Cheap small audiophile streamer

Cheers Mike

Very helpful. I’ll go from here.

Have fun, there is plenty to learn

Mike

Mike

What’s the best number to reach you on ? I’ve been a naughty boy and spent a lot of money today. !!

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Ok Adam tell us what you you have bought :wink:

Mike

Chord Hugo TT 2.

Now need a stream box…

You going down the Pi route or found anything else yet?

@Rugby What did you say you were using the other day, just trying to give Adam some decent and easy to put together options?

Mike

Cheers !! Bit clueless.

I can get a stream.box ultra for £450 ( demo cabinet) but rather have something at little bit less expensive ideally. But obviously don’t want to sacrifice. I suspect the TT 2 won’t be forgiving.

I am out for a couple of hours so we can get some options that fit within your technical limits a bit later as we work out what they are

Mike

Ok. I’m looking at the streambox 2 ultra. Can get this a little cheaper through the dealer. Darko likes it but not sure. Cheers

In the past couple of months, I have tried out a Streambox Ultra, an Allo USBridge Signature, and an Allo DigiOne streamer. I used both Allo devices with a Shanti Linear power supply. I tried them all with the built in DAC on a Rotel Integrated Amp. Of the three, the Streambox Ultra sounded significantly better with my Rotel Amp. The Streambox was sonically an excellent match with my setup.

Unfortunately, I had issues with the Streambox Ultra pairing with the DAC in my amplifier so Roon did work consistently with my set up, so I returned it. In my opinion, the Streambox was a superior piece of equipment. First of all, it sounds great with the supplied switch mode power supply. In addition to sounding better, the Streambox is built much more solidly than the PI based devices. The Streambox case is built very solid and has rubber pads on the bottom so it does not slide around. The USB outlets on the Streambox are much solid than anything on the Allo devices. The Streambox also has a standby switch on the front of the unit.
I would have been very satisfied sticking with the Streambox if it had worked with my current amplifier.

Alan

Very much appreciated. This is my take and I think I’m gonna go for this.

I can get this a bit cheaper from the dealer but has to be matched correctly and we shall see. Much appreciated for the heads up.

Adam

I wrote the Darko review. I still have the S2 Stream Ultra, it’s very good. If space is an issue it’s delightfully small too, supposedly not needing an external power supply (I haven’t tried as its an uncommon 18V).

I also have an Allo DigiOne Sig and USBridge Sig, together with a Shanti. I reviewed the latter, with Shanti it’s very similar to the Stream Ultra. Just bigger, two boxes etc. But you save a bit. I haven’t compared the Allo DigiOne to the Stream Ultra.

Or there’s an RPI4 with decent power supply - go for the iFi 5V supply and you’re looking at £100 all in. It’s surprisingly good, albeit I think the Hugo TT will merit more (I haven’t heard it).

And if there’s room on your crdit card still there’s always the dCS Network Bridge. Delightful! Or the standalone Moon Mind 2 device - the same platform as installed in the Moon 390 I looked at. Again very good.

Hope this helps

Phil

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Hi Phil

Nice to meet you virtually. Its a bit of a minefield with all the raspberry pi and other kit out there… Need to be an engineer !

Can I ask - have you compared the Ultra to the S2 standard? I appreciate the S2 standard isnt Roon certified but keen to get thoughts. Trying to get best bang for the buck. Thanks

Adam that should make an excellent option for you and I have certainly read good things about it.
I guess if it is not a good match then you can return it.
It should certainly give you a high end streamer/Dac combination

You can always play around with Pi’s later when you are not champing at the bit to get going.
While they sound complicated, the real issue is the paralysis of choice

Regards
Mike

Yes. Seems so. .still keen to see though what the S2 standard is like.

Don’t want.to get sucked into the noise floor conversation and differences in audio that my 50 year old ears can’t hear…just trying to get an honest comparison

@Michael_Harris, @Phil_Wright

Adam wants a Roon Ready Wireless endpoint with a price point under 400. I’m not sure he stated that directly.

Ideally without sacrificing quality. Thanks

But Adam you feel that this meets your criteria now?
So will you be happily testing this soon?

Mike

Ideally Mike I want to get an honest comparison between to the 2 project streamers.

Is the £400 extra justified? Yes the S2 ultra is the preferred choice but just keen to see if anyone has done a like for like comparison. My understanding is the main difference is the usb dac out outout is isolated but not sure exactly on the key differences.between the 2 units.

As is often said as you move further up market you pay twice the price for a 10% performance improvement. My ears are also just over the 50 year mark and I do not hear the differences that some people here. But can you get them on trial to test for a couple of weeks, and then blow your budget!!

Personally I am waiting for the Matrix Audio Mini-i Pro 3 to become Roon certified as I have my eyes on that :wink:

Mike