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I plugged in a bluesound node 2i out to dac streaming quboz via ethernet in my system back in Febuary, it exceeded my expectations for ease of use, sound quality and content, old cd player has not been fired up since. Of course there is "better" but I am very satisfied
I do it a little differently than you describe. I use a Raspberry Pi 4 connected to my external DAC via USB. I installed Moode Audio as the OS. That gives me access to the external hard drive connected to the RPi 4. I access Moode via a browser on my iPad or iPhone. For Qobuz I loaded an app called mConnect on my iPad and iPhone. mConnect uses Moode as the UpnP renderer, so I just first open Moode, then mConnect. That allows me complete access to Qobuz including my playlists and favorites, as well as my NAS. The only cost was for the RPi 4 and an SD card - about $65. And the sound is great.
That would be a Streamer. Which depends on budget. There are differences to be had according to budget. Is this your main listening source ? charles
That's very helpful, and thank you for the super nice description of hardware, connections, and the software. I don't know that much about the RPi4 electronics, but it does seem by virtue of its architecture to have potential to be clean and noise free. Let me ask you, if you will: Since I won't be connecting to an external HD, and supposing I'll use and iPad, and the RPi4 to my DAC, could you walk me through what and how you would see software/apps, etc., functioning (I'm quite novice and uninitiated when it comes to things like a basic understanding of RPi4 works, what may have to be uploaded to it, and how it's recognized by the iPad for functioning, and this type of thing.) Your description of your setup was easy to follow and digest.
Yes, it is my main system. Until last year, I was all-vinyl and had focused on developing pretty high-end system. For a couple reasons, I jumped into the digital world with a decent DAC and Qobuz. My budget, well it's like this: While I do plan to upgrade my DAC considerably, that will be a significant cost. So my main goal is to achieve a very high value/SQ with whatever streaming device I can find, new or used. But at the same time, I'm not yet convinced that spending several grand is necessary - even when attempting to build a pretty high end system foundation. So bottom line is I really don't know what price-point I'm entering into here. Does that make sense?
It would be highly unlikely one can compare the sonic behavior of numerous Streamers.charles
I think for an idea of what to expect from software, the first thing to do is to go to moodeaudio.org Just read through the information regarding set up and use. Being unfamiliar with the RPi 4 it may seem confusing and complicated, but it isn't really. They have a guide which takes you through the setup. Once set up, you power up the Raspberry Pi 4. In this configuration Moode audio is your operating system. It's not just an application. On the iPad you access the RPi 4 by entering "moode.local" in your browser. In my system it takes a few seconds to open. At that point you'll see the Moode audio interface. Remember that in this configuration the iPad (or iPhone) is just the device you use to connect to the RPi 4 on the internet and work within Moode audio. It has no effect on the sound at all and no additional apps are required. Keep in mind that my RPi4 is connected to the network via ethernet. This will also work with wifi but I've never done it that way so I can't speak to how well it works. By the way, I use Moode Audio instead of Volumio because Volumio charges a monthly fee for providing the Qobuz interface. Moode does not. Also, Moode sounds great. I suspect Volumio does also but that fee was a deal killer for me. I'm already paying Qobuz. Why should I pay another fee on top of that?If you only want to stream from a streaming service like Qobuz you will need to add an app. As I said, I use mConnect. You can read about it here: http://www.conversdigital.com/eng/product/product04.php I use the free version, Player Lite. That one has some limitations: Portrait mode only, ads at the bottom of the screen, doesn't always remember the last renderer used, missing some file sorting capabilities. None of those bother me enough to pay for the full version, which is $6.99. With Moode audio running, you'd open the mConnect Player app on your iPad. After doing the simple configuration you'd then have access to your Qobuz or Tidal account. In this configuration you're using UPnP with Moode audio acting as the renderer. That's why it has to be running to use mConnect. I use Qobuz. You don't have to install the Qobuz app on your iPad. You're accessing Qobuz through the RPi 4 on the internet. You have access to all your playlists and favorites, and all the file resolutions supported by your account. For me, it all just works and does so consistently and reliably. I listen sometimes for hours at a time. The one thing I don't like is that Moode doesn't provide a browser. It's not a big deal but there are times when I'd like to be able to play music on youtube which isn't available elsewhere. I see no way to do that in Moode.You don't have to be a computer expert to set up a Raspberry Pi 4. The basic stuff is easy. If you're seriously considering this solution you should start by learning the basics. Youtube is a great resource. I found it to be a lot of fun. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
I have the BlueSound Node 2i. Wanted to try it to stream AmazonHD. I really like it. That said, I know you want to get rid of the laptop, but when I'm playing back music that I'm really familiar with, I don't hear much difference, if any at all, between my laptop or the Node 2i. I run the laptop and the Node 2i into the same DAC, a Benchmark DAC 2. Something you might try with the laptop, or if you have an old desktop sitting around not being used, is try something like Daphile: https://www.daphile.com/. My playback never sounded better than when I ditched Windows 7. Windows 10 is better once tweaked but still not quite up to Daphile's level IMHO. Daphile has a plugin to support Qobuz. Playback is controlled via any device that's connected to the same network. I use a repurposed Android tablet and a free program called Squeezer. I'd suggest trying Daphile first before buying new gear. Daphile is free to use and sounds like it could meet your needs.
