I have owned the Bridge 2, Node 2i, Node N130, Lumin U1 mini and Aurender N150 all with DirectStream Mk1 DAC. While all these were minor upgrades, I found them not a worthwhile investment. So, my advice is spend your money on the DAC and skimp on the streamer. For example a $5000 DAC with a $1000 streamer will sound way better than a $1000 DAC and a $5000 streamer. My current DAC is the dCS Bartok APEX and I use the onboard streamer. A recent survey on the dCS forum indicated 81% of dCS owners use the onboard streamer.
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Thank you. That is the consensus advice. My DAC isn’t and I don’t expect it will ever be the equal of a Direct Stream DAC.
I put the lowly A6 in my system and compared it as a streamer to my Pink Faun and Grimm MU1 streamers. Couldn’t hear a significant difference one way or another. Seriously, three way tie for first. The DAC on the A6 could take care of 90% of music lovers. I have better DACs but it isn’t tough to listen to. I have no hands on experience with the A8 but that new A10 costs less than $4k. It has my curiosity. Not too many people talk about the A8 in my circle. I am curious who here has one?
Thanks much for adding your experience. It definitely helps.
Besides the audiophile buzz word bingo build stuff, the A8’s main appeal to me is the AKM chip set. It’s a bit curious, in a good way, that they decided to break from ESS in this one product.
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All the best DACs are FPGA DACs.
(Kidding)
Judging from the pictures you posted, my guess is that your sound stage challenges are driven more by your room shape, listening position and speaker positioning at this juncture.
Before investing in new kit, I suggest spending a few bucks on Jim Smith’s “Get Better Sound” (1) and working on optimizing your setup the best you can given the room you have to work with.
Then you will be in a good position to start upgrading components.
For what it’s worth.
Have fun.
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I have the same combo and think there is a synergy with these 2 together - I use an Audience Studio 2 USB between them and am astonished at some of the hi-res recordings. Even the sound of the CDs I ripped onto the Innuous sound better than my Esoteric CD player that cost more than double the Innuos. Not a fan of the Sense App tho, disconnects during playback and I find myself constantly having to close and reopen it simply to pause, or skip ahead or backwards, etc.
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I actually love the Sense app. It’s a major selling point for having a Innous component. I wonder why you are experiencing Sense difficulties. Do you have the latest update? Btw contacting tech support is rather easy and they are very helpful.
Have tried contacting but tech was unable to remedy - am up to date on software. At this point am wondering if it is the phone’s issue because, as you say, the Sense app is usually quite qood (was for the last year at least).
I mostly use my IPad loaded with Sense app. Try deleting the Sense app and reinstalling because you may not be using the latest version which should be : 1.5.0
ok thanks will do - have an ipad too will try on that instead
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Sense App IME works flawlessly and sounds great, sonically speaking.
I’d suggest it without any hesitation.
For all Innuos owners (or even those who have interest) there is a Innuos Forum where Nuno (owner) and Stephen (sales) are very responsive
Another plus is the Feedback Zone, where customers suggest to Innuos staff new features to implement in Sense App, the most voted ones are the first ones to be developed.
I can assure you this way of planning the upgrades is much useful and appreciated:
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Thank you for your thoughts. I was convinced of this also and wrote up in some detail on another forum my efforts to prove that my sound stage short comings were set up related. I basically rotated the set up 90 deg to provide symmetry, moving the speakers to the short wall and the sofa to the back of the room. Long story short I heard no discernible difference and the consensus was that I need to get my hearing checked, which I’m working on. That said I’m sure the setup could be better.
I’ve read but probably should refer again to several sections of GBS to see what fundamentals I’m violating. The primary listening position is actually a foot or so in front of the sofa (folding chair - it could be worse) which puts the distances within a couple of percent of Jim’s 83%. I also have and used Paul’s setup books and CDs. The problem I had with both is they start the speaker setup from a speaker position where I wasn’t hearing much if any difference from one incremental move to the next.
What really helped was the LOTS setup routine from Ron of New Record Day. His process starts with speakers in such a ridiculous position - speakers pulled up basically to the listening position - that the problems are glaring even for someone like me who struggles to hear pretty much any difference. Each change in position is again large enough where the differences are again obvious. That process led to the current position and toe in. Distance between the speakers is where I had and have the most difficulty discerning changes and where I have the least confidence.
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Are you oriented that way now?
If not, based on my experience, I would go back to that and start with your speakers at 85% and make fine adjustments from there. Some toe in might help a bit since the seating position is (appears to be) relatively close to the speakers and all of your walls.
Good idea to refer to GBS again. I have gotten off course myself a few times and have had to refresh my recollection of some of the “first principles”, so to speak.
Good luck.
FWIW, I have found that sitting too close to the back wall can have such an impact that adhering to the “83 % rule” is not enough.
Again, good luck to you.
The setup is back to that in the pics. The last time it took more than a couple of hours to get myself out of the dog house is when the speakers were on the short wall as was my original intent. This put the RH speaker essentially in the doorway so the lovely bride was staring at the not so lovely back of the speaker every time she walked past the room. Well, “just close the damn door” was the wrong thing to say, and I knew it before I opened my trap and let the words fly anyway.
She was agreeable enough to me rearranging two rooms to carve out this space so I’ll gladly take it compromises and all.
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If you still have the Airlens, have you tried connecting to it through the WiiM Home app? It works with my Strata’s built in streamer (bridge) and has all the usual apps, including Amazon and Radio Paradise. Don’t know why it works, but it does.
I have nothing left but a tracking number.
Thanks much for adding to the conversation and knowledge base. Hopefully the next person who cares can give it a try.
For reference does the WiiM home app include Qobuz? If so how well, if at all, does gapless playback work?
Yes it has Qobuz, as well as a bunch I never use, like Pandora, Spotify, Tidal, Napster…
I don’t know about gapless playback.