whell

Is there a digital room correction add-on component that folks might recommend? Something like this? https://www.minidsp.com/products/opendrc-series/opendrc-di?lang=en&gclid=CjwKCAiAtt2tBhBDEiwALZuhAP3wK85hSa-fa3DtfSfO2uYUYUHy5fBngrjwOO7zOyRlAmIy-I_l9BoC32AQAvD_BwE

Interesting train of thought Chris. I've often wondered the same thing: like maybe we need some kind of numbering system or something similar to identify how far the music we're listening to or purchasing is removed from the source. Consider: 1 - 1 = mastered directly from the source. 1 - 2 = mastered from a copy of the source. 1 - 2 - 2 = mastered from a copy of the source, and remixed. 1 - 3 - 16 = We've messed with it so much that it's damn near unrecognizable.

Question -how does music played back using Atmos stack up against the same recording played back in DTS, SACD, or DVD-Audio multi-channel? Is it a similar experience, or is it a different animal entirely? I ask because the article mentioned music/voices coming from behind you (Rocket Man) during playback. I ask because that effect in SACD/DVD-A, etc., was never something I could get used to. To me, it didn't reflect reality. When I listen to music live, I don't sit in front of the musicians, nor do I sit on the stage. So, when a recording includes that effect, it never sounded natural. Is that content presented differently in using Atmos?

I agree that it can be a "you're mileage may vary" solution due to some of the factors that are descibed in the linked article. However, I've been running it here at the house for years and have not had any issues. Connection is constant and the speed is pretty good: certainly plenty of bandwidth for streaming music. So, to your point: try it and see if it works.....but keep the sales receipt in case you need to return it. 🙂

I think wifi is OK for music streaming. However, another "hard wried" solution might be using powerline networking. More info about that here: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/what-is-a-powerline-adapter. Essentially this option uses your home's electrical wiring to transmit the ethernet signal. Works really well and is a lit cheaper than contracting to run ehternet cables throughout your home.

GREAT post. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Haven't ventured into the Raspberry Pi world yet. Still using an older desktop PC for a the base. Its very quiet, inaudible noise unless you're a foot or two away, and its still very faint. Running Daphile Linux on the desktop at present. Daphile is based on the open source Squeezebox Server, Squeezelite and Linux. There's not a version of Daphile available for Raspberry Pi. However, it does allow for headless operation, and I use a cheap Amazon tablet as a control point. All of the LMS plugins also work with Daphile. Local music files are accessible from the remote servier or attached USB drive. The sound quality that I'm getting with Daphile at present is terrific. If you get 'round to it, might be interesting to include Daphile in your journey. The setup would conform with most of Bob's rules. It also conforms to one of my rules: the less spent the better. 😏

Let's see. We've got: Amazon Music HD which dropped its pricing as a hedge against Apple Music and possibly Spotify going lossless. But its interface is questionable, and true bit perfect hi res playback is available on a limited number of devices. Apple Music which appears to be releasing its lossless music in a "not quite ready for primetime", so we might not know what we have in this service for some time to come. Tidal, the MQA-addicted and thus (to me) worthless offering. Pricing pressure applied by Amazon and increasing competition. Qobuz, who has a very nice offering, truly lossless playback and is available on multiple devices. However, its already dropped its pricing once in the last 12 months in response to Amazon and is facing renewed pricing and lossless streaming competition from more than just Amazon. Spotify, going lossless at 16/44.1 at some point later this year. Interface? Great. Lossless market availability? Unknown. Lossless tier pricing? Unknown. Deezer, lossless at 16/44.1, with a decent interface, but whose pricing may leave them out of step with their competitors. Enter the pool at your own risk. ;-)

Agreed. The more I learn about AmazonHD, and while it might be a great fit for a subset of folks looks to stream music, the more I'm convinced it’s little more than a vehicle for Amazon to score incremental revenue off the sale of their playback hardware.

Interesting. I’m using the Node 2i as a transport as well. I do notice the variation in track volume, but I elected to keep replay gain turned off. I suspect turning on the replay gain feature would address the volume disparity between tracks. I do not experience the issue of the first moment or two of a track being cut off.

