Just an audio streamer

Ok. Great. Thanks. For that budget I can get an airport express as well as a streamer 😀
I'd urge you to look at
Thanks Guys for all your responses. Now to sum it all up and my next round of questions.

The stand-alone DACs I have are the Chord Qutest and the Audiolab CD8200 (now discontinued) which is a CD player but can also be used as a DAC without the CD option. I have a CCA which I use with these DACs, however, I was wondering if a better streamer would improve the sound.

I have received suggestions for various stand-alone streamers at different price points.

I don't want to buy a streamer/DAC as I don't see any point in paying for the DAC section which I will not use.

1.
At what price point should I buy a streamer to ideally compliment these DACS ?
Anything from the likes of the Allo Usbridge Signature and above will complement the Qutest nicely and extract a higher echelon of presentation. Fuller mids and bass and a more refined top end - a more vivid presentation overall.
2.
Is the streamer the more crucial component or the DAC ?
Both complement each other.

A good DAC without a streamer won't be able to achieve its full potential and vice versa.
3.
Do manufacturers club streamers and DACs for commercial viability or better synergy ?
Probably the convenience of one box without the mess of wires.
Is there such a thing as synergy between streamers and DACs ?
Good question. Currently listening two different streamers (Zen Stream and Allo Digione Signature) with two DACs (RME ADI-2 DAC FS and Chord Mojo). Will update findings if there is such a thing as synergy between these particular components.
4.
Should I opt for another used CCA at 4k+ or go for the higher-end streamers? Will the increase in budget result in a noticeably better sound?
It did in my case.
 
Bought WiiM Mini not once but twice, easy to setup. Good sound quality. Infact I gave up Rpi and audiophile OS and made WiiM Mini my main player.
Hooked up LPS like shanti and done.

Support has been good having frequent updates with valuable features.

Zen Stream and WiiM mini are my 2 top bets now.
 
Bought WiiM Mini not once but twice, easy to setup. Good sound quality. Infact I gave up Rpi and audiophile OS and made WiiM Mini my main player.
Hooked up LPS like shanti and done.

Support has been good having frequent updates with valuable features.

Zen Stream and WiiM mini are my 2 top bets now.
This is music to my ears. Which would you rate as a better one. WIIM or Zen. The prices are miles apart though. On Pure SQ which would you rate as better. I am currently using Rpi+Moode and looking for a better streamer keeping SQ as a main point. I have been leaning towards Zen, read few comments here or else where that between RPI and Zen there aren't any substantial difference. Thus was getting back to drawing board.

I depend heavily on Tidal. Though the connect must not be the reason to shift. DLNA is available on most streamers.
 
I'd urge you to look at

Anything from the likes of the Allo Usbridge Signature and above will complement the Qutest nicely and extract a higher echelon of presentation. Fuller mids and bass and a more refined top end - a more vivid presentation overall.

Both complement each other.

A good DAC without a streamer won't be able to achieve its full potential and vice versa.

Probably the convenience of one box without the mess of wires.

Good question. Currently listening two different streamers (Zen Stream and Allo Digione Signature) with two DACs (RME ADI-2 DAC FS and Chord Mojo). Will update findings if there is such a thing as synergy between these particular components.

It did in my case.
So the Allo USBridge Signature requires a certain amount of configuration (O.S.) and tweeks (LPS) where as the iFi stream is pure plug and play. Both are in a similar price bracket (affordable). Which one would you recommend purely in terms of sound quality for the Qutest and Audiolab ?
 
Bought WiiM Mini not once but twice, easy to setup. Good sound quality. Infact I gave up Rpi and audiophile OS and made WiiM Mini my main player.
Hooked up LPS like shanti and done.

Support has been good having frequent updates with valuable features.

Zen Stream and WiiM mini are my 2 top bets now.
Just like Ajitsank, I too am keen to know which one you prefer.
 
So the Allo USBridge Signature requires a certain amount of configuration (O.S.)
Not exactly. Both the Allo Digione/USBridge Signature and Ifi Zen Stream come from the factory with Volumio preloaded (the Allo can be specified with other OS'es also but I've mentioned Volumio for the sake of parity).
and tweeks (LPS) where as the iFi stream is pure plug and play.
Again, not exactly. Both the Allo Digione/USBridge Signature and the Ifi Zen Stream come with SMPS based PSUs out of the box.

And they both sound good with their default PSUs with perceivable improvement improvement in SQ over ordinary sources.

However, you can add fancier SMPS and LPS based power supplies to both.

Ifi offers two SMPS based solutions for power supplies - Ifi iPowerX and Ifi iPower 2.

Allo offers the Nirvana SMPS and the Shanti LPSU.

So even Stevens up to this point.

Both are in a similar price bracket (affordable).
Speak for yourself kind Sir.
Which one would you recommend purely in terms of sound quality for the Qutest and Audiolab ?
Too specific a query. If indeed synergy matters between DAC and streamer- an answer i don't have yet, I wouldn't be able to tell you, especially when you factor in that I haven't heard the Qutest or the Audiolab.

