I have been using my Marantz NA8005 as source for a bit more than 2 years now, till just about a couple of weeks back it was used as a DAC as well. I now have invested in RME ADI 2 and am extremely happy with it.
Now the Marantz, as a network player is very capable and even purely as a DAC it complimented my PM8005 really well. Not many people will complain about it as a source/DAC, neither am I. At the moment the digital out (coax) of Marantz is going to the digital in on the RME. I have played the same track through Marantz and by using the RME as a USB DAC using my laptop, the gulf in quality was quite substantial. Not very surprising since the Marantz is designed and purposed for quality audio playback, the laptop of course is not. So by now I have established that I am happy with Marantz's sonic performance. The one place where the Marantz is big letdown is with their Hi-FI Remote app. The usability of the app leaves a lot to be desired. Something as simple as Spotify's interface runs circles around the Marantz app. I have a large collection of digital files, both lossless and lossy, on my Netgear NAS. While the Marantz app does pull things from NAS and plays them, there are delays often and the interface is just a shame in 2021.
So I am looking for suggestions for a reasonable network player, it will only be used as a transport, the DAC section therefore does not have to be great, should have a fluid and relevant user interface. I know a lot of you will point me toward Roon and say that is the best option but I am not sure if I am looking to pay a monthly/yearly fee. I mean I may end up doing it if no suitable/viable option emerges.
Of course it is needless to mention that audio quality is of paramount importance, that is the first consideration, second comes the usability aspect.
Thank you for reading.
Now the Marantz, as a network player is very capable and even purely as a DAC it complimented my PM8005 really well. Not many people will complain about it as a source/DAC, neither am I. At the moment the digital out (coax) of Marantz is going to the digital in on the RME. I have played the same track through Marantz and by using the RME as a USB DAC using my laptop, the gulf in quality was quite substantial. Not very surprising since the Marantz is designed and purposed for quality audio playback, the laptop of course is not. So by now I have established that I am happy with Marantz's sonic performance. The one place where the Marantz is big letdown is with their Hi-FI Remote app. The usability of the app leaves a lot to be desired. Something as simple as Spotify's interface runs circles around the Marantz app. I have a large collection of digital files, both lossless and lossy, on my Netgear NAS. While the Marantz app does pull things from NAS and plays them, there are delays often and the interface is just a shame in 2021.
So I am looking for suggestions for a reasonable network player, it will only be used as a transport, the DAC section therefore does not have to be great, should have a fluid and relevant user interface. I know a lot of you will point me toward Roon and say that is the best option but I am not sure if I am looking to pay a monthly/yearly fee. I mean I may end up doing it if no suitable/viable option emerges.
Of course it is needless to mention that audio quality is of paramount importance, that is the first consideration, second comes the usability aspect.
Thank you for reading.
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