Today i added a cambridge cxn v2 to my reactors 900,wow

[john2910]

Today i added a cambridge cxn v2 to my reactors 900.
I wanted radio stations and more streaming options..

Wow its a very good upgrade,the reactors came even more to live..
And the radio stations sound good also..

Every thing sounds more refined..
With tidal its a musical bliss

[fLexOdder]

Today i added a cambridge cxn v2 to my reactors 900.
I wanted radio stations and more streaming options..

Wow its a very good upgrade,the reactors came even more to live..
And the radio stations sound good also..

Every thing sounds more refined..
With tidal its a musical bliss

Hi John, I am trying to learn a lot by reading this forum. 
I am still questioning myself about buying a stereo pair of Phantoms 1. I would like to continue using Tidal for as long Spotify has no CD quality out at the moment. 
I am a little bit anxcious about having to explain stuff like using UPNP to my two kids and wife. My daughter is also keen on listening to an extra layer of music which Spotify lacks. So I am also considering using a streamer. 

How did you connect the streamer to the Reactors?

Alex

[Johnnydev]

You don’t need an extra streamer.
Only:
- The devialet app
- Mconnect HD app for qobuz/tidal.
- Creation5 app for radiostations

[fLexOdder]

Using a streamer makes it more usable to the others completing my household. Also Devialet app vs an app like blueOS or StreamMagic makes them listening to music way more often because user experience is not just a tiny bit better (at least for us)

[Johnnydev]

Today i added a cambridge cxn v2 to my reactors 900.
I wanted radio stations and more streaming options..

Wow its a very good upgrade,the reactors came even more to live..
And the radio stations sound good also..

Every thing sounds more refined..
With tidal its a musical bliss

Hi John, I am trying to learn a lot by reading this forum. 
I am still questioning myself about buying a stereo pair of Phantoms 1. I would like to continue using Tidal for as long Spotify has no CD quality out at the moment. 
I am a little bit anxcious about having to explain stuff like using UPNP to my two kids and wife. My daughter is also keen on listening to an extra layer of music which Spotify lacks. So I am also considering using a streamer. 

How did you connect the streamer to the Reactors?

Alex

With an extra streamer you have more to explain to your wife and kids !!

[njaiswal]

Using a streamer makes it more usable to the others completing my household. Also Devialet app vs an app like blueOS or StreamMagic makes them listening to music way more often because user experience is not just a tiny bit better (at least for us)

I am in the same boat as you... My wife was literally going to throw every phantom out of the house because she couldn't deal with switching apps for volume control.  Hence my migration to Dante and integrating my Anthem, JBL and Symetrix receivers with Savant... now the family uses a single remote to watch TV, play music and control the volume.  

Before Dante, I was using a Sonos connect to control a pair of phantoms and found that to be a good option as well.  The challenge is that using DOS2, the phantoms volume gets reset periodically, so you'll need to use the app to reset it.

[fLexOdder]

Using a streamer makes it more usable to the others completing my household. Also Devialet app vs an app like blueOS or StreamMagic makes them listening to music way more often because user experience is not just a tiny bit better (at least for us)

I am in the same boat as you... My wife was literally going to throw every phantom out of the house because she couldn't deal with switching apps for volume control.  Hence my migration to Dante and integrating my Anthem, JBL and Symetrix receivers with Savant... now the family uses a single remote to watch TV, play music and control the volume.  

Before Dante, I was using a Sonos connect to control a pair of phantoms and found that to be a good option as well.  The challenge is that using DOS2, the phantoms volume gets reset periodically, so you'll need to use the app to reset it.

I will 'only' be using 2 Phantoms and not the enormous amount of devices you seem to be using . There is no question for me to be using a streamer for transporting radio, tv sound and streaming music for as long Spotify is not going to deliver at least CD quality. I know the buzz about them getting there but it still is very quite around upgrading the quality. If they do ánd Devialet will be able to use this via Spotify Connect then the extra streamer might not be necessary. I connect the TV via optical and use Spotify Hifi for music streaming. 

For now I am still looking to use a streamer. What I do not understand at the moment is that John mentions a difference in sound quality now that he's using the Cambridge CXN. Is this because of the Reactors are being used analog and the DAC of the Cambridge is being used (including upsampling and things like that)? In my opinion the Phantom 1s will only be connected via an optical link and therefor the digital output from the streamer will be used. That way the DAC of the streamer won't do anything in terms of help to get better sound. The DAC on the Phantom will be used after it has provided by a digital source. If that is the case then maybe I can save some money and use a streamer like Bluesound NODE instead. I have read the NODE has a less capable DAC but if I can only use the digital output between my streamer and Phantoms it is worthless to invest in an external DAC. Are my thoughts correct?

