3 Reasons to Buy a Music Streamer
A Music Streamer will Enhance Your Listening and User Experience
You've decided to join the legions of hi-fi streaming enthusiasts, and you might be wondering whether you should purchase a dedicated music streamer. The simple fact is, you don't need a particular piece of hardware to stream music. All you need is an internet connection and a phone or computer. But that may not be doing justice to your streaming experience or to your audiophile ears.
When it comes down to it, a music streamer is the way to go. Whether it's digital audio files that you’ve ripped from your CD collection or high-res content that you stream from music services, you'll enjoy a higher quality of audio and a better user experience. Before we go any further, however, let's clarify what we mean by music streamer.
Simply put, a streamer is a piece of hardware that allows you to access and play music via a network or internet connection. This can mean music from a streaming service such as Spotify or TIDAL, or from locally stored music files. Technically, your phone is a music streamer, as it's a conduit for streaming music. You can download a streaming service onto your phone, buy a subscription if necessary, and start listening. What we're talking about when we say a music streamer is an audio device that's specifically designed and optimized for streaming music. This could be a device with or without a DAC (digital-to-analog converter), and with or without storage. With storage, it's called a streaming server. Without internal storage, of course, a streamer can pull music from a NAS (network-attached storage) or external hard drive.
Let's take a look at how a music streamer or streaming server device can elevate and enhance your listening experience.
3 Reasons to Buy a Music Streamer
A Streamlined and Convenient Solution
1. All-In-One User-Friendly Solution
Maybe you own a ton of hi-res audio files but you’ve got no good way to manage them. If you're looking for a streamlined, user-friendly solution, then a streamer is for you. A great thing about a streaming device is that it puts a world of music at your fingertips, with your streamed content and personal music library all in the same place. These devices are specifically and solely designed for music database management.
Now you only need one piece of software to control your streamed content as well as your stored files. With your computer, you may have had separate software for multiple streaming services; now it's all controlled with one mobile app via your iPhone, iPad, or Android device. Now you can just sit back, push a few buttons, and grow roots on your couch. OK, we don't suggest doing that. But you can't beat the convenience factor.
Software will vary between streamers. The Aurender Conductor app, for example, is easy to use, but only offers TIDAL and Qobuz. The BluOS app for Bluesound is chock full of options, but the software isn't as user-friendly. However, if you don't like the software with your streamer — maybe it's difficult to navigate or it's too techy — you can always use Roon music management software. Most of the brands that we sell, excluding Aurender, are Roon Ready, meaning they have compatibility with Roon.
Roon is like Wikipedia for music, putting a candy store of metadata at your fingertips. There is no right answer here; you have to decide what's best for your scenario. Just know that while browsing an app won't replace the tactile pleasure of handling album sleeves or liner notes, it can provide you with a visually pleasurable way of perusing your collection and streamed content as well as creating playlists and discovering new music.
2. Sound Quality
As previously stated, you can stream hi-res music from your computer, phone, or tablet and do just fine. Is it going to sound optimal? Likely not. A streamer is specifically designed to handle audio files in a way those other devices aren't. At the end of the day, a computer does a lot of things well, but it wasn't designed as an audio playback device. Computers are noisy; they weren't designed to be quiet from a sonic level but also from an electric standpoint. Is there a night and day difference between a computer and a streamer? Probably not. Is there a difference? Definitely. And if you're trying to squeeze out every last percentage point of performance, a streamer is the way to go.
Streamers vary in the types of files they can play, from CD quality up to 384 kHz or newer formats. When you're looking to play locally stored lossless files or access hi-res tracks from a music subscription service, you'll want to make sure that your streamer of choice supports the files types you want.
Whether or not your streamer includes a DAC, you may opt to use an external one. If you happen to own a high-end DAC, it may well be better than the one in your streamer; that's for you to determine. In our opinion, the DAC will account for about 70% of the sound quality, with the streamer accounting for the other 30%. So spend more money on your DAC (if you're buying one). But know that both are important.
There is an argument to be made that the files that you purchase from a hi-res download site may have a better sound than some of the streaming services because there is influence of the streaming service's algorithms and how they change the sound quality of the stream. So if you're locally storing your own bit-perfect files that you've purchased, there is a potential for the recording to sound better. If you're a critical listener, maybe you want to own some specific, critical hi-res downloads and then stream some other stuff.
3. Take Your Phone or Computer Out of the Playback Equation
When you use your phone or laptop as a streamer, that device is multitasking. Someone calls while you're listening to music? That can be a very unwelcome interruption. Laptop battery dies mid-song? Not cool. When you use a mobile device or computer for streaming, that device needs to be powered on, and it needs to be nearby. Essentially, you are tethered to that device. Using a dedicated streamer takes your device out of the equation -- at least as a playback vehicle; you will still be using your device to control the software on your streamer. One more benefit: A streamer with storage means you won’t be storing audio files on your computer.
We've showcased a few of our favorite streaming devices below.
Bluesound NODE ICON Reference Music Streamer
Bluesound's newest music streamer the NODE ICON is the perfect unit for novices and seasoned vets. With full streaming capabilities, access to over 20 streaming services via the dedicated BluOS Controller App, and multi-room playback capabilities, the NODE ICON is a force to be reckoned with. For the price, the NODE ICON offers tremendous value and its user interface is so easy to navigate that you'll have no problems setting the unit up and enjoying your favorite tunes.
All of Bluesound's products are incredibly intuitive and reasonably priced. Whether you're new to music streaming or looking to add another streamer to your collection, the NODE ICON and the entire NODE series of products will not disappoint.
Dragon Cable Recommendation: Black Dragon Mini Coax Cable, Silver Dragon Toslink Digital Cable
For the NODE ICON we've recommend two Dragon Audio Cables suitable for the job. Our Black Dragon Mini Coax Cable is an extremely flexible cable, making it a perfect match for home audio digital transmission applications. The Silver Dragon Toslink Digital Cable has the bandwidth to deliver up to 24-bit/192kHz resolution and DSD signals for hi-fi listening sessions.
Matrix Audio Element S Music Streamer
Another affordable streaming option, the Matrix Audio Element S Music Streamer is a Roon Ready device delivering hi-res audio to your home audio system. The Element S Streamer is Matrix Audio's first product to feature USB DAC outputs so you can sub this unit out for the existing standalone DAC in your setup. Easy to use with the MA Remote App, you can access a variety of streaming services, internet radio, and your digital music library. For purists or those who just want a high-end music streamer to integrate into their current system, then this is one of the best music streamers out there at this price.
Dragon Cable Recommendation: Blue Dragon Power Cable, Silver Dragon USB Cable
Matrix Audio MS-1 Music Streamer
The ultimate in music streaming on the market right now, the Matrix Audio MS-1 Music Streamer has everything you could want and more in a music streamer. The MS-1 Music Streamer features a complete redesign with many internal enhancements that lend to its natural and balanced sound quality. You can easily navigate the touch screen or use the company's dedicated music streaming app to play songs from your digital library or one of the supported streaming services. With dual chipsets, PCM and DSD conversion, and a plethora of analog and digital input/outputs, the MS-1 Music Streamer will effortlessly integrate into your existing audio setup, leveling up the performance of your favorite speakers and headphones.
Dragon Cable Recommendation: Black Dragon Power Cable, Silver Dragon Network Cable, Silver Dragon Interconnect Cable
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