Tidal or Competitor Without a Computer (like Spotify)
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
If simplicity is the top requirement, a WiFi connected laptop with usb to the DAC is the solution. You can control the laptop from your listening spot with various tablets / remote control apps. This was my first entry into Digital steaming years ago.
A bump in sound quality is to go the Aurender / Lumin route. They both offer options with / without a DAC, so you can chose a player to suit your needs. I had an Aurender setup feeding my DAC via USB and the sound quality was improved over the laptop setup. The dedicated app is nice as well for searching for music to listen to. With the apps supporting Tidal an Quobuz, it’s was a very nice improvement over the basic laptop setup for me.
My current DAC has a network input on it, so now I run Roon to serve my music. I have about 55,000 music files on a NAS and use Tidal and Qoubuz as well. This setup has provided the best sound quality and has simplified music playback throughout the house, though has the most complex supporting setup (Roon core pc, NAS, etc..). I have 8 stereos that can play music in various rooms, and each is a Roon endpoint. One app controlling these feeds made for one very happy wife
.
A bump in sound quality is to go the Aurender / Lumin route. They both offer options with / without a DAC, so you can chose a player to suit your needs. I had an Aurender setup feeding my DAC via USB and the sound quality was improved over the laptop setup. The dedicated app is nice as well for searching for music to listen to. With the apps supporting Tidal an Quobuz, it’s was a very nice improvement over the basic laptop setup for me.
My current DAC has a network input on it, so now I run Roon to serve my music. I have about 55,000 music files on a NAS and use Tidal and Qoubuz as well. This setup has provided the best sound quality and has simplified music playback throughout the house, though has the most complex supporting setup (Roon core pc, NAS, etc..). I have 8 stereos that can play music in various rooms, and each is a Roon endpoint. One app controlling these feeds made for one very happy wife
.Another option to test the waters would be the relatively cheap Bluesound Node 2i being controlled by an iDevice. It has line-out and digital out to feed another DAC. The line out should be of better quality than the headphone out of an iDevice.
No other computer hardware required.
No other computer hardware required.
Hi Ron
I use the Bluesound Vault (a node with built in hard disk). I stream Qobuz and the sound quality is very good fed into Kassandra or one of my other Dacs. It is hard wired into my router (it doesn’t connect wireless to the network but is controlled through an ap on my Android tablet).
Hello Brad,
I’m not sure I understand any of that, but I definitely like Qobuz!
Whatever streamer I get I will definitely connect it with a hard wire ethernet connection to the wi-fi.
I second/third Bluesound as it is a simply turnkey setup.
Either a Node or Vault (to rip cds to its interval hard drive).
Connect an Ethernet cable from your internet router to your Bluesound device, then using digital out connect a digital coax/toslink to your MSB dac.
Download Bluesound iOS or android app and control music (Spotify, tidial, Qobuz, Amazon Music, etc) from iOS/android device.
The Bluesound app is super easy to use and always has software updates.
Just no DSD though.
Either a Node or Vault (to rip cds to its interval hard drive).
Connect an Ethernet cable from your internet router to your Bluesound device, then using digital out connect a digital coax/toslink to your MSB dac.
Download Bluesound iOS or android app and control music (Spotify, tidial, Qobuz, Amazon Music, etc) from iOS/android device.
The Bluesound app is super easy to use and always has software updates.
Just no DSD though.
1) Ethernet cable from your router to Bluesound (node or vault)
2) Digital out (coax or toslink) to your dac..or rca interconnects to your preamp but you can bypass Bluesound volume control
3) download iOS or android app (free) for music selection
It is a streamer. What streamer are you planning on using, we didn't know you had made that decision already.
[QUOTE = "asiufy, post: 563302, miembro: 1550"] No a través del Renderizador. Necesitará la salida USB a través del servidor de su elección.
Respeto tu decisión de no querer a Roon, pero no lo entiendo. Te hace volver al menos 2 o 3 años en términos de facilidad de uso. [/ QUOTE]
This has been a surprise for me. I thought that the MSB with the render module would work the same as Lumin, which is a DAC with render, and does not need a server to play Qobuz.
Respeto tu decisión de no querer a Roon, pero no lo entiendo.
Te hace volver al menos 2 o 3 años en términos de facilidad de uso. [/ QUOTE]Not through the Renderer. You'll need to output USB via the server of your choice.
I respect of your choice of not wanting Roon, but I don't understand it
This has been a surprise for me. I thought that the MSB with the render module would work the same as Lumin, which is a DAC with render, and does not need a server to play Qobuz.
Ron, if what you want is simplicity (not server), to be able to access Qobuz and do not want ethernet cable, the only solution I know is the Lumin X1.
1.- It is DAC and Render in a single box
2.- It connects directly to the internet to transmit Qobuz (without the need for a Server)
3.- It has an Fiber Optic input, so if you use a switch that has a fiber optic port, you can have the switch as far as you want.
1.- It is DAC and Render in a single box
2.- It connects directly to the internet to transmit Qobuz (without the need for a Server)
3.- It has an Fiber Optic input, so if you use a switch that has a fiber optic port, you can have the switch as far as you want.
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[QUOTE = "asiufy, post: 563302, miembro: 1550"] No a través del Renderizador. Necesitará la salida USB a través del servidor de su elección.
Respeto tu decisión de no querer a Roon, pero no lo entiendo.
This has been a surprise for me. I thought that the MSB with the render module would work the same as Lumin, which is a DAC with render, and does not need a server to play Qobuz.
Lumin is an UPNP-based network streamer w/ DAC. UPNP wouldn't allow for third-party streams (like Tidal or Qobuz), so Linn came up with the OpenHome extensions, which did allow for that, as well as many other niceties.
Lumin, being completely derivative of the Linn products, is OpenHome compatible too, as thus inherits that functionality, which they have implemented in their app (Lumin's). You can also use Linn's app on the Lumin, and vice-versa. I much prefer Linn's app to Lumin's.
Now, MSB's Renderer was purely UPNP before, which was a pain, as it required third-party software (BubbleUPNP) to convert the UPNP protocol into OpenHome, and allow the use of better (OpenHome) software, like Linn's and Lumin's.
So, long story short, you CAN play Qobuz or Tidal directly into an MSB Renderer, as long as you use BubbleUPNP.
The new (v2) Renderer HAS implemented OpenHome, but it seems only partially, as I could not get it to play Tidal or Qobuz, at least not with the Linn app. But maybe it's coming soon, with a software update on the MSB Renderer.
One of my all time favorite SACDS. That song in particular is amazing at loud volumes.
The more I listen to Qobuz the quicker my desire to continue buying round things dimish.
We will see how this process evolves once we are out of our temporary living situation and have our next home.
I'm late to the game here but I just did this. My DAC doesn't have an optical IN so I also had to buy a Optical-to-Coaxial adapter. It all sounds surprisingly good streaming Spotify.
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