@JPK Note that Bluesound and NAD are sister companies under Lenbrook Industries. The products from NAD and Bluesound share technology, i.e., the BluOS software. https://lenbrook.com/#aboutus

For what it’s worth, I'm really enjoying the Node 2i. I use it with an external DAC. While there may not be a list of specific devices, Amazon does provide a listing of “preferred brands” that might help narrow your search a bit: https://www.amazon.com/music/unlimited/why-hd#hd-edu-brands it’s also worth noting that the Node 2i has a USB port on the back of the unit, and can read music files from a flash drive plugged into that port. So, here's something to consider: First, you'd need to rip copies of your CD's, and save them in a file format that's easy for the device - in this case the Node 2i - to read. Might take some time, and you'd probably look to a program like dbPowerAmp or similar to help make the ripping process easy. Next, you'd want to copy/store the files in a safe place, maybe a couple of places like an external drive for backups. You probably wouldn't to have to go through the effort of ripping those CD's again if something happened to the drive that stores all your ripped CD's. Finally, get a flash drive large enough to hold all your ripped CD's. I suspect a 150 or so GB USB flash drive would be sufficient for 350 CD's ripped to FLAC, but you might get something a bit bigger in case you want to add more ripped CD's to your collection later on. Something like this might suffice: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-256gb-usb-3-0-type-a-flash-drive-black/9208267.p?skuId=9208267&ref=212&loc=1&ref=212&loc=DWA&ds_rl=1260402&gclid=CjwKCAiAtej9BRAvEiwA0UAWXqX-U55X9V45Y9Vv0N8iHQb9w4TXwDcd0KCOZsVPdQcSnmaAUdU_lBoCUlAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Then, plug the flash drive into your Node 2i, follow the instructions to have the Node 2i play music from the flash drive, and enjoy.

I think the take away here is this: The answer to your question is: "It depends." You need to get the whole playback chain right to optimize playback from streaming services. For example: I'm going to play a song on Qobuz on my iPhone via Bluetooth to a DAC which has a Bluetooth receiver built in. The song them goes from my DAC to my "Aux" input on my integrated amp. It sounds good, but not great. I'm going to playback that same song on my iPhone, but now I'm going to play it back from my IPhone's headphone jack to via a cable with an adapter that allows me to plug the able into the "Aux" RCA input on my integrated amp. Sounds a bit better maybe, but still not great. Now I'll grab my Windows PC and playback the song on Qobuz's Windows software, output from my PC via USB into my DAC, and then to the Aux input on my integrated Amp. Better still. But if I don't have Windows optimized correctly, then I might not get all of the sound qualify that Qobuz is capable of. Then there are more options for playback, all with potential strengths and weaknesses. As this article points out, I probably won't be able to get the best sound out of Amazon HD unless I use a dedicated device like a Bluesound Node 2i. I think there are more devices that could get optimal sound out of Amazon HD. I think Cocktail Audio makes a streaming device or two, for instance, and there are others. But unless you have such a device, you might want to look elsewhere than Amazon HD, which, by the way, can sound excellent if you have such a device. If you don't have a compatible device already, then you're going to probably want to look at Tidal or Qobuz. Both of these services have their adherents, and both can sound excellent. However, sometimes its even hard to compare between services. On each service a particular album might have one or more difference masters available, and unless you can do some sort of "A - B test" and be sure you're listening to the same master on each service, there might be claims that one service might sound "different" or "better" than another. With both Tidal and Qobuz, there are also more devices available that are capable of optimizing playback from these services. Your choice of playback devices might range from a PC or laptop that you already have with the service's software downloaded/setup, to a dedicated streaming device, to something like Daphile which allows you to convert a PC to a dedicated playback device, and which has plugins for both Tidal and Qobuz. Bottom line - its still the wild west in the streaming world, with more questions than answers in some cases. They all can sound good, but which sounds "best" is much harder to get at.

Yes, between the behavior of playback software on the streamed content, the record labels distribution methodology, the way that some streaming producers market the value of "high resolution streaming", the impact of remastering of such content on the listening experience (which can be positive or negative) and then throw in MQA's marketing and distribution practices, and you've got quiet a dense forest of conflicting information and sonics that can be difficult to navigate through. Thanks for helping us sort through this! Great information contained herein. Listening to my Node 2i right now. I let my Amazon HD subscription lapse waiting for your thoughts on this. Now I just have to figure out if I want to renew it or not. :) Interesting that you found MQA content on Amazon. Which album lit the MQA indictor? Was it one of the albums mentioned above? Had no idea that Amazon was working with Bob Stuart and company.

One thing I do really like about Amazon - I couldn't find a similar feature on Qobuz - are Amazon music "stations". I can pick a genre of music and that music will play all day in that genre of finding them it off. Great for just playing music of my choice unattended. Also, after about a week or so, Amazon will create a "station" called My Music based on the music genres I typically listen to. It also sound pretty darn good to my ears.

Hi - just wondering if you had a chance to check out the Node 2i with Amazon Music yet? My Amazon Music HD subscription hangs in the balance of your feedback. 😎