Amazon iOS app- iPhone/iPad - Camera Connection Kit ( or whatever Apple is calling the thing now). If I have it plugged into power I connect it to a Dragonfly DAC. Without power, a Plugable device is between the DAC and CCK. 2018 Mac Mini - USB - Topping D10 DAC - Heed canamp to AKG K701 or Onkyo receiver to NHT SB2 speakers 2010 Mac Mini to Denon X4200w to B&W 684. Using Rowmote HD as a remote.
I went down the Bluesound Node 2i - Schiit Modi Multibit (it sounds better IMO, fuller) - Line Magnetic 518a amp - Kef Ls50 Sound very good, the Bluos app is a pain though - A playlist would crash, as did the search function because I typed in 'Eva Cassidy' - removed the song and the playlist loads fine. Must be a rights issue with Eva Cassidy!
iPhone > Camera Connection Kit > Schiit Modi > Pioneer SX 434 Sounds good. No issues other than all the “Frankenstein” albums. Annoying to have albums listed as Ultra HD when only one track is Ultra HD. They need to fix that.
I didn't know you could use a Schiit Modi with the camera connection kit. Don't you get the "this device requires too much battery?" or whatever the message is?
Thanks for this explanation. I know it’s not really a solution, but if the shared mode setting matches the file being played, so no conversion is necessary, is the file then left completely as it should be? Presumably this is only an issue when a PC is used as a source?
Even if you match sample rate and bit depth in Windows Sounds for each song you play in Amazon Music HD (which no one is going to do ... too much bother) you are still listening using Windows shared mode audio, which means there is the possibility of dithering, aliasing artifacts or noise being introduced by system audio or other programs which have access to the Windows audio stack. Both Tidal and Qobuz offer Wasapi exclusive mode so it is puzzling why Amazon did not enable it in their desktop app.
Question for Bluesound users - I've noticed several of you are using the Bluesound as the first point of the stream but then using the bluesound's output to feed a different DAC - is there something about the Bluesounds internal DAC that is so bad?
Mac mini (2010), Topping D70 (USB-XLR), Simaudio i7, Revel F206. The only issue bugging me is with the Audio Midi setting at 24/192, the Topping receives every thing upsampled. I would prefer the Mac not upsample, but play at rate provided by Amazon. I don't see a way to tell Audio Midi to pass along what it gets. Anyone know the way? If not, I may just set it down to 24/96 as I have yet to come across any music running 24/192.
Which version are you using. I'm not seeing an HD version offered now. If I can use it like a mouse, I'm all in.
Looks like they are calling it Rowmote Pro these days. Yes, it is a nice little app for controlling the Mini. It provides a keyboard and mouse from an iOS device.
I have a Node 2 and there is nothing at all bad with the internal DAC. Have I hooked it up to external DACs via coax and optical? Yes, because I can and it’s cool. I convinced myself that the external DACs sounded better. I was listening with my eyes... Really, I couldn’t tell the difference... my confirmation bias got a kick in the rear: I was absolutely positive that both external DACs I tried were superior ... only to realize I had been listening to the analog output from the Node 2. YMMV. I’d say give it a try without the external DAC; you can always add it later if additional “veil lifting” is required.
No it’s not, it always go through resampling and through the internal DAC regardless. This is not just true of Windows but also of Mac/iPhone/Android it’s just that apple’s integration is less hard on sound quality and less audible- if you want to hear the difference and how important that is/isn’t to you then i’d Suggest a free trial with Qobuz (who’s app does have exclusive mode and is bit perfect) to do a direct comparison (I’d stick to new hi-res releases for this to make sure you’re comparing to the same master, because of MQA I wouldn’t use Tidal as direct comparison because that will only tell you if you like MQA or not and MQA is not bit perfect for hi-res). At the moment bit perfect is not possible in Amazon hd under any setup due to the lack of exclusive mode, the lack of third party streaming support and the lack of any amazon own-brand product support. I can understand the lack of third party and exclusive mode may be added down the road (it’s a deal breaker for me but each to his/her own) but the lack of Amazon’s own product support at launch is ludicrous and suggests it was either rushed or an after-thought.
Are you happy with your node 2 overall - and specifically with this service. I have an older Focusrite I'd like to upgrade and I'm a heavy amazon user, so the service makes sense to me - but I want it to work right and in exclusive mode.
I’m very happy with the Node 2 overall. I have two, one in a traditional setup feeding an integrated amp. The other feeds a pair of powered speakers working as a preamp for the optical out of my HDTV. I use Roon, and the combination works very well for me. One is hard wired to my network, the other by wifi. No problems with connectivity. Because of Roon I don’t use the Bluos app much, but I do occasionally use it for Amazon Music (the version that comes with Prime, not HD), Calm Radio, internet radio, local flac files, etc. and in the past I used it with Deezer HiFi (CD quality) and Spotify Premium. No issues at all. The Bluos app is okay, not great. It’s better than the Sonos app, if you’ve used that.. It gets the job done, but I’m spoiled by Roon. Regarding Exclusive mode: The good news is that this issue only applies to Windows and Mac computers, where the audio output is routed through the OS mixer.
I have actually now gone for one less box and the Bluesound Node 2i DAC sounds pretty good. Amazing purchase and very happy with it now.
This is exactly what I would get - it's just a little pricey or me, trying to find a cheaper alternative that actually works.
Browse the Bluesound Node 2i review at ASR. Due to mediocre measurements it was not recommended. Not likely this mid-fi streamer is what audiophiles would buy.
Some of us are audiophiles at heart, but with more mid-fi budgets. That's also the only negative review of the 2i that I have seen among a bunch of glowing ones.
In this setup where does the visual information from amazon show up - track name, artist, bitrate, interface, etc.
it only shows the artist and album artwork. it doesn't show if its Ultra Hd or Hd. the receiver shows its streaming at 48hz but not sure about if its 24 or 16 bit
