[Emil]

Hello gentleman

Looking to get my feet wet in the world of streaming and looking for some advice. I want to keep it as simple as possible.

I recently subscribed to Tidal's subscription service costing $19.99 a month offering CD sound quality. Anything less would not be worth it to me.

I connected my laptop to a cheap USB cable and connected it directly to my DAC. I heard potential but not CD quality. I figured it was my cheap USB cable. After doing some research, I've read that a laptop can put out a ton noise into the line and using a higher quality USB cord is only part of the solution.
 
So, here are what I consider my options:

1) for $499 use a Bluesound Node 2 (http://www.crutchfield.com/p_813NODE2B/Bluesound-Node-2-Black.html?tp=63339&awkw=151153322425&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=79425301705&awdv=c as a bridge. Going  WiFi to the Node then using my Black Cat Silverstar RCA/SPDIF cable to my DAC. Using my laptop for song selection from the Tidal website.

2) Go directly from my laptop using a device such as a USB Regen ( $175)  http://uptoneaudio.com/products/usb-regen to filter out the noise but I still would need at least 6-9 feet of USB cable so I can have my laptop by my listening chair. This could get expensive
but its all hardwired, which i assume has the edge over wireless. So to keep with the $500 budget would leave $324 for the USB cable.

Thoughts? Opinions? Something I've missed? Forget about the whole thing and stick with my CDs?

[Charles Xavier]

Did I say no dropouts

[mfsoa]

$60 for Rapsberry Pi. Wait...haven't we had this conversation already?! No dropouts either.

Many would say that you won't be able to get a high quality digital output from a laptop without specialized audio software and a regen-type device. And USB cable. And even then it'll still be compromised relative to a dedicated linux machine (like a Pi) or higher-end ($$$) server.

Check out computeraudiophile.com and spend a few months catching up. And we thought turntables were tough to get right 

There are other choices than the Node too - Marantz has some streamers (NA6005 and 8005 I think) as does Pioneer (N30A, N50A) that might offer some functionality that the Node doesn't or vice versa.

[DavidS]

I'm running my pc laptop through a second hand Hiface Evo to my Lampizator dac that only does spdif with a 5+ year old crappy usb cable.  Using Tidal and Roon since before xmas - unbelievable on many levels.  First Tidal is like someone locked me in the record store for the weekend - can't wipe the grin off my face - might never buy another cd.  Second Roon is a whole lot of fun that is keeping me from doing work like replacing the downstairs bathroom door.  And finally the sound is as good as anything I get either from my turntable or audio note transport.

Have a linear power supply on order for the Evo.  And also thinking regen plus curious usb cable.

And no dropouts here. 

[mfsoa]

Ahhh forgot about the linear supplies which seem to work wonders at every step of the digital chain, to get that last few percent if desired.

[jarcher]

Blue sound node 2 all the way. For one, the user experience being able to use a smartphone or tablet as remote is going to be much better. From a hardware perspective your also at an advantage vs a laptop. Even  the internal dac in the BS2 is surprisingly good (a 32 bit Burr Brown). And your non audiophile friends can get in on the fun by playing content from their phone / tablet or even Bluetooth to it.

If you must have something that does DSD, then the Aurallic Aries Mini is the next best choice. And at $549 including a year of tidal service, it's a bargain. I think the BS2 is more user friendly, has more features, and the voicing of the dac is more sympathetic for lower quality sources. But either the BSN2 or AAM are tremendous value and better sound and user experience vs a laptop.

[mfsoa]

jarcher,

Well put. You really don't want a noisy laptop in the room with you anyway.

[JLM]

What sort of sound quality issues exactly have you experienced? 

I'm cheap so run a MacBook Air used for personal/business/music from my listening chair via a $74 3.0 meter Straightwire USB cable (see my USB cable review) versus buying a dedicated server and tablet. 

Don't know what you use for a DAC, but consider a Halide DAC HD:  2015 Stereophile class A, includes captive Wireworld's Starlight USB cable (varying lengths available up to 7.0 meters) and captive silver-conductor 6 inch RCA cables with Eichman Bullet plugs.  This tiny DAC uses Streamlength™ asynchronous USB technology.  $510 with 5.0 meter USB cable!  Check out their multiple reviews. 

