I am in the market for a good music streamer and would really appreciate some advice. I am mainly looking for something that delivers great sound quality, supports major streaming services like spotify, tidal and apple music, and is reliable and easy to use. Compatibility with my existing speakers and amp setup is also important.
My budget is flexible so I am open to both affordable and high end options. Whether it is a standalone device or something that pairs well with a DAC or AV receiver, I am open to all suggestions.
What are you all currently using? Are there any models you absolutely love or ones you do avoid? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and recommendations. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
By all accounts the base Bluesound nano is pretty good as a transport (I.E. with an outboard DAC).
Personally it’s the UI that’s as important as the sound quality and in all honesty, unless you have a mega bucks HiFi I doubt you’d hear the differences.
Try and get some demo units if you can.
My HiFi is £20k + and I use bluesound streamers (a Node, Node2i and an Icon) and they are plenty good enough for this level of system.
I’m sure a more expensive streamer might sound 5-10% better but the cost would be 3,4,5 times the bluesound so you pays your money and takes your choice.
After reading your expert recommendations here — especially about Bluesound — and doing some additional research from trusted sources like The New York Times, I decided to go with the Bluesound Node Nano Wireless High-Resolution Multi-Room Music Streamer.
I ended up buying it, and honestly, it’s working extremely well so far. A few things I really appreciate:
High-resolution audio support (perfect for Tidal HiFi, Apple Music lossless, etc.)
Very stable wireless performance
Compact design that fits easily into my setup
Seamless multi-room streaming
Excellent app/UI, which matters more than I realized
Works great as a transport with an external DAC, but also sounds solid on its own
Big thanks again for pointing me in the right direction — really happy with this purchase. If anyone else is considering it, the value for the performance is impressive.
I use a Holo Audio Red running moOde. Perfect for my needs. I bought it used. I use it as a streamer. it can be used as a DDC too. It’s getting a little dated as it’s built off of a raspberry pi4, but the ability to load other OS allows for tons of flexibility. Golden sound tested it and its distortion is very low. I previously had an Eversolo dmp-6 (first gen). It was great, but I wasn’t using half its features. I have a great DAC and amps I like. The red is a bit smaller and I have no qualms leaving it on all the time.
