Tidal or Competitor Without a Computer (like Spotify)

[audioquattr]

Aurender A10 with Tidal full subscription.

You only need this:


Works great straight to Line-stage.


I have an Aurender for 7 years now. First the S10 and the last 4 years the W20.
I never had any problem. And the App is fantastic, with great Tidal and/or Qobuz integration!

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, audioquattr! That seems like a simple solution!

Alex, does the Innuos Zenith have a DAC built in (like the Aurender) which I could use initially, and add an external DAC later if I wanted to?

 

[asiufy]

No, the only Innuos with a built-in DAC is the Zen mini mk3, which is mostly geared for entry-level systems. From the Zen upwards, they assume folks will be using with a dedicated DAC.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you, Alex.

 

[Ron Resnick]

How do I figure out if I want the MSB ProUSB module, the MSB ProISL module or the MSB Renderer module?

What are the pros and cons and the differences in sound quality between each solution?

Assuming I do not have an ethernet jack near the source components, which is the highest sound quality interface solution if I use an Innuos Zenith Mk. II server which is streaming Qobuz (no Roon) to an MSB DAC and the Qobuz is displayed on an iPad?

What is the highest sound quality interface solution to get Qobuz into the Innuos server?

What is highest sound quality interface solution to get the digital stream from the Innuos server into the MSB DAC?

Thank you!

 

[Taiko Audio]

The ProISL is a proprietary interface in MSB dac’s for connecting CD transports.

The Pro USB module allows you to connect a remote server USB output to this ProISL interface over fibre cable.

The MSB renderer is a mini computer built into the DAC with an Ethernet interface.

The easiest to use all in one interface is Roon.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Thank you very much for your detailed reply.

We don’t want noisy, digital-carrying ethernet wire near phono stages, correct? So is that why we keep the server far away and we use the MSB Pro USB to take the digital signal out of the streamer’s USB port at the server end, and send the digital signal to the MSB Pro ISL at the MSB DAC end, and then we connect the Pro ISL to the MSB DAC?

This lets us use fiber optic cable from the Pro USB all the way to the DAC. Do I understand this correctly?

Or is the Pro ISL used only if one is using a physical media transport?

 

[Taiko Audio]

Yes. The Pro ISL module is located inside (plugged into) the MSB dac. You can then plug the fiber cable straight into the MSB DAC. The other end connects to the Pro USB module which connects to your server.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I would vote it's the opposite of what you say. It appears highly fragile, unable to be stable signal wise. It's distinctly for curtailing the sound in some way as far as I can tell. I'm not saying that's wrong, it might be exactly what someone is looking for in sound. But, as I sorta said already, I think introducing these extra variables creates a tail chasing scenario.

On the other hand the Innuos looks legit.

Please could you explain (provide some details) your statements above about the SGM Extreme?

 

[Zero000]

I stream from my phone to my televisions which are connected to my hi-fi systems.

I use TIDAL to do it by sharing to BubbleUPnp.

Then just connect the television's optical out to your DAC.

Super cheap solution.

See attached pic. The price of BubbleUPnp for Android and you are done. Providing you can connect the TV to your DAC easily.

It's lossless and therefore cool.

Kedar thought it sounded OK when I played him some music that way. And so do I. But TBH I usually use a laptop in my main system.

 

[Audiophile Bill]

I stream from my phone to my televisions which are connected to my hi-fi systems.

I use TIDAL to do it by sharing to BubbleUPnp.

Then just connect the television's optical out to your DAC.

Super cheap solution.

See attached pic. The price of BubbleUPnp for Android and you are done. Providing you can connect the TV to your DAC easily.

It's lossless and therefore cool.

Kedar thought it sounded OK when I played him some music that way. And so do I. But TBH I usually use a laptop in my main system.

Justin - have you tried a dedicated audiophile type server / streamer with your Lampi?

Best.

