[Ice10]

Saw this on the Tone Audio website and thought it looked interesting. 
https://www.tonepublications.com/review/andover-audio-songbird-hi-res-music-streamer/

I don’t think 24/192 max resolution is a deal breaker for me and the price is certainly reasonable.  Anyone have experience  with one?

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Ooo interesting. I've been looking for a streamer with reliable connectivity that's far more affordable than the Bluesound Node 2i, and never heard of this one. I upgraded from the Chromecast Audio to a RPi-based Allo Digione, and the sound quality is excellent, a big step up from the CCA. But the wireless connectivity is fairly unreliable...and I don't want to pay the steep price for even a used Node 2i. 

And honestly, how much streaming content out there is higher-res than 24/192? (without citing some no-name streaming service no one uses or has even heard of)

I wonder how the sound quality measures up to the Node 2i though. Not a big fan that the only digital ports are optical...but I guess at this price, beggars can't be choosers.

Who's going to be the first to order one and try it out?

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Anyone?

[Mike-48]

The price is great, and to my ears, nothing worthwhile is gained by going above 96/24. So far, so good.

What troubles me is that apparently it can't do gapless playback. In 2020 (never mind 2021), that makes it a non-starter for me. For you, too, if you ever stream an album where the tracks should run together. And for every fan of opera out there.

Or maybe I didn't understand the Website, which I found a bit confusing on this topic.

Still, any music lover who would be using it more than incidentally might want to check before buying.

[annamarykahn]

curious how this compares with the klipsch gate playfi streaming devices?

[Ice10]

I’m hoping this as well annamarykahn as I have a couple Gates but no experience outside of them. I have to believe that everything else on the market should crush these $35.00 streamers (what I paid) but they seem to perform well for me.  The Songbird and Node 2i interest me but I’d love to hear others experience with them vs the Gate.

[Doublej]

No gapless playback in 2021, WTF? Here is an explanation of when it may matter.

https://darko.audio/2020/05/what-is-gapless-playback/

[Mike-48]

No gapless playback in 2021, WTF? Here is an explanation of when it may matter.

https://darko.audio/2020/05/what-is-gapless-playback/

Thanks for posting that link. It's a great resource to clarify the problem for those who haven't thought about it yet.

And any music lover with a streamer that can't do gapless playback will be thinking about it, ruefully, sooner or later. There are gapless albums in every genre.

[Ice10]

In that article the author makes the claim “gapless playback is fundamental to our enjoyment of music”. Maybe I’m wrong, but weren’t/aren’t all LP’s a form of gapped music playback as after/before every track there’s a few moments of silence before the next song starts? 

[Mike-48]

Maybe I’m wrong, but weren’t/aren’t all LP’s a form of gapped music playback as after/before every track there’s a few moments of silence before the next song starts?

Sorry, you do have that wrong. If there wasn't supposed to be extra silence, it wasn't on the LP -- the tracks were run together as one. While that could make it harder to find the spot you wanted on an LP, it didn't introduce extra silence.

I can't remember - those still using LPs might say -- wasn't an extra-wide groove sometimes used to mark a segue between movements/tracks?

I'll give an example from classical music. Consider Bach's Goldberg Variations, 32 short movements played with just a momentary pause between, the piano's or harpsichord's strings still vibrating. In some early CDs, the whole thing was put onto one track, like an LP. Labels soon learned that wasn't necessary -- now it's always 32 tracks, which can be played on all CD players (AFAIK) without gaps. But some streamers still don't have the horsepower to do that. It's bad design -- a form of distortion, in my opinion, that does violence to the music.

[Ice10]

Ahhh, thank you. I can understand the difference now based on your Bach explanation.  I think I need to stick with this Klipsch Gate.  Based on the cost I’m sure the Gate is horrible audio wise, but it just plays music via Qobuzz when I tell it to and I enjoy that! Ignorance is bliss? Lol...

[Doublej]

If you have an IOS device for $9 you can buy the Apple lightning to audio adapter and compare the output to your Klipsch Gate.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMX62AM/A/lightning-to-35-mm-headphone-jack-adapter

[Ice10]

Thank you everyone for the input and the explanation/importance of gapless playback.  I went ahead and ordered a Bluesound Node 2i today which I’m looking forward to trying.  Next up will be an external DAC, then IC’s, and who knows from there?!

[Poultrygeist]

You'll enjoy the Node 2i. Not only is the sound excellent but it's versatility is remarkable. Mine feeds three DAC's in three different systems.

[Letitroll98]

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask this, what benefit is a streamer over a laptop?  I use my laptop to stream Tidal and Qobuz to my DAC that's isolated from the laptop power, what benefits would I get from using the Songbird instead?

[danali]

wondering the same thing but the advantage of not having my computer or phone stream was attractive. bought an inexpensive audiocast which is similar to the chromecast for $30 some bucks...will report back after testing.

[Ice10]

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask this, what benefit is a streamer over a laptop?  I use my laptop to stream Tidal and Qobuz to my DAC that's isolated from the laptop power, what benefits would I get from using the Songbird instead?

I wish I could help on this. Unless I’m mistaken the songbird is not gapless playback which is a serious deal breaker for many (not judging, just what I’ve determined in articles, read here, etc.).  If your laptop streams gapless then I would imagine it’s a step way backwards going to the songbird?

[Ice10]

Double post?

[Doublej]

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask this, what benefit is a streamer over a laptop?  I use my laptop to stream Tidal and Qobuz to my DAC that's isolated from the laptop power, what benefits would I get from using the Songbird instead?

If your DAC is buffering/relocking the bits probably nothing. If your DAC does not do this you might reduce the amount of jitter over your current situation by using a dedicated device.

Are you using the laptop solely to stream audio or are you doing other things with it while streaming? Multitasking on the laptop may also affect the sound quality of the stream.

Are you bypassing the audio processing in the laptop? If not doing this may improve the sound quality of your existing setup.

[Poultrygeist]

A PC is not designed to just play music but a streamer is. You can get a lot of electrical noise from a PC which can be avoided with a streamer.  A streamer like the Node 2i can receive it's signal wirelessly and placement is not restricted or it can be hard wired straight to a router. It's invaluable for me to be able to heard the Ultra hi res content from Amazon Music HD at it's best.