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I want to experiment with a Roon Ready endpoint MQA enabled network streamer to listen to MQA selections from Tidal with Roon. MQA has been so hotly debated I want to pick up some gear and listen for myself rather than read endless online debates. I'm not interested in portable DACs or music fed directly from a computer. So, I'm inclined to shy away from the Meridian Explorer 2, Dragonfly Red or iFi Nano BL. I suspect that using the iFi Micro BL on a desktop is a waste of much of what that device has to offer. But perhaps I'm thinking of this the wrong way. Since Roon can now handle the decoding, I realize a renderer is all that I need, however, I don't feel compelled to ignore solutions that offer decoding and rendering. This particular system is very simple. It's a Naim Uniti Atom driving ProAc Tablette 10 speakers. The analog input is available. I've been pleased with the Allo USBRidge that I've deployed on one of my low budget systems and was thinking that pairing that device with a Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 would do the trick for about $580. An alternative would be the Bluesound Node 2 at about $500. I suspect that the USBRidge/Pro-Ject combo would yield better sound. However, the Bluesound would tie things up nicely with a single box. I'm not interested in any of the other features offer by Bluesound. Are there other alternatives you might suggest? How would you think about the two options I've mentioned? Just to put boundaries on this experiment, let's keep the budget below $750. Thanks, -- Rich

I just got my first proper system with just an Amp (Hegel H90) and a stereo speakers (Monitor Audio Silver 6) for my living room, and I need something to play music on. I already have a HTPC with Node 202 case, and a server running FreeNas with Xeon E3, 16gb ECC, and 9TB storage. My amp has a USB input, and supports DLNA. I also have a bunch of CDS and Blurays ripped on my FreeNAS running plex server in a container, and I have a turntable. But mostly I listen on Tidal/Spotify (I just started Tidal while still waiting for Spotify lossless) So, my options are: Using HTPC and consider upgrading everything inside and connect via USB. Using FreeNAS server and DLNA to stream to Amp. Buy a Bluesound Node 2 and connect amp via S/PDIF Can you please provide opinions thank you

Hello everyone. I am in research for a streamer or network audio player. Expectations: - it can read mp3, flac and DSD from NAS (network attached storage, in my case Synology DS212j) and USB memory stick - it should transport digital signal (via SPDIF or USB) to external DAC - reliable while operating - price of the player should be within 1500€ (linear power supply included) - I don't want solutions that need external display (e.g. computer monitor). It should be HiFi device that can be turned on via button Advantage: - dedicated mobile application, and not just web control interface - AirPlay - Internet radio - streaming services Current candidates: - Sonore microRendu - no dedicated application. 640 $ + linear power supply. - Sonore ultraRendu - no dedicated application. They say at several forums that this model is better than its predecessor. 875 $ + linear power supply - SOtM sMS-200 - no dedicated application, didn't hear it. 450 $ + linear power supply - SOtM sMS-200ultra - no dedicated application. They say at several forums that this model is better than its predecessor. 1200 $ + linear power supply - Auralic Aries Mini - dedicated application. AirPlay + internet radio. 550€ + linear power supply - Auralic Aries LE - dedicated application. AirPlay + internet radio. I heard there are several problems with the stability caused by network problems. 1000€ + linear power supply - Auralic Aries - dedicated application. AirPlay + internet radio. I heard several problems with the stability caused by network problems. I do not know the price. - Bluesound Node 2 - dedicated application, Airplay, internet radio. No DSD support. 600€. - Electrocompaniet Rena S1 - dedicated application, Airplay, internet radio. 600€. - Onkyo NS-6170 - dedicated application, Airplay, internet radio. 350€. I heard only Sonore microRendu which had great sound for me. There are not candidates: - Raspberry Pi - there is no customized version of the HiFi I just buy, without having to do anything, put together, buy separately etc. that is sonically good enough for my system. Correct me if I'm wrong. - Aurender - great equipment but out of the price category. - dCS Network Bridge - great equipment, but out of the price category. Questions - do you have candidates to add to this list? - did you ever heard one of this candidates or can you compare it? It is own hearing experience that is most relevant to me, not reviews from 3rd sources. - if there is perfect or near-perfect process of comparing different streamers, what would it be? I noticed there are no such information available publicly. Many thanks!