Over the specific chain that I'm running, it's the Ifi Zen Stream.
 
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Not exactly. Both the Allo Digione/USBridge Signature and Ifi Zen Stream come from the factory with Volumio preloaded (the Allo can be specified with other OS'es also but I've mentioned Volumio for the sake of parity).
Allo's USBSignature comes with Volumio pre-configured? Where do we get this?

What about the SMSL SD9? It's $399, which is about half the price of the Pi2AES Mercury V2.
 
36-38 k for the ifi zen stream
And you plan to use it only as a streamer ?

This doesn't really sit right with me

If you are going to put in 40k for a streamer and not use its dac section
And be dependant only on the phone app for tidal or Spotify
That 40k is not being justified especially since the generic app on it for streaming your LAN/NAs content is pretty ordinary
( The same goes for the Allo product even though it's cheaper )

Yes I've
Owned the Allo and the Yamaha streamer as well
I just can't wrap my head around the less friendly app interface

If you are gonna spend 40k

You might as well spend 60k
And go all out on the bluesound node
And get the very user friendly blueOS for nas content as well with a pretty darn good dac as well


The way i see it

Either get something cheap like the wiim
Or then go BlueOS

But using something midway just for streaming capabilities and a compromised interface is a bit flawed

Midway only makes sense if you would use the onboard dac
And so that amount justifies the product due to its dual use of dac and streamer ( with a sacrifice on the interface for NAS)

Since
You are not seemingly intrested in the app interface for NAS bluesound is out for you

So you should be thinking apple express or wiim


P.s
All above opinions are not generalisations
And are my personal feelings
I'm sure there are many who are happy with the slightly techy Allo interfaces
 
Followup post
To the OP

I have only one
Niggle

I wish the wiim would come out with a version that outputs through
A coaxial digital port or a usb port
( Though usb out would be difficult and then would get cooked with all the dirty usb audiophile mumbo jumbo claims )

If you find something with even a coax out ( keeping in mind the price we are talking and the firmware upgrades that a decent company does to address feedback )
Do post here for the benefit of others and myself !!


I'm too lazy to research since I'm not in the market myself
 
Followup post
To the OP

I have only one
Niggle

I wish the wiim would come out with a version that outputs through
A coaxial digital port or a usb port
( Though usb out would be difficult and then would get cooked with all the dirty usb audiophile mumbo jumbo claims )

If you find something with even a coax out ( keeping in mind the price we are talking and the firmware upgrades that a decent company does to address feedback )
Do post here for the benefit of others and myself !!


I'm too lazy to research since I'm not in the market myself
Hope your expectation will be fulfilled by the Q4 of this year in the form of Wiim Pro.

Me to expecting the same.

Price around $149

1662359259486.png
 
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+1 to WiiM mini.

I'm currently using a WiiM mini coupled with Topping E50. I used it to replace my Rpi4. The ease of use is great & they push out quite a lot of software updates. They've even enabled MQA output on Tidal but it's still in beta & has its quirks.

From price point & ease of use, I think it's difficult to beat WiiM. I'll definitely upgrade to WiiM pro if they release one in future.
 
+1 to WiiM mini.

I'm currently using a WiiM mini coupled with Topping E50. I used it to replace my Rpi4. The ease of use is great & they push out quite a lot of software updates. They've even enabled MQA output on Tidal but it's still in beta & has its quirks.

From price point & ease of use, I think it's difficult to beat WiiM. I'll definitely upgrade to WiiM pro if they release one in future.

Not "If they ", its coming this year end, with many improvements !🙂
 
150$
Super pricing
Thanks for being it to the notice of the forum very helpful

The most important thing is that they are proactive and push updates and try to take care of the bugs


That pretty much kills all the expensive stuff
These integarters are using
For home automation
And unnecessarily charging clients

Most of which hardly need audiophile quality sound
 
where to get Wiim Mini? amazon.com does not ship to India
Look for gohomeaudio.com
They generally have it listed for USD 99 & you get 10% off with code WIIM10.
I paid around INR 900 as Customs in Mumbai.

Hope this helps.
 
+1 to WiiM mini.

I'm currently using a WiiM mini coupled with Topping E50. I used it to replace my Rpi4. The ease of use is great & they push out quite a lot of software updates. They've even enabled MQA output on Tidal but it's still in beta & has its quirks.

From price point & ease of use, I think it's difficult to beat WiiM. I'll definitely upgrade to WiiM pro if they release one in future.
Waiting for Mine. Read the comments here and placed order for it. If it is good should replace my RPI & Arylic s50+ pro
 
Look for gohomeaudio.com
They generally have it listed for USD 99 & you get 10% off with code WIIM10.
I paid around INR 900 as Customs in Mumbai.

Hope this helps.
thanks bro, much appreciated.
 
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