Congrats on the Innuous. I hope you see it in a week or so and their supply issues have been solved. They were averaging four to six weeks.
Disregard
I donât think there is any way to use an external power supply on anything above the Zen Mini. The power supply on the Zenith is supposed to be itâs selling point over the full sized Zen. Those HD Plex power supplies are in high demand and should be an easy sell.
Disregard my comment, you werenât talking to me LOLâŚOn the delivery, itâs been a few weeks anyway so hoping soon!
The Wavelet is supposed to be a great piece of gear.
Looking forward to your comments on the Innuos Zenith MK III, itâs on my upgrade list at the moment.
Ditto here. Thinking about one of these to succeed my good olâ Olive 04HD as I retire it.
I got an Auralic Aries G2, best source ever!
been using the node 2i for the last 30 days with DS Sr. sounds GR8 but sending it back after 30 days to try cambridge audio CXn2 and see how that sounds also leaning towards Innous zen 3
I just purchased a used Auralic Aries mini (thanks to dawkinsj for sending me the link). Shall be using it with the SGCD. Next step is to upgrade the dac.
I am very happy with my Melco server.
Been using the Node 2i with the DS sr. and got a Cambridge Audio CXN v2 yesterday both sound good but CXN sounds a bit mellow a bit refined but without the punch that you get from the latest software upgrade from Blusound. node 2i a high end dealer suggested i get a Bridge 11 ? how much of a difference would that make from what I AM LISTENING to with the CXN v2 which is priced the same but has more functionality ? I am looking at the possibility of getting a InnOus Zen 3 but the High end dealer seems to think it would be a waste of money as I donât rip CD only listen network streaming of Quboz & Tidal the speakers are Daedalus Poseidon MTM rest of the gear is Don Sachâ tube Pre-amp DS-2 , OPPO 205 QuickSilver tube 60 watt mono amps mono most wiring is cardus what other options do I have for just a streamer but no DAC ?
It appears that most if not all streamers have built-in dacs.
AURALiC Aries
The Innous Zen Mini does but the others above it donâtâŚso they focus on other items to enhance sound qualityâŚ
I can wholeheartedly say a better streamer will offer you an improvement in sound quality.
In my system, I started with a Bluesound Node 2 which I ran via coax into my PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell DAC, and this was an improvement over the Node 2 via RCA into the Gain Cell DAC.
I purchased a SOtM SMS 200 streamer and ran this into the Gain Cell DAC running Audirvana and the improvements were clearly noticeable. There was an improvement even before upgrading the power supply (which I did upgrade).
I imagine the improvement for you would be even more evident using the DSD Sr.
One must rememberâŚthe Node 2 is only $500(ish) and includes the DAC, power supply, catalog / streaming software, etc. Itâs good at what it does for its price point, but much better can be obtained. That being said, I still use and enjoy my Node 2 for non critical listening and for its convenience. Which is great for my wife when Iâm not aroundâŚworth every penny in that regard!
The Aries G1 doesnât have a DAC. Wifi, ethernet, USB (HD), Bluetooth, Roon Ready, Airplay, Spotify Connect and their own MQA decoding for flavors of inputs; USB, toslink, coax and AES for outputs. No analog outs.
Negative, not all streamers have DACs built in. My SOtM-sMS-200 doesnât have a DAC, and neither does its bigger brother, the Ultra. The Rendu streamer is similar in that it doesnât have a built in DAC.
Would like to understand that once you take the dac out of the equation, what else does a streamer do (or shouldnât do) that could potentially enhance the sound quality?