I have a DAC (Schitt Bifrost) that I like. If I buy a basic Bluetooth receiver, like the Emotiva BTR-1, with digital output and run it through the DAC, is there any reason to consider an all-in-one streamer, like the Bluesound Node, for example? Do they have benefits over a simple BT receiver and DAC? I mostly listen to Spotify when streaming.
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Get away from Bluetooth. Any other way to connect would be an upgrade.
IrDA ok? /s
So I just researched this out after my wife just wanted to be able to stream music. I came up with three different solutions, that would fit my needs:
- You can get a basic Bluetooth receiver into you DAC. (I also have the Schiit Bifrost) Two issues pop up, one your phone needs to stay connected to the receiver and Bluetooth audio is compressed. or
- You can go with a budget conscious streamer such as the WiiM Pro. By going with a dedicated streamer, the streamer handles the connection. So your Spotify app essentially hands the stream over to the streamer. Your phone continues to act as a remote for Spotify.
- I ultimately went with the Cambridge MXN10 (actually arrived today, so I haven’t played with it yet.) Does everything the WiimPro does, but in a nicer package. I choose the nicer package as it will match and create a ministack with my Cambridge phono stage. I am told the UI is nicer, but not sure how much that matters if I am controlling it with Spotify Connect. I was ultimately willing to pay more for aesthetics.
There are of course much more expensive streamers with screens, and other bells and whistles. I also looked at the Bluesound, but most it is similarly priced as the Cambridge and the Cambridge came out on top in most comparison reviews. But, once again I liked the aesthetic of the Cambridge and I think it will look better with the rest of my equipment.
Spotify over bluetooth to DAC is a waste of time imho. Get a WiiM Pro instead and you have something better. Get off spotify and try a lossless service like Apple music or Qobuz to hit a sweet spot.
A Bluesound node for spotify is an expensive equivalent, but with your DAC and a Wiim Pro you can get an equal, or arguably slightly more versatile setup. Scale up your source before spending loads on a streamer with features you won’t need.
It depends on the codec used, I guess. I don’t know enough about Bluetooth to know if there’s any conversion that would harm the Spotify stream quality, but it’s something you should check.
I would however recommend that you get a WiiM Mini instead, which is almost as cheap and works as a full-on streamer, with a toslink out that you can connect to the DAC
Since you already have a pretty good DAC, get the Wiim mini or pro instead. WiFi streaming is higher quality than Bluetooth and will give you a better upgrade path with your streaming service if you want to move on from Spotify in the future. I believe Wiim also accepts Spotify Connect.
That being said, I have the Node since it’s an excellent compromise between price, quality, and ease of use; especially since I didn’t already have a DAC and my wife uses it too. You could of course use a digital out on the node (which also has Spotify Connect) and run it through the Bifrost, but that get you to the question of whether or not you value the additional features and interface of the node at $450 more that the Wiim Pro.
I don’t know all their dacs don’t go above 192khz so how good is that really? Dacs now go up to over 1000 dsd not sure but I have a smsl dac that goes to dsd 512 and sounds better than the schit
Does it really matter how high a sample rate a DAC goes up to if your source material doesn’t need it? I don’t doubt that you prefer the SMSL to the Schiit, but I don’t think it’s because of DSD512 vs 24/192. That’s well beyond human hearing and into the realm of industrial calibration equipment.
I use Qobuz which caps out at 24/192 so anything beyond that is useless to me, and I’m not convinced I can even hear the difference between, say, 24/48 and 24/192. OP is streaming Spotify which I believe is at 16/44.1, so a DAC that goes to 24/192 is overkill for him at the moment.
There are many reasons to want an all-in-one streamer, and many benefits to having one.
The question is, do any of those benefits or reasons apply to you?
If all you want is to listen to music over bluetooth, then you probably want the cheapest and best solution to do that. That doesn’t generally involve an “audiophile” piece of equipment, even though what you get will probably sound just as good as any of those.
Ahem…all Bluetooth ain’t good Bluetooth
The main benefit comes with the fact that with a Chromecast audio, a wiim or a raspberry pi your mobile device act as controller, not a player. This saves bt compression and battery life on your phone/tablet.
The main benefit for me was to free up my phone for other uses. But with my current setup there is a large amount of convenience as well, I can cast to it natively from multiple devices and voice commands.
Lossless for me is a must though, I didn’t spend the time I did to build my system to add in a bottleneck in quality via BT.
A Wiim is basically the same cost as the Emotiva BTR-1, I can’t see why anyone would choose the the Emotiva.
All in one equipment is shit from my experience. I had the Naim Unity Atom and it was complete shit compared to my actual set up at that time - chord qutest and naim nait 5si.
Instead of Bluetooth, I recommend connecting your phone or a dedicated tablet to your DAC via usb. I have an iPad on a stand connected to my stereo via the Apple camera kit.
I did a comparison between wiim pro and my MacBook out to my modi3+ and the laptop was significantly better sounding on my system compared to wiim. I assume usb output is better then the spdif output from the wiim, I did try rca output on the wiim as well, but same results. I sent the wiim back. Maybe if wiim comes out with a USB outputs it would be better.
Get away from spotify, or none of it really matters. They mangle sound badly. I have compared my original files to what comes over spotify, and they kill my tracks badly. Not sure why audiophiles haven’t moved onto Qubuz or even Tidal.
first people reference but didn’t explain a point.
if you get a ”Spotify connect” device, they have enough brains that the stream goes straight to the device instead of your phone. This means your phone basically acts as a remote, but you can walk away with the phone or take a call and the stream doesn’t interrupt.
Other streaming services can work the same way bit I don’t know their trademark name.
if the streamer is relying on “dlna” to move the signal around, this benefit doesn’t apply.
as for my personally recommendation, look at the phorus pr5. Spotify connect, Good DAC, cheap, reliable, etc. you can always step up from there.
You can use a cheap laptop, music isn’t that hard to reproduce, most people learn that lesson the hard way and losing thousands or millions of dollars on useless gear
Rather than BT from your device, just use your device as a remote to a streamer with native hi-res audio as offered by Spotify, Tidal.
If you are ok with lower-res audio, consider your device and BT receiver with BT aptX.
My DIY streamer is a Raspberry Pi + piCorePlayer + Material browser skin, with RPi USB connection to E30 DAC.