumio. I have a first-gen Pi running this in my home-office. I've added a DacMagic USB DAC which does improve the quality a little. Good free app + UPNP, Spotify.

 

[RobDavies]

Thanks for all the suggestions.... in the end I got an absolutely mint, ex-demo Marantz PM7000N for £719 from AudioT in Swindon.... and I love it.

 

[nopiano]

Thanks for all the suggestions.... in the end I got an absolutely mint, ex-demo Marantz PM7000N for £719 from AudioT in Swindon.... and I love it.

Wow, that’s a great deal. Funnily enough, I recommended this to somebody in a similar thread recently, but they didn’t like the styling. As a long-term Marantz user I like it. Hope you enjoy!

 

[AVDude]

I decided to go with a Motu 2x2 external DAC.

 

[lmlmlm]

I am also considering the R.Pi4 as a streamer. My current setup is PC laptop → Ifi Zen Dac → Edifier 1280 T (active desktop speakers), but got a few questions:

• will an R.Pi be a significant SQ improvement over just streaming from a laptop ?
• if I set the R.Pi to use Volumio for Spotify, and connect the R.Pi to my Ifi Zen Dac, thus, taking out the laptop from this chain, how will I be able to use the speakers for Soundcloud, Youtube and all the other stuff ? Will I need to use the R.Pi only for Spotify and then constantly plug the USB cable into the computer for Soundcloud, etc ? Then go back and plug the cable into the R.Pi for Spotify again ? Am I missing something ?

thanks

 

[Gray]

will an R.Pi be a significant SQ improvement over just streaming from a laptop ?

No.
Assuming your laptop sends 'bit perfect' streams, in the same way that the Pi can, then the SQ should be identical - because it's the Zen DAC that is (literally) shaping the sound.

I was in the same position as you, using a laptop to play music via a DAC to the hi-fi.
Pi provides a small, fanless device that can be placed with the hi-fi - and the laptop doesn't have to be on. So it suits my limited purposes of playing FLAC files from a local HDD and listening to the odd internet 'radio' stream.
But it may not suit your requirements.
You'd need to research whether / how others are getting Pi's to do what you specifically want.

 

[Tinman1952]

No.
Assuming your laptop sends 'bit perfect' streams, in the same way that the Pi can, then the SQ should be identical - because it's the Zen DAC that is (literally) shaping the sound.

I was in the same position as you, using a laptop to play music via a DAC to the hi-fi.
Pi provides a small, fanless device that can be placed with the hi-fi - and the laptop doesn't have to be on. So it suits my limited purposes of playing FLAC files from a local HDD and listening to the odd internet 'radio' stream.
But it may not suit your requirements.
You'd need to research whether / how others are getting Pi's to do what you specifically want.

Well I think there is more to sound quality than just a ‘bit perfect’ stream. A laptop is an electrically noisy environment with many different internal components producing ’noise’. Pollution on the USB ground can be a problem for a DAC. Even iFi offer an improved power supply for the Zen DAC.
The RPi being a silent low power device (especially with a low noise PSU attached) should be an improvement. 🙂

 

[Gray]

The RPi being a silent low power device (especially with a low noise PSU attached) should be an improvement. 🙂

I've seen many such theories and opinions.
Quite a few people say that the Pi is noisy, due to having a switching PSU - and, because it's a computer, with all the pollution you mention.
Also, some say that its USB output is unusably noisy - so in their opinions a Rpi is no better than a PC in terms of noise. Personally, I use both, with no SQ problems whatsoever.
I'm sure some of these people form their opinions just by reading what others have said....and those others said it because they read it somewhere....and so these things become 'known' facts
Biggest (genuine) improvement with the Pi is the lack of a fan - so much better when listening with open backed headphones.