Streamer/Server/Transport for SACD Rips and DSD Files

[davide256]

On 3/4/2021 at 5:22 PM, jxo said:

It is time to move away from my PC, Mac mini and laptop solutions (with JRiver) for transporting high rez files to my DAC.

 

Primary goal is to directly connect to a 2TB hard drive (with high rez files) and output the best SQ digital stream to my DAC.  So integrated DAC not needed, don't need streaming service support, do not need to transport files over my network (via NAS or otherwise) unless doing so is superior to a direct USB-connected hard drive.   So many of the streamer/server/transports have more features than what I need.  SQ is 99% of my priority.

 

Under consideration, in current order of preference:

1.  Allo USBridge Sig Player with DigiOne (for SPDIF outputs) with their LPS

2.  BlueSound Node 2i (primarily b/c its cheap, may have better App and software player support but I do not get a good sense of how these streamers compare as simple digital transports)

 

My preliminary research has me leaning in favor of the Allo-- on paper, it appears that it might be the superior digital transport device (for a number of reasons, LPS being one of them) to the Node 2i and perhaps similar streaming products.  I also read that the Node 2i may have some trouble handling DSD files.

 

Any views on the above or other suggestions or recommendations for a server/transport would be greatly appreciated.

I was underwhelmed with Allo's hardware quality when I used USBridge and Digione, even with an LPS 1.2 power supply... a microRendu 1.3 was far better for

DAC connected endpoint, far cleaner in sound. What moved me off microRendu was NUC solution, first with Audiolinux, then with Euphony. Later I found that

having drives in the server was not the best path, more digital artifacts and midrange tone color loss vs using a Synology NAS. While Allo has newer versions,

the board quality doesn't look that different from prior versions.

 

No opinions on Blue sound, haven't tried it

[davide256]

There is also nothing wrong with using a Mac mini as your server, its USB out is pretty decent, certainly no worse than a NUC for a 1 box solution. You

could upgrade the power supply, HD size and call it a day. Jriver for Mac, Amarra, Audirvarna are all respected Mac media players