Need a DAC/Streamer or a source

[Arvind Mathur]

AL makes great gear, almost everything that comes out of their stable is amazing. Just their choice of OS. They use PlayFi - which is a nightmare to deal with. But again depends. Long time AL fan, can't live with their streamers.

AL 9000N is Lumin architecture with its own app. It had ESS sabre pro DAC chip and LPS

 

[rwnano]

My streamer is an old MacBook Pro 2010 running Ubuntu GUI running Spotify GUI. Connected to my topping d10s DAC. It's controlled through my phone. Good enough for Spotify. Can also be made into a fully functional streamer with some guidance from mbhanghui sir.

 

[sreejithsreedharan]

I am an Audiolab 6000N streamer user for long time. It’s sound quality is amazing- much better than WiiM mini and inbuilt upnp streamer of Hegel H190.

Playfi app, even though lot of people have commented negatively- I didn’t find much as such. Yes, occasionally it may get dropped from the network, if the bandwidth is low. Need good quality internet speed. Also regarding gapless playback, if we transfer the playback to the system (AL N) itself it plays gapless.(But not truly gapless as WiiM mini, may be a second more delay is there).

But the sound quality is way better. When connected to Denafrips Ares, the background becomes dark and clean.

Thanks,
Sreejith

 

[journal]

I am an Audiolab 6000N streamer user for long time. It’s sound quality is amazing- much better than WiiM mini and inbuilt upnp streamer of Hegel H190.

Playfi app, even though lot of people have commented negatively- I didn’t find much as such. Yes, occasionally it may get dropped from the network, if the bandwidth is low. Need good quality internet speed. Also regarding gapless playback, if we transfer the playback to the system (AL N) itself it plays gapless.(But not truly gapless as WiiM mini, may be a second more delay is there).

But the sound quality is way better. When connected to Denafrips Ares, the background becomes dark and clean.

Thanks,
Sreejith

I am an Audiolab 6000N streamer user for long time. It’s sound quality is amazing- much better than WiiM mini and inbuilt upnp streamer of Hegel H190.

Playfi app, even though lot of people have commented negatively- I didn’t find much as such. Yes, occasionally it may get dropped from the network, if the bandwidth is low. Need good quality internet speed. Also regarding gapless playback, if we transfer the playback to the system (AL N) itself it plays gapless.(But not truly gapless as WiiM mini, may be a second more delay is there).

But the sound quality is way better. When connected to Denafrips Ares, the background becomes dark and clean.

Thanks,
Sreejith

@journal - out of the above mentioned DAC's I have heard/owned hifi rose, mhdt, Chord, denafrips. To me out of these 4 brands, a chord qutest at approx 1 lac is the best. If I was in your place I would get a wiim pro (I own one - 20k at hifi mart) and run it into a qutest at 1 lac. This combo, again imo will beat units/combos upto 2-3 lacs. However due to wiim pro lacking usb out for audio you will not be able to experience dsd. For that you can consider upgrading to lumin u2 mini down the road. With this combo., (2.5 lac) you will easily approach 4-5 lacs sources again imo.
All of the above are based on my listening, and the formed opinions consequently (and as Jai mentioned above an R2R dac sounds very different to a chip based dac which sounds different to a fgpa dac). The qutest is a fgpa dac.
A very unpopular (due to geopolitical issues) but regardless solid sounding DAC should you consider the China hifi option is the SMSL (D400 pro at $600). To me this one beats the Chord qutest, but limited availability in India and has to be imported. It is based on an AKM chip.
Cheers,
Sid

Thank you so much for your detailed reply Sid. I went around researching and had narrowed one SMSL SU -X (900 usd), headphones imports it for you.
Some other options like Audiolab 6000N (at about (1000 usd) or audiolab 9000N ( about 3300 usd) popped up. Not sure if these are actually a good choice. any thoughts ?

 

[sidvee]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply Sid. I went around researching and had narrowed one SMSL SU -X (900 usd), headphones imports it for you.
Some other options like Audiolab 6000N (at about (1000 usd) or audiolab 9000N ( about 3300 usd) popped up. Not sure if these are actually a good choice. any thoughts ?

Not sure about these @journal, haven't heard them so can't offer any opinion, unfortunately. However I am not a fan of ESS chip based DAC's, so right off the bat I would not even consider the SU-X personally, but that is just me. Not really sure about audiolab offerings either. Sorry, wish I could be more helpful.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Vishal]

Bluesound Node. DAC + Streamer. Under 50k and can be serviced in India too.

 

[Analogous]

Hello everyone, I’m pretty new to this forum and to the understanding of good audio. Recently a generous friend of mine is handing me down his old pair of Focal Chorus 726v tower speakers. So bought a Luxman intergrated amplifier L507z. Now I’m in hunt for a good DAC and a streamer to play or any other source option. Eventually would love to get a good record Player too.
I’m a bit overwhelmed with the amount of options one has in terms of DAC and dac with streamer. Also is it better to have a separate Dac and any other type of source (better and cheaper than a streamer). I use Apple Music airplay for now. But I’m happy to upgrade, just don’t have enough knowledge about how to go about it.


P.s. I read from old post about MHDT labs dac not sure if we have better options today in 2024.
Also has anybody imported it to India ? Know how it works out ?


Thank you for all the help. So sorry for my ignorance, I’m just very very new to audiophile universe.

Hi,
Since you have splurged on a ToTL amplifier you should consider getting a DAC and streamer that will bring out the best out of it. You could start with a reasonably priced streamer with an easy to use UI (Bluesound node, WiiM and such) but a good DAC like some of the ones suggested would be worth auditioning.
It’s pretty confusing I am sure specially as you mention you are starting in this quest. Learning the kind of sound you like takes time. I think there are no shortcuts specially if you are obsessed with finding this.
Enjoy the journey it can be as much fun as the destination (if you reach it)

 

[Mayasandra_l]

The Audiolab 6000N is good streamer for the price. A built in LPS provides a black background. A good DAC connected to this streamer would be great option. The "dreaded" play-fi is much improved and now pretty user friendly and robust. I am a user of 6000N and am not looking to change