If you are having trouble with Tidal MQA dropouts on the BlueSound Node 2, try unplugging your optical input cable. Like some other Bluesound Node 2 users on this forum, I experience occasional dropouts with my Node 2 when playing MQA on Tidal. After confirming your network is robust enough for hi-res streaming, BlueSound tech support suggests restarting the router and Node 2, and if that doesn’t work, changing your DNS to Google (8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4). The problem got much worse for me after the last software update: MQA files would drop out every few seconds, the player was sluggish, and the apps were returning error messages - and in the case of the desktop app, always quitting. I was ready to return the Node 2 when I found a temporary solution. I use my Node 2 as the DAC for my entire system. My HD tuner, Apple TV, and Oppo Blu-Ray player are routed through an HDMI switcher, and from the switcher an optical cable goes into the Node 2. I unplugged this cable from the Node 2 and the sluggishness was instantly gone: a “Tune In” search for the string “Modern Classical” which previously took 17 seconds and caused the desktop application to crash was now instantly returning results. MQAs are playing without dropouts. Of course, plugging in the optical cable every time my family wants to use the other sources is not a lasting option, but it’s a hack I can live with until Bluesound hopefully solves this problem with a software update.

After having surrendered to the fact that I am the only one in the family who likes my customized Foobar and MonkeyMote solution I have done some testing of the Sonos Connect, the Heos Link and finally the Bluesound Node, and to my surprise I have at last found peace :-) Both Sonos and Heos apparently resamples everything internally regardless of settings (fixed output, Volume and tone controls of, no compression and so forth...) but the Bluesound not only plays the few 24/96 and 24/192 recordings I own but also plays my more numerous 5.1. DTS recordings absolutelse flawlessly. Finally I can let everybody play anything without risking my precious tweeters being killed by the white noise made by corrupted DTS. I have a lot of DTS music demuxed to .dts, then wrapped in a Wav container and finally compressed and stored for convenience and adding of metadata as lossless FLAC. All made with the python script available at the old SlimDevices forum. The sound when it plays ordinary stereo, btw, is noticeably superior to not only Sonos and Heos, but also to my Win 8.1 with Foobar2000 and WASAPI output via HDMI. Both Heos and Bluesound streams the local library without any glitches, whereas Sonos quite frequently made small cutouts when my 60/20 Mbps line was busy. Why Sonos requires internet connection to the outside world to play content on my LAN is beyond me... Not sure about the perceived differences in sound either as i.e. Foobar is playing bitperfect at fixed 100% volume, so it is not due to resampling. But perhaps the HDMI output is plaqued with jitter. Was it not for two people unaware of the switch between the sources commenting on the difference I would perhaps attribute it to "placebo effect" but the calmness in the space on some old recordings does feel quite differently - though I must admit that I have not yet made any blind a/b testing. If anybody has any experiences with Bluesound or has made a successful attempt to make Heos stream bitperfect please let me know. BR/Jens

I'm new to this forum and very impressed by all the comments. Truly appreciate your guidance on the following matter, since I'm feeling a bit lost, without knowledgeable advice so far. Since ~2 years I'm the (proud) owner of a Sonus Connect, connected via coax to an external DAC (Cambridge Audio Azur 851C). Resolution limitations of the Sonus are known. Now that I'm willing to jump up to 24/192 source files, I've given a look into the Bluesound Node 2. I've been reading that its internal DAC has high quality and is capable of great sounding. My doubt is: if I choose a Node 2, will my Cambridge Audio become redundant/unnecessary (besides the ability to play CDs, of course) in my system? Would I get the same (or even better) high quality result if I use the Bluesound's analog output to connect directly to my Unison amplifier? Thanks in advance for your advice.