Don't you know that cheap and simple doesn't mix in audio?     (But it's getting better on the digital source front.)

[jarcher]

What sort of sound quality issues exactly have you experienced? 

I'm cheap so run a MacBook Air used for personal/business/music from my listening chair via a $74 3.0 meter Straightwire USB cable (see my USB cable review) versus buying a dedicated server and tablet. 

Don't know what you use for a DAC, but consider a Halide DAC HD:  2015 Stereophile class A, includes captive Wireworld's Starlight USB cable (varying lengths available up to 7.0 meters) and captive silver-conductor 6 inch RCA cables with Eichman Bullet plugs.  This tiny DAC uses Streamlength™ asynchronous USB technology.  $510 with 5.0 meter USB cable!  Check out their multiple reviews. 

Don't you know that cheap and simple doesn't mix in audio?     (But it's getting better on the digital source front.)

These days I honestly think a BSN2 would beat a MBA + Halide DAC combo at a third of the price. Honest. the Halide DAC is getting long in the tooth. It's over three years old, which is an eternity for dacs, particualry budget ones. Among other things both the USB receiver and the DAC chip are outdated.

The BSN2 is too good sonically at $500. Yes, you'll get more detail, texture and air from a higher end DAC, but for 90% of people what the BSN2 does particularly at it's price point is exceptional. We're selling these by the boatload with 100% satisfaction so far. Folks also like the  BS Vault which automates the cd ripping and storage process. Some have even bought them just for that purposes and migrated the data to higher end servers (eg Aurender etc).

[JLM]

These days I honestly think a BSN2 would beat a MBA + Halide DAC combo at a third of the price. Honest. the Halide DAC is getting long in the tooth. It's over three years old, which is an eternity for dacs, particualry budget ones. Among other things both the USB receiver and the DAC chip are outdated.

Agree that 3 years is forever in DAC years, but it's still Stereophile class A rated in 2015, so hard to believe the Halide DAC HD is all that bad.  How would you expect a MacBook Air compare to mini with HD and shorter USB cable?  I went the MacBook Air route for personal/business use, the current (much improved) version of the BlueSound Node wasn't available, and to avoid buying a tablet + server (and not smart enough to setup via a tablet).

[jarcher]

I think stereophile needs to be more vigilant about removing dacs more than 3-4 years old from their recommended list unless they have been listened and compared to current gen competitors and found their equal.

I don't think the halide is "bad" - just at this point overshadowed by competitors at or below its price. With dacs it seems that after 3-4 years improvements are still considerable enough that you have options that are just as good at half the price.

I think a Mac mini would be an improvement vs a MBA because you avoid all that noise being spewed out by the screen and battery. But I honestly think that a BSN2 would be better than a Mac mini unless you go to the trouble of modifying it (ie removing internal switching power supply, switching off wifi, etc etc) and using better player software. And it will just gets to be tool much of a hassle to operate and maintain.

Tablets or smartphones can be had for under $100. There's not much to do other than load the BS app. Once you begin using a tablet or smartphone as a remote you'll wonder why you ever did it any other way.

A shorter USB cable alone is not probably going to a make much difference unless you are coming off an excessively long one. Ideally the USB cable should be 2M or shorter.

[Vincent Kars]

 

I heard potential but not CD quality. I figured it was my cheap USB cable.

How did you establish this?
Have you checked the win audio settings?

[lowtech]

the voicing of the dac...

I learned something new today.  lol.

[geowak]

I agree that DACs are changing very quickly. Each Hi-Fi company is very fast in coming up with better engineering, better ideas and implementation of the parts. I bought the first Sony Cd player, the CDP 101. It was a breakthrough product for sure, but now DACs are soooo much better sounding. Although I think the Sony CD players have been top notch over the decades after the 101 (think ES series CD players)... The Schiit marketing ploy of upgrading the boards is a great idea too. BTW I think MQA sounds great and I hope more titles keep coming out. I am listening on Tidal.