What will a streamer add?

[Confused]

Sorry for the open question: anyone care to lend any personal experience / advice about streamer choice in 2021?
I am after something to pull in Internet from my home network and stream Qobuz or Tidal to my Devialet (the incredible 1000s)
Ability to connect to an outboard USB drive would be good 4/10
CD player would be good 3/10
Onboard memory / storage would be good 5/10
I quite like the idea of "memory play" ?5/10
Excellent sonics are there MAJOR driver 9/10 ( of course!)
Anyone used anything great lately? I have a couple thousand to play with...
(TOTALLY the other way- am considering building a Pi2AES!!- any experience??)

Noting that you have placed sonics as your 9/10 factor, lets start with that.  To my ears, an Expert sounds best if fed via AES/EBU.  Which is fine, but this immediately restricts your options as most devices in the relatively affordable range support USB only.

So one approach might be to look at "reclocker" type devices with AES/EBU output, and then have a think about what to connect to it to actually deliver music.  In my experience the Mutec MC3+USB works well, and even better with the REF10 clock.  Of course, the REF10 kind of blows the budget, but there are a number of cheaper 10 MHz clocks available now, mainly from the far east with reclaimed 4G clocks and similar.  There are of course many alternatives to the MC3+USB, as covered below:

https://devialetchat.com/Thread-Digital-...w-products

So what to deliver the music to the reclocker?  Maybe the Cambridge CXN V2 might fit the bill?  Although there are plenty of alternatives here, plus it occurs to me that the Cambridge has S/PDIF out, so it might just sound great with a Devialet all on its own.  I do not believe anyone has actually tried one though, or at least I am not aware of anyone who has tried one with a Devialet and posted about the results.

And yes, maybe the Pi2AES will prove to be the killer option, or maybe not.  Who's going to try one first?

[ICUDoc]

Legend! Thanks, Confused!
If I use the Mutec MC3+USB, would it be input via USB? Or via ethernet?
na then out put via USB? Oe AES / EBU? SO many questions!

[Confused]

Legend! Thanks, Confused!
If I use the Mutec MC3+USB, would it be input via USB? Or via ethernet?
na then out put via USB? Oe AES / EBU? SO many questions!

The Mutec MC3+USB needs something connected to it to actually deliver the music.  It does not have an Ethernet input.

In terms of inputs and outputs, the MC3+USB outputs vis AES/EBU, which is ideal for a Devialet Expert.  It has a number of inputs, USB, which is how most people will use it, and also S/PDIF via AES/EBU, BNC Coax (you also get an RCA to BNC adaptor) or Toslink.  So the idea is that you can connect pretty much any digital source to it, and it will output "reclocked" S/PDIF via AES/EBU.  I actually use my MC3+USB via USB (SOtM kit), Toslink (TV) and BNC S/PDIF (Blueray / CD player).  The results are good with each of these options.  

It also occurs to me that you are running a 1000 Pro.  When I first had my Pro I was running a microRendu through the MC3+USB.  This was my preferred choice for sound quality (based on the kit I had at the time), but I have to say that any sound quality hike over Roon AIR or AIR (there was no RAAT at the time) was at best fairly marginal and subtle, it was better, just not by much.  (to my ears at least)

Ultimately, it was adding the Mutec REF10 that gave an appreciable hike in SQ.  (which is why I mentioned some of the lower cost 10MHz reference clocks that are now available)

So adding a MC3+USB + a relatively affordable streamer / music server or whatever should offer the functionality you desire (depending on what you choose) with SQ around about that you might expect from Roon AIR, although maybe a subtle touch better.  Adding a 10MHz clock could then be considered as a possible future SQ upgrade. 

As an aside, I was reading a very positive report of the Grimm MU1 recently, which is a notable product because it features a high quality AES/EBU output and otherwise is reported to have excellent sound quality.  It is 9800 Euros though, which is annoying. (or maybe good value for money, versus the £16K Aurender W20)

I was in PM on another forum recently, with someone who claims the REF10 clocked MC3+USB outperforms the dCS Vivaldi Upsampler. Thinking about it though, this individual does sell Mutec kit, but maybe he is right

[ICUDoc]

What a generous and helpful post, Confused- thanks so much.
So many people praise the MC3+USB, so I think I shall just bite the bullet. Now that I know what it does!
I will need an AES/EBU cable as well.
A new streamer and maybe a Ref10 (or equivalent) down the line seems a sensible upgrade path
Thanks again.