USB Streamer or SPDIF Streamer?

[J.D]

Greetings,

I am using the Sony HAP-Z1ES which has analog output. There would be multiple D-A and A-D conversion when using the Sony with Devialet. So I want to move to the streamer with digital out. On my short list are Melco N1A, Aurender N100H / X100L / S10, Bryston. Should I go with USB (Melco, Aurender N100H / X100L) or SPDIF (Aurender S10, Bryston)? AES might work best for Devialet.

I prefer the streamer with the built-in storage drive or the ability to stream from a NAS or stream from External USB drive.

[Hifi_swlon]

Some say AES is best. Some say USB. I'm sure there are spdif fans too.

Most would agree I think that whatever sounds best to you is what's best, and it may not be quite as simple as the connection type.

Lots of Aurender and Melco fans here (the N1A apparently offering fantastic value for money). But it also depends what you want to use to control playback?

Can you demo any? None of the options are particularly cheap - I'd pick a few, try them, and see what you think.

[helloworld1978]

You would be only limited to 24/192 with Coax/Spdif, for DSD you would have to find a USB solution.

[octaviars]

You would be only limited to 24/192 with Coax/Spdif, for DSD you would have to find a USB solution.

You can run DSD via DOP on all inputs on the Expert range if the streamer supports this over Spdif or AES. 

"MAT DSD Engine

Devialet Expert software now supports DSD 64 in DoP mode on the USB input, plus optical and coaxial SDIF and also AES:EBU inputs."

[helloworld1978]

You would be only limited to 24/192 with Coax/Spdif, for DSD you would have to find a USB solution.

You can run DSD via DOP on all inputs on the Expert range if the streamer supports this over Spdif or AES. 

"MAT DSD Engine

Devialet Expert software now supports DSD 64 in DoP mode on the USB input, plus optical and coaxial SDIF and also AES:EBU inputs."

Most of the streamers that I have looked at, only output at max 24/192khz on Coax/Spdif. It is seldom to find a streamer that does DSD on Coax/Spdif.

[Confused]

There are I think two distinct aspects to streamers / music servers. One is sound quality (perhaps stating the obvious), the other is functionality (not to be underestimated). Sound quality is the easy one to consider, you want as much of it as possible within budget. Functionality is a matter of taste, in terms of how you want to consume your music. As an example, Roon compatibility is a must have for some, others are not concerned with Roon, some want a simple all in one box (like the Aurender / Melco options), others are happy to have a networked Mac or PC in the chain. Only you can decide on these points.

So here is a suggestion to spur some thoughts.....

For sound quality within a sensible budget, I would say something like the microRendu feeding a Mutec MC3+USB is pretty much unbeatable. Maybe now also consider the SotM SMS-200 rather than a microRendu, for me though it is the Mutec that really offers the SQ bangs for your buck. Then in terms of functionality, you have a number of options depending on how you want to consume your music. You could just use Roon / JRiver or whatever else you fancied on a networked Mac or PC, controlled by tablet. You could link up something like Small Green Computer's Sonic Transporter to create a discrete system . Also, with the SotM SMS-200 it looks like you can simply plug in a hard drive full of music, which is quite neat.

Having written all that, I am a big fan of the Aurender N10 feeding a Devialet by AES/EBU. I noticed that you mentioned the Aurender S10 (presumably considered as a second hand purchase as now discontinued) in your earlier post. If you are happy with the Aurender conductor app, this is a pretty same bet I would have thought, simple, great SQ, what's not to like?