[Johnnydev]

Using a streamer makes it more usable to the others completing my household. Also Devialet app vs an app like blueOS or StreamMagic makes them listening to music way more often because user experience is not just a tiny bit better (at least for us)

I am in the same boat as you... My wife was literally going to throw every phantom out of the house because she couldn't deal with switching apps for volume control.  Hence my migration to Dante and integrating my Anthem, JBL and Symetrix receivers with Savant... now the family uses a single remote to watch TV, play music and control the volume.  

Before Dante, I was using a Sonos connect to control a pair of phantoms and found that to be a good option as well.  The challenge is that using DOS2, the phantoms volume gets reset periodically, so you'll need to use the app to reset it.

I will 'only' be using 2 Phantoms and not the enormous amount of devices you seem to be using . There is no question for me to be using a streamer for transporting radio, tv sound and streaming music for as long Spotify is not going to deliver at least CD quality. I know the buzz about them getting there but it still is very quite around upgrading the quality. If they do ánd Devialet will be able to use this via Spotify Connect then the extra streamer might not be necessary. I connect the TV via optical and use Spotify Hifi for music streaming. 

For now I am still looking to use a streamer. What I do not understand at the moment is that John mentions a difference in sound quality now that he's using the Cambridge CXN. Is this because of the Reactors are being used analog and the DAC of the Cambridge is being used (including upsampling and things like that)? In my opinion the Phantom 1s will only be connected via an optical link and therefor the digital output from the streamer will be used. That way the DAC of the streamer won't do anything in terms of help to get better sound. The DAC on the Phantom will be used after it has provided by a digital source. If that is the case then maybe I can save some money and use a streamer like Bluesound NODE instead. I have read the NODE has a less capable DAC but if I can only use the digital output between my streamer and Phantoms it is worthless to invest in an external DAC. Are my thoughts correct?

I have used a bluesound node 2I, but the SQ via Mconnect (UPnP) and Creation5 was better.
And less cables etc.etc.

[fLexOdder]

[/quote]
I have used a bluesound node 2I, but the SQ via Mconnect (UPnP) and Creation5 was better.
And less cables etc.etc.
[/quote]

I understand and feel the need of reducing the number of cables. But by using UPnP or something like that my device has to be in the same network as my music is playing, the battery will be empty in shorter time., I still have to connect the TV to one of the Phantoms (so there is the cable again). For the rest of my household the BluOS app is way more myfamily-user friendly then any other app with regard to streaming music accept the Spotify app (but no CD quality yet) and Tidal (but no Tidal-connect with the Phantoms yet). So here I still am.

Am I still wondering: is there a noticable difference to be expected in optically connecting a NODE versus connecting the Cambridge to Phantom l?
As far as I know the Phantoms ll only have an analog input. The Phantom l only has digital input. The Cambridge has a good DAC hidden in the box so therefor I can understand that a difference in sound can be noticed while being used with the Phantom ll. The Cambridge has a better DAC (public opinion) then the NODE does. But what about the digital link between both streamers and the Phantom l? I expect it to be less of a difference....

[njaiswal]

I have used a bluesound node 2I, but the SQ via Mconnect (UPnP) and Creation5 was better.
And less cables etc.etc.
[/quote]

I understand and feel the need of reducing the number of cables. But by using UPnP or something like that my device has to be in the same network as my music is playing, the battery will be empty in shorter time., I still have to connect the TV to one of the Phantoms (so there is the cable again). For the rest of my household the BluOS app is way more myfamily-user friendly then any other app with regard to streaming music accept the Spotify app (but no CD quality yet) and Tidal (but no Tidal-connect with the Phantoms yet). So here I still am.

Am I still wondering: is there a noticable difference to be expected in optically connecting a NODE versus connecting the Cambridge to Phantom l?
As far as I know the Phantoms ll only have an analog input. The Phantom l only has digital input. The Cambridge has a good DAC hidden in the box so therefor I can understand that a difference in sound can be noticed while being used with the Phantom ll. The Cambridge has a better DAC (public opinion) then the NODE does. But what about the digital link between both streamers and the Phantom l? I expect it to be less of a difference....
[/quote]
I think you may hear a slight difference between the Cambridge and the Bluesound with the Bluesound sounding a bit better... but you probably won't be able to tell the difference unless you do an A/B comparison.  I would go with whichever streamer has the sources you're looking for and has an adjustable optical out.