Is there a streamer front end that doesn't cost mountains!?

[Tim F]

The obvious trend is to blow wads of cash on a front end, as a general trend of just blowing money on everything hifi related typically is. I have a Lampi GG2 and this wasn't exactly cheap. My Auralic Aries Femto seems to be viewed as average. Although I'm very good with building PC's and setting them up that looks like a mountain of hassle and cost. Outside of this I've seen recommendations for £16000 front ends! This all sounds a bit nuts given the quality of my Dac. So what's a sensible front end that's better than the Aries?

Thanks! Tim

 

[Sablon Audio]

I’m not sure of your budget however Emile sometimes has trade-in SGM 2015 and Evos which would have a similar value to your dac.

 

[Tim F]

Exactly the opposite of my point. I don’t want to spend anywhere near that. I’m asking what options exist that are more reasonable and still sound good. Cheers Tim

 

[christoph]

Exactly the opposite of my point. I don’t want to spend anywhere near that. I’m asking what options exist that are more reasonable and still sound good. Cheers Tim

Are you from the UK?
Maybe you could contact Lukasz Domanski?
Excellent product and excellent support:
https://www.lucasaudiolab.com/support/contact/

 

[Tim F]

Looks like £3500 is the cheapest option. Are there no sensibly priced front ends about?

 

[christoph]

Looks like £3500 is the cheapest option. Are there no sensibly priced front ends about?

Do you use roon?
Then you have to have a capable machine where the roon core runs.
The LDMS replaces that PC/MAC AND the mediocre sounding Aries Femto.
If you sell the Aries you are already on a good way there

 

[Tim F]

Just stream Tidal directly at the moment.

 

[christoph]

Just stream Tidal directly at the moment.

No local files at all?
Congrats on your GG2 btw. Outstanding DAC

 

[Tim F]

No local files. I have a bunch of CDs but as Tidal has them all they're just gathering dust.

 

[shakti]

The cheapest recommendation I can give is :

- Innuos ZEN MK III (RPP around 2000)
Roon Core will work.

if you like, you can go the next step with a Mutec or Innuos USB Clock next time you like to invest

The Zen is more vital and dynamic than Zenith. Zenith is more relaxed and more details. But mainly makes sense, if the internal HD is used as Zenith has SSD. If you listen mainly to Tidal, Zen ist the best to get for a fair price.

 

[DSkip]

Lumin works well with tidal. I prefer tidal over Qobuz on their units and so do my clients. The U1 Mini is a nice budget friendly streaming transport that has served me very well.

 

[bonzo75]

The obvious trend is to blow wads of cash on a front end, as a general trend of just blowing money on everything hifi related typically is. I have a Lampi GG2 and this wasn't exactly cheap. My Auralic Aries Femto seems to be viewed as average. Although I'm very good with building PC's and setting them up that looks like a mountain of hassle and cost. Outside of this I've seen recommendations for £16000 front ends! This all sounds a bit nuts given the quality of my Dac. So what's a sensible front end that's better than the Aries?

Thanks! Tim

The Auralic has digititis. See if you get an used Aurender N10 at 5k or below. I don't know about Innuous or antipodes never tried

 

[spiritofmusic]

The cheapest recommendation I can give is :

- Innuos ZEN MK III (RPP around 2000)
Roon Core will work.

if you like, you can go the next step with a Mutec or Innuos USB Clock next time you like to invest

The Zen is more vital and dynamic than Zenith. Zenith is more relaxed and more details. But mainly makes sense, if the internal HD is used as Zenith has SSD. If you listen mainly to Tidal, Zen ist the best to get for a fair price.

Juergen, you actually feel Zen Mk3 is a worthy alternative to the Zenith Mk3? Literally a matter of taste which presentation one prefers? My reasonable take was that Zen was inferior to Zenith, based on it being the next, cheaper, model down. But you're suggesting they're more on a par, just differing takes on SQ.

 

[microstrip]

Get a decent Windows machine with Roon and two JCAT PCIe cards - a USB card FEMTO and a NET card FEMTO. Then add a TPlink fiber optic link and a Netgear 108 router. I had this system before the Extreme and was very happy with it.

 

[Tim F]

Thanks micro, awesome system you have there!

 

[asiufy]

Tim F, define "mountains".
I believe even the Innuos Zen mini would be a good candidate to replace your Aries. It's as "no hassle" as it gets. Though don't count on doing fancy upsampling or DSPing with it. 900 UKP.

 

[Tim F]

I would consider £4k rrp or so to be absolute max. Certainly £10k+ seems a little crazy. It's not that I can't afford it, I just can't see that it'd be worth it. I tend to buy second hand to keep the price down, so would be looking closer to £2k.

The Aries retails for a fair bit more than the Zen mini, have you compared these? Surprised it's not at a similar quality level.

Cheers, Tim

 

[asiufy]

Tim F,
Yes, many times. We used to be a dealer for Auralic. At some point I had 4 or 5 traded-in Aries in the store. Might still have one lying around...
For that coin, you can go for the Innuos Zenith, and never look back. Pack a nice USB cable, and off you go.

cheers,
Alex

 

[marty]

You can't go wrong with an Innuous ZEN Mk3. Excellent unit and one of the greatest values out there. Plus you have the indefatigable Alex to service it anywhere on the planet (if you buy it from him! ).

 

[spiritofmusic]

Marty, Shakti actively calling the Zen a better choice than Zenith in some ways. His summary pushing me to swing twds the Zen.