 

[bonzo75]

I stream from my phone to my televisions which are connected to my hi-fi systems.

I use TIDAL to do it by sharing to BubbleUPnp.

Then just connect the television's optical out to your DAC.

Super cheap solution.

See attached pic. The price of BubbleUPnp for Android and you are done. Providing you can connect the TV to your DAC easily.

It's lossless and therefore cool.

Kedar thought it sounded OK when I played him some music that way. And so do I. But TBH I usually use a laptop in my main system.

Yes but the upgrade from a proper streamer and proper rips is huge

 

[Zero000]

Yes but the upgrade from a proper streamer and proper rips is huge

Bill - no. But I have tried a few different interface methods and USB devices etc. Ked brought a USB one round that I thought was pretty dire.

Anyway it's just a cheap solution anyone can try.

Ked. Bring one round. I bet you £1k you cannot reliably tell me the difference at better than 7 out of 10 tracks blindfolded.

Make that £2K.

Up for it?

I am.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Bill - no. But I have tried a few different interface methods and USB devices etc. Ked brought a USB one round that I thought was pretty dire.

Anyway it's just a cheap solution anyone can try.

Ked. Bring one round. I bet you £1k you cannot reliably tell me the difference at better than 7 out of 10 tracks blindfolded.

Make that £2K.

Up for it?

I am.

Isn’t seven out of 10 statistically significant?

 

[bonzo75]

Bill - no. But I have tried a few different interface methods and USB devices etc. Ked brought a USB one round that I thought was pretty dire.

Anyway it's just a cheap solution anyone can try.

Ked. Bring one round. I bet you £1k you cannot reliably tell me the difference at better than 7 out of 10 tracks blindfolded.

Make that £2K.

Up for it?

I am.

I can easily though in your system as long as long as you underdrive apogees it is tough to tell anything

 

[Zero000]

BTW all. I don't spend much money on hi-fi.

Isn’t seven out of 10 statistically significant?

Isn’t seven out of 10 statistically significant?

Hey Ron its a "huge" difference so 8/10 should be easy.

And I'm simply looking to increase my financial wealth. I promise to put the money into Bitcoin and if it goes up I'll give Ked 10% of the profit as a good will gesture

 

[Zero000]

I can easily though in your system as long as long as you underdrive apogees it is tough to tell anything

I put the Accuphase's in thermal shutdown after 3-4 hours of hard driving the other day. Really.

Better than the Ayon managed, though. Next time get me a valve amp that is up to the job. 400 Watts is just pussy.

 

[bonzo75]

I put the Accuphase's in thermal shutdown after 3-4 hours of hard driving the other day. Really.

Better than the Ayon managed, though. Next time get me a valve amp that is up to the job. 400 Watts is just pussy.

I bought the Ayon to try. It didn't work. It sounded better than both your amps which don't work either. I would have bought more and sent you to try but now I prefer modded vintage tannoys to apogee duettas (though not to Christoph's scintillas, Henk's FR, and his grands (Which I like after Mike's, generals, and Pietro's systems)

 

[Zero000]

I bought the Ayon to try. It didn't work. It sounded better than both your amps which don't work either. I would have bought more and sent you to try but now I prefer modded vintage tannoys to apogee duettas (though not to Christoph's scintillas, Henk's FR, and his grands (Which I like after Mike's, generals, and Pietro's systems)

Well you can thank me for introducing you to Tom's Tannoys.

They are good, I'll give you that. I won't be changing to them, though. They just aren't as mind bogglingly entertaining. They don't put you in the listening chair thinking "WTF"?

I need that.

 

[bonzo75]

Well you can thank me for introducing you to Tom's Tannoys.

They are good, I'll give you that. I won't be changing to them, though. They just aren't as mind bogglingly entertaining. They don't put you in the listening chair thinking "WTF"?

I need that.

Tannoys, Lampi, apogees... Just trying to repay you by trying to set right your amps, Lampi, and music tastes