The Dark Side; Digital audio equipment recommendations and setup.

AnthonyI said:
Thanks for the input, but my run would be too long I think, over 20', so we're going to air on the side of caution and just scrap that idea. If I remember correctly, I think at one point I tried a set of USB over LAN kits that failed miserably. That said, the reason for my question is because I think, I need to do a little more checking, the Chromecast is dropping here and there and it seems to be getting worse, so I'm looking for an alternative method.

I started looking at the Bluesound Node, seems to be a favorite, but also seems like overkill for how I stream if I'm reading the features correctly. I use Spotify and my Synology server, unless the quality of the streaming is well worth the cost.

Any thoughts on the Bluesound Node, is it worth the scratch? And or other Chromecast replacement/upgrade options for my current situation?
Click to expand...

If it’s just for Spotify the node does feel overkill. If you were using a lossless service definitely overkill. I’d probably be looking at a pi with a DAC HAT, I like hifiberry, and volumio with the Spotify connect codec.
 
Joe Mac said:
If it’s just for Spotify the node does feel overkill. If you were using a lossless service definitely overkill. I’d probably be looking at a pi with a DAC HAT, I like hifiberry, and volumio with the Spotify connect codec.
Click to expand...
@Joe Mac, I think way back when you had given me a source for Pi options, I thought I had it saved, but can't seem to find it. Would you have that handy by chance so I can give it a looksy ;)
 
AnthonyI said:
@Joe Mac, I think way back when you had given me a source for Pi options, I thought I had it saved, but can't seem to find it. Would you have that handy by chance so I can give it a looksy ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah of course. I like HiFiBerry and they do bundles including the SD card pi hat DAC and a case. There are a few different options of DACs and cases, get the universal plastic case if you want to use WiFi, and I’d definitely recommend the power switch and heatsink.

If you’re connecting to RCA on an amp this is the one.


If you’re connecting to a DAC with coax or optical it’s this one


You can get the volumio pi image here.

volumio.com

Get Started - Volumio

CREATE BUILD YOUR OWN Transform your Raspberry Pi, or PC with Volumio’s innovative software. Download Volumio for FREE Download our
volumio.com volumio.com

And flash it to the sd card with

balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives

A cross-platform tool to flash OS images onto SD cards and USB drives safely and easily. Free and open source for makers around the world.
etcher.balena.io etcher.balena.io

Once it’s all built and the image flashed and the SD card in the pi set it up connected to Ethernet, doesn’t need to be connected to hifi at this stage. Set it up and pick and save your WiFi network. Then you unplug it and plug it into your hifi.
 
AnthonyI said:
Thanks for the input, but my run would be too long I think, over 20', so we're going to air on the side of caution and just scrap that idea. If I remember correctly, I think at one point I tried a set of USB over LAN kits that failed miserably. That said, the reason for my question is because I think, I need to do a little more checking, the Chromecast is dropping here and there and it seems to be getting worse, so I'm looking for an alternative method.

I started looking at the Bluesound Node, seems to be a favorite, but also seems like overkill for how I stream if I'm reading the features correctly. I use Spotify and my Synology server, unless the quality of the streaming is well worth the cost.

Any thoughts on the Bluesound Node, is it worth the scratch? And or other Chromecast replacement/upgrade options for my current situation?
Click to expand...
I got a Node 2i in 2020 and like it a lot. It is best if you have Roon and Tidal/Qobuz plus a large collection of personal digital files. Sadly I gave up Tidal a couple of years ago and will be cancelling Roon soon as well. You can stream from you computer using Airplay but everything is then playing lossy.

Overall I like the Bluesound, but like I said it really benefits when you use Roon and Tidal/Qobuz. Both services integrate together in Roon so if you have a hi-res copy of a record locally and Tidal just has redbook, Roon will show you both in your collection.

I am looking to a FiiO R7 or Eversolo which has the streaming apps baked in for later this year hopefully.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
I got a Node 2i in 2020 and like it a lot. It is best if you have Roon and Tidal/Qobuz plus a large collection of personal digital files. Sadly I gave up Tidal a couple of years ago and will be cancelling Roon soon as well. You can stream from you computer using Airplay but everything is then playing lossy.

Overall I like the Bluesound, but like I said it really benefits when you use Roon and Tidal/Qobuz. Both services integrate together in Roon so if you have a hi-res copy of a record locally and Tidal just has redbook, Roon will show you both in your collection.

I am looking to a FiiO R7 or Eversolo which has the streaming apps baked in for later this year hopefully.
Click to expand...

Yeah for Apple Music you really do need, ironically, an android os based streamer so you can just use the app directly on it.
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
I got a Node 2i in 2020 and like it a lot. It is best if you have Roon and Tidal/Qobuz plus a large collection of personal digital files. Sadly I gave up Tidal a couple of years ago and will be cancelling Roon soon as well. You can stream from you computer using Airplay but everything is then playing lossy.

Overall I like the Bluesound, but like I said it really benefits when you use Roon and Tidal/Qobuz. Both services integrate together in Roon so if you have a hi-res copy of a record locally and Tidal just has redbook, Roon will show you both in your collection.

I am looking to a FiiO R7 or Eversolo which has the streaming apps baked in for later this year hopefully.
Click to expand...
Ya, like I mentioned, if I was a huge streaming service kind a guy the Node would be an easy choice I think, but since 90% of my streaming is coming from my Plex server I just need a good "stream". I use Spotify basically for research and have digital backups of my albums on the NAS, so it's all for convenience while driving, walking and when I'm out and about using Plex amp.
 
