Seeking for a digital transport

hello audiophile folks,

I am thinking about to change from physical cd playing to file based playing. as I see there are many ways to play files and I am lost among the solutions. I am turning to you fellow hobbyists to share with me your different opinions, paths and solutions. my requirements:
-outstanding SQ
-local file based playing (ethernet)
-gapless playback
-robust device (no freeze, lockup, bugs, lost connections, etc)
-need an SPDIF output for external DAC (I have an ANK tube DAC and I am not going to ditch it)
-no need for analogue output (see above)
-no need for Tidal or other streaming services (not interested)
-if there is a mobile device control software for it, must have on Android
-1000 EUR is the budget maximum, preferably second hand

I hear and read everywhere that Lumin devices are the most analogue sounding players but these are out of my scope because of their price.
please tell me your thoughts and way along the file based playback.
thank you and regards

 

Lumin make outstanding players for sure. Possible options for you might be Cambridge Audio CXN (v2), Bluesound Node 2i, Marantz NA6006.

 

thanks for the replay and bump

the CA why the v2?

 

Lumin devices are lovely, based on what I've heard at audio shows.

If you don't mind paying less, alternatives are the Allo DigiOne player or Allo DigiOne Signature player. I built one of the former before Allo was selling them as a unit, and with an iFi power supply, it is not too far in performance from my Auralic Aries G1, though it lacks some of the fancy features. The Signature is said to be even better.

Gapless, yes. SPDIF, yes. Solid, yes. You can control it via Android using BubbleUPnP or any other DLNA/UPnP control point. I chose Volumio as the OS version, and it is easy to use and so far, reliable. Setup over WiFi can be a bit tricky, but you are using Ethernet anyway.

Whatever you choose, I hope you enjoy it! I've been streaming my home library for about 5 years now and love the convenience and sound quality.

P.S. I tried the Cambridge CXN in our living-room system, and found it worked well with its own software; however, I wanted to use BubbleUPnP, which gives more flexibility. Unlike my Auralic, Allo, and miniDSP devices, the Cambridge did not work well with third-party software.

 

It means Version 2

 

Your criteria is local playback of your digital library, with SPDIF output to an external DAC.
You want gapless playback.
I think LMS Logitech Media Server running on a Raspberry Pi, maybe in PiCorePlayer may be for you.
They have an add on card for outputting SPDIF.

Maybe you ar looking for a "built" solution more than something like RaspberryPI which you build.

 

ok, but why the v2 machine? what is the benefit over the standard player?

 

yes I see that many people build Raspberry PI based players or there is Hifiberry. they are cheap but how they sound? never heard one

 

It's faster and more efficient

 

This unit: https://www.vinshineaudio.com/product-page/soundaware-d280
is designed for exactly what you are asking for and is not crazy expensive for what it offers, it seems built to offer the best local file playing quality for the money.
The Allo DigiOne Signature would be the obvious choice otherwise as it is widely known to sound great for as simple as it is.

 

They sound pretty amazing. I use a Pi 3b with Allo DigiOne and I don't ever think about 'upgrading' to anything else. I use MoOde as my preferred software - looks nice and very easy to configure.

 

I also have an ANK DAC. The DigiOne Signature has everything you need and sounds incredible if you ask me. Throw a good LPS on the clean side. I use an Ultracap LPS-1.2.

 

Pretty great, if you ask me. I would try the Allo cards, rather than the HiFiBerry ones. The latter are good for the money but in my setup didn't come close to the Allo DigiOne and DigiOne Signature in sound quality. (Though to be fair to HiFiBerry, I didn't try them with an upgraded power supply.)

 

The Raspberry PI, doesnt have to sound anything if you output SPDIF to your DAC.

 

I get that all of the options may be confusing.
Here is what I am referring to:
A raspberry Pi running as a digital player, it outputs digital only, so, it wont have a real "sound".
HiFiBerry Digi+ bundle Pi 4 | HiFiBerry

This is only a digital transport. Your DAC does all the audio, as you wanted.

 

in my experience digital transports can sound different in the very same audio chain. I tried a few cd transports in my system and all have their own sound characteristics!

 

That's my impression, too, though I came to it reluctantly. I would have expected those differences to vanish as DACs got better, but in my limited experiences, differences remain.

 

Also, if you want to use Roon, v2 is Roon ready, v1 is not. As mentioned above the CXN can be picky with 3rd party software - I used Bubble UPNp to play files from a NAS and it was a PITA - also was not gapless. That was main reason I abandoned it for an ultraRendu and subsequently Lumin T2.

 

Did you use the CXN with or without the internal DAC? Same question for the Lumin? thank you!

 

I've used CXN both with the internal DAC and an external one (Topping D30). In my experience they both sounds good, but the CXN internal DAC has a little warmer sound

 

I'd agree with this assessment for the CXN v1 which I had. With the Lumin I'm using the DAC in the T2 to feed my Hegel H190 via XLR. This sounds significantly better than USB out to the Hegel's DAC.

 

Hi, I am analyzing different players as well and the digi one players are among them. I read they need (or can use) dirty and/or clean power sources. What's clean or dirty power? Really confused and didn't find much info elsewhere. Thanks

 

The Signature version uses separate power supplies for the Raspberry Pi and the audio-related circuitry. The former is considered the "dirty" power supply; the latter, the "clean" power supply.

 

ive owned Lumin U1 and now have Roon Nucleus+, i prefer the Roon due to user interface. i do not feel the nucleus was a step down in quality. I can strongly recommend the Nucleus. yes there are cheaper options, you can even build your own.. Lumin app isn't great but their device is more aesthetically pleasing than the nucleus.

 

Used Lumin U1 Mini. It’s superb.