Streamer Recommendation

[alice]

1 hour ago, DavidL said:

Just like to add that you could buy a NAS to be dedicated to music serving and install MinimServer software on it. I use a Synology NAS in this manner, which I found very easy to set up and maintain, Cost of this (say 2 bay NAS) + dCS network bridge would be less than some of the all-in-one servers listed above. It might not give you some of the fancy extras they offer but the sound quality should be at least as good, probably better if you include optical isolation in the final ethernet link to the dCS Bridge.

I do have a Synology NAS  and have minimServer enabled, could you advise on the setup and configuration?

 

Also can I use the Lumin app?

[Blake]

On 3/15/2020 at 2:32 PM, alice said:

I cannot possibly imagine the sound to surpass what Iam currently hearing through my Abyss 1266 headphones but nevertheless looking for some advise on a clean way to get the music stream to my dac without too much noise in the signal path.

 

 

You have super nice/expensive headphones.  in order to take advantage of their capability, I'd personally jump in somewhere around the Sonore UltraRendu quality level, and for sure power it with a good LPS.  IMHO of course.

[alice]

39 minutes ago, Blake said:

 

You have super nice/expensive headphones.  in order to take advantage of their capability, I'd personally jump in somewhere around the Sonore UltraRendu quality level, and for sure power it with a good LPS.  IMHO of course.

I just ordered an UltraRendu with a CI Audio Power Supply.

[pas]

34 minutes ago, alice said:

I just ordered an UltraRendu with a CI Audio Power Supply.

Congratulations! I look forward to reading about your impressions.

[photonman]

On 3/15/2020 at 1:32 PM, alice said:

the fan in my computer

Just curious what type of computer you have and what streaming service you are using.  Personally, I find my 2014 Macbook Pro works very quietly but that could be because it has plenty of CPU.  I stream Spotify and Amazon HD.

 

If I had to get a streamer to replace it I would consider the Bluesound Node 2i.

[davide256]

21 hours ago, DavidL said:

Just like to add that you could buy a NAS to be dedicated to music serving and install MinimServer software on it. I use a Synology NAS in this manner, which I found very easy to set up and maintain, Cost of this (say 2 bay NAS) + dCS network bridge would be less than some of the all-in-one servers listed above. It might not give you some of the fancy extras they offer but the sound quality should be at least as good, probably better if you include optical isolation in the final ethernet link to the dCS Bridge.

If the Op is willing to budge and buy 2 boxes, I concur regardless of what the chosen endpoint connection to DAC is.

(1) upgrading NAS capacity over time is easier and can be less costly than opening a proprietary box

(2) its very hard to get good sound when the media drive is local to the endpoint, really takes exceptional engineering for electronics and power supply. A NAS

cheaply solves those issues.

[alice]

5 hours ago, photonman said:

Just curious what type of computer you have and what streaming service you are using.  Personally, I find my 2014 Macbook Pro works very quietly but that could be because it has plenty of CPU.  I stream Spotify and Amazon HD.

 

If I had to get a streamer to replace it I would consider the Bluesound Node 2i.

It’s a 5 year old motherboard. The temp runs a little high so had to plug all the fans in the cabinet.

[billg]

I use computer server/player and it's really good. Why not upgrade the pc you already have?

If the fan noise is annoying try passive cooling. Try a fanless cpu cooler and silent fans, or a fanless case (or complete pc ). Take a look at the Streacom cases for any size of motherboard https://www.quietpc.com/htpccases

 

If your mobo/cpu run too hot they can be replaced relatively cheaply with modern low-power components.

 

 

[alice]

1 hour ago, billg said:

I use computer server/player and it's really good. Why not upgrade the pc you already have?

If the fan noise is annoying try passive cooling. Try a fanless cpu cooler and silent fans, or a fanless case (or complete pc ). Take a look at the Streacom cases for any size of motherboard https://www.quietpc.com/htpccases

 

If your mobo/cpu run too hot they can be replaced relatively cheaply with modern low-power components.

 

 

The CPU do have a fan mounted on the top, can't get rid of that can we?

[Kal Rubinson]

25 minutes ago, alice said:

The CPU do have a fan mounted on the top, can't get rid of that can we?

Certainly.  The fan can be replaced by a liquid cooler.

[davide256]

On 3/18/2020 at 5:50 PM, alice said:

The CPU do have a fan mounted on the top, can't get rid of that can we?

Noctua fans work pretty well for CPU fan noise reduction/elimination... its the separate graphics card w/fans  that usually has to go. Personally I don't think its wise

to use a PC unless you spent the appropriate amount of time researching the MOBO purchase in advance for audio use... most are electrically noisy, general utility products.