AnthonyI said:
Ya, like I mentioned, if I was a huge streaming service kind a guy the Node would be an easy choice I think, but since 90% of my streaming is coming from my Plex server I just need a good "stream". I use Spotify basically for research and have digital backups of my albums on the NAS, so it's all for convenience while driving, walking and when I'm out and about using Plex amp.
Click to expand...

Yeah similar. I actually think longer term that my streaming will just be getting a USB cable from my DAC that I can plug my iPad into!
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah of course. I like HiFiBerry and they do bundles including the SD card pi hat DAC and a case. There are a few different options of DACs and cases, get the universal plastic case if you want to use WiFi, and I’d definitely recommend the power switch and heatsink.

If you’re connecting to RCA on an amp this is the one.


If you’re connecting to a DAC with coax or optical it’s this one


You can get the volumio pi image here.

volumio.com

Get Started - Volumio

CREATE BUILD YOUR OWN Transform your Raspberry Pi, or PC with Volumio’s innovative software. Download Volumio for FREE Download our
volumio.com volumio.com

And flash it to the sd card with

balenaEtcher - Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives

A cross-platform tool to flash OS images onto SD cards and USB drives safely and easily. Free and open source for makers around the world.
etcher.balena.io etcher.balena.io

Once it’s all built and the image flashed and the SD card in the pi set it up connected to Ethernet, doesn’t need to be connected to hifi at this stage. Set it up and pick and save your WiFi network. Then you unplug it and plug it into your hifi.
Click to expand...
Thanks, the Digi Bundle looks like the way to go, got it bookmarked while I poke around and make sure it's the Chromecast having issues and not something else.
 
AnthonyI said:
Thanks, the Digi Bundle looks like the way to go, got it bookmarked while I poke around and make sure it's the Chromecast having issues and not something else.
Click to expand...

If you do go that way and have any questions during install give me a shout. I’m not running one right now but I’ve built 6 or 7 of them down the years!
 
AnthonyI said:
You know, if I didn't stream from my desk while working this would probably be THE solution, because my listening spot is only 6-7' away from my rig/dac ;)
Click to expand...
In my office, my DAC is plugged straight into my computer via a short USB so I don’t need to do any wireless streaming. But I guess your CDT is going into the DAC as well!
 
MikeH said:
In my office, my DAC is plugged straight into my computer via a short USB so I don’t need to do any wireless streaming. But I guess your CDT is going into the DAC as well!
Click to expand...
Ya, I have the Multibit on my desk just for my PC, then I stream to the rig/Ares II to listen on my system. And yep, the Ares II is doing CDT duty as well :)
 
mindhead1 said:
Build your own. It’s not that hard. I have done it a couple of times and they work reliably and sound great.

One is an RPi4 that streams via USB. The other is an RPi4 with a Hifiberry Digi Pro hat that can stream via optical or coax. The Hifiberry version sounds better to me. Both are Running MoOde Audio.

You can have a high quality streamer for less than $200.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have. It’s easy. I have a hifiberry dac hat on a pi. The rca plugs lost connection on it because it’s such a flimsy setup. There is nothing to support them. I wish there was a better case for them. I’ve been looking at replacing the hifiberry dac hat with something with XLR plugs but cannot find any case that would fit it neatly.
 
Kris said:
Yeah, I have. It’s easy. I have a hifiberry dac hat on a pi. The rca plugs lost connection on it because it’s such a flimsy setup. There is nothing to support them. I wish there was a better case for them. I’ve been looking at replacing the hifiberry dac hat with something with XLR plugs but cannot find any case that would fit it neatly.
Click to expand...

Hifiberry do a version of the DAC board that has XLR plugs. It only works with their steel case because the plastic one doesn’t support the plugs with XLR ones being heavier. With the steel case the WiFi chip on board doesn’t always work so you may need to look into similar options to the fancy expensive pi one above if Ethernet doesn’t work.


 
AnthonyI said:
Ya, like I mentioned, if I was a huge streaming service kind a guy the Node would be an easy choice I think, but since 90% of my streaming is coming from my Plex server I just need a good "stream". I use Spotify basically for research and have digital backups of my albums on the NAS, so it's all for convenience while driving, walking and when I'm out and about using Plex amp.
Click to expand...
FYI- The node does a nice job streaming off the PC located across the other side of the house.
It doesn't require roon to be a really decent home network streamer. I'm not sure if most know this feature but thought it was worth mentioning. You just need their windows app installed.

Plex server may be something completely different and I don't pretend to be a techie who understands how this stuff works.
 
AnthonyI said:
Ya, like I mentioned, if I was a huge streaming service kind a guy the Node would be an easy choice I think, but since 90% of my streaming is coming from my Plex server I just need a good "stream". I use Spotify basically for research and have digital backups of my albums on the NAS, so it's all for convenience while driving, walking and when I'm out and about using Plex amp.
Click to expand...
One of the nice things with the newer AndroidOS streamers is that you can install Plex Amp on it and stream to it like you do with your phone
 
AnthonyI said:
Ya, like I mentioned, if I was a huge streaming service kind a guy the Node would be an easy choice I think, but since 90% of my streaming is coming from my Plex server I just need a good "stream". I use Spotify basically for research and have digital backups of my albums on the NAS, so it's all for convenience while driving, walking and when I'm out and about using Plex amp.
Click to expand...
Why a Pi and not something frugal and friendly like a Wiim? They support Spotify and Plex I believe.
 
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