Hi. I currently run a Pi4 Ropieee endpoint, through a Schiit Modi multibit (1V out) DAC, to a receiver. But I’m upgrading to separates and needed a preamp, ideally with integrated MM phono, for less than $2K, so the BB V1 seemed great. But in skimming through the threads on HEM etc, it looks like there’ll be no further updates or support. Probably not a great purchase! But I was really hoping to consolidate everything. Are there any arguments to be made in favor of a BB V1 at this point? If not, what alternatives exist? At least for a mid-level preamp with integrated phono, but preferably something akin to the BB, for less than $2K (used is fine). PS: I use Tidal via Roon.
Thanks in advance.
HEM said that they would continue to support the BB, trading from their website Mytek-Europe. They have continued to develop the firmware, but then Roon questioned whether they had the authority to do that. However, it may depend ultimately on satisfactory resolution of the legal dispute. I am not too happy with Mytek USA right now, as they persistently fail to respond to my emails about the upgrade offer to the BB2 and, if I’m not mistaken, have also changed the value of the offer after I registered for it, making it €500 more expensive to change. It was going to be €1500 but now it’s gone up to €2000, presumably because they increased the RRP from the initial €3495 to €3995.
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I use a BB as streamer / preamp with my MC452 and I love it. Great convenience as Roon controls the volume, the BB turns on/off the power amp automatically (with the 12v trigger).
I purchased the BB during the Mytek/Hem drama unaware about the story: the BB was listed as discontinued in 3 days between the order and the delivery. After an initial shock I searched for alternatives (as tech-ish guy I could not accept to own a discontinued product): well, in my opinion you can get better streamers or better DAC, surely better phono stage but you end up loosing the convenience… and you must pay more, way more.
It sounds great, it works flawlessly and it cost less then better alternatives. To me is a solid choice.
p.s. as someone said: HEM said it will support the BB, I hope not to experiment that but it’s a plus.
Thank you for your replies @jobseeker and @Enrico_Parzani1. Since writing this, I landed on my purchase, and thought I would share here for anyone else who might be interested. I initially decided on a MiniDSP SHD, which has everything the Mytek has, plus Dirac live, minus a phono preamp (but with analog inputs). If you look at the specs and connections, you’ll find some other differences, which i believe mainly lean in favor of the SHD. Brand new, the unit costs $1,250, which is a nice savings from the BB’s $2,000 used going rate. I thought the Dirac live options was a huge feature for me, so as to avoid the hassles of learning REW for EQ.
From there, I decided that I would save an additional $500, and went with MiniDSP’s new Flex product, bundled with a Dirac license. It is similar to the SHD, without the Roon streaming (which i can continue to perform from my Pi4/Ropiee endpoint). The flex received a great review by ASR here.
In the meantime, I hope this is interesting to you. Happy listening!
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I don’t know if you realize this, but the DIRAC Flex operates internally at 48 kHz whereas the SHD operates at 96 kHZ. The non-DIRAC operates at 96 kHz. I have a SHD and a Brooklyn Dac+ with SOTM SMS-200. I have stopped using the DAC+. The SHD sounds very good with ROON. Especially with room correction.
Gerald
Ya know, I did go back and forth about that in my head, but given that I don’t listen to a ton of high res, I thought it to be immaterial. In addition, my wife does airplay streaming of tidal, and the shd seems to have mixed reviews on that front, while my ropieee xl endpoint works well with shairport.
BUT….
On impulse, I decided to reverse course. I cancelled my Flex order and placed an SHD order instead. I don’t want to be questioning whether my MQA material might sound better, and I believe the SHD’s implementation of Tidal Connect works, without my wife having to use volumio’s Airplay implementation. Thanks for the nudge!
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