Dipping a toe in the stream...

Cheeky, I've moved this thread to the Streaming audio room where you may get some response.

As far as I can see this is much the same as a Sonos Connect. The Sonos is a well tried and tested solution, so the safe option would be to get one of those. The only issue is that if you intend to use higher than 16/44 the Sonos can't handle it, whereas the Yamaha can - although to really benefit from Hi-Res, I would suggest that you might want better hardware to do it justice.

You don't include your system details in your profile, so it's unclear whether the fact that the Yamaha is a streaming preamp makes a difference. The Auralic Aries mini is another option, and seems to be well thought of. 

Sorry, rest of system is nac 282, 250.2, hicap and pmc 20.21

With your system, I think I would be tempted to raise the bar a little bit and go for something like the Pioneer N-50 A or Cambridge Audio CXN. at around £500 or £700 respectively new, but probably also available second hand. 

I have to admit I have not heard the Yamaha, but if you have a chance to demo it at home, then by all means give it a go. However, I would be a little surprised if a streamer that costs around £300 (and incorporating a pre-amp) will sound great on a system of the standard of your own. However, you never can  tell until you try it. I purchased a Marantz N7004 (for £399, albeit reduced from £730) streamer for use in my 3rd (bedroom) system. I auditioned it alongside a Linn Majik and (bare) Naim ND5 XS, and to be perfectly honest, and to my surprise,  found it quite difficult to work out which I liked best. It sounded to me to be very similar in sound presentation to the much more expensive Linn, and almost as good, but subtly different to the equally more expensive Naim. So some of these 'cheaper' streamers can be pretty good, and enjoyable to listen to.

One thing to bear in mind though, is that in my experience the control apps used by these cheaper streamers are often substantially less good than those offered by Naim or Linn. So I would advise you check these out before buying. How good is the native control app, and is it capable of being controlled by an open source app such as, for example, Lumin 

Thanks for that. I've recently moved house and my Mac which was plugged into a dac and then into my 282 is no longer in the same room as my main system, hence the need to stream. Other thoughts are currently to PX the 282 against a 272 which I've heard superb reports about but haven't yet been able to audition. 

Do you have a main source -CD or vinyl- so that this streamer is just an addition for casual listening? 

Main source is vinyl, poor substitute for cd in the form of a bluray player through a dac, so yes. More for casual listening, although half decent sound through internet radio (if it exists) would be welcome. 

I haven't heard the Yamaha either, but would be surprised if it was anywhere close to the rest of your system. A lot depends on what you intend to use streaming for.

If vinyl is 95% of your listening and you just want some Spotify once in a while then you may as well go for a cheap, reliable option. Personally I wouldn't get one with a preamp if you have a 282. The Cambridge streamer gets some good reviews I believe.

If you actually want quality approaching your vinyl experience, then you'll need something much better. The 272 is very good, but whether it compares with a 282 is a question for your ears and wallet. If not, it seems a shame to reduce the quality of your vinyl listening in order to stream, and it might be better to try a dedicated streamer into your 282, such as one from the ND range. The 272 and ND range all have internet radio.

That's helpful - I suppose a lot depends on how important streaming is going to become. If you have hundreds of ripped CDs and/or want to seriously listen to Tidal and radio, spending serious money on a streamer makes sense. But if it's for the odd dabble something like the Pioneer will be more than adequate. 

I've been accused of overpromoting the 272 so am rather circumspect about mentioning it these days, unless the OP raises it first. I have heard an NDX and 282/Hicap and can't say that it's any better than my 272/XPS - though I may have cloth ears. Both systems use a 250 albeit with different speakers. The internet radio in the 272 is very good, particularly the BBC HLS high definition streams, and the optional FM module is very good too. A nice thing is that you can get all the BBC catch-up through the Naim app. You could do all this by adding a ND5XS or NDX, which is the other Naim way, albeit at a higher price and with more boxes. 

It would be a good idea to spend some time at a dealer to hear the available options. 

Hungryhalibut posted:

The Auralic Aries mini is another option, and seems to be well thought of. 

+1

Hi CM

The Aries Mini is a cracking little box that punches much bigger than its size. I've tried the Pioneer N50 and was completely underwhelmed. The Mini can do so much and there is no need for a NAS as an internal HDD/SSD can be fitted and the music transferred from your Mac. Watch the Hans Beekheyzen's review on YouTube.

I've had mine for nearly a year now and have no intention of moving on. 

I do actually have a 'top of the range' Yamaha streamer NS2000. It got relegated to my office for casual, background music. It's quite ok but even a 'entry level' Naim streamer ND5XS showed it how it should be done.

With a 282/250 I think NDX is a 'bare minimum'.  So I wouldn't really wast too much time and invaluable resources on half-way measures and start searching forma pre-loved NDX. This way if you decide streaming is not for you, selling it on may not result in too much of a financial loss.

I used a non Naim streamer which was highly regarded in a 82,Supercap andr 250 olive system changing to a NDX last year the NDX is on a different level therfore I would strongly advise you listen to suggestions as above at your dealer.

Your might find that you'll end up using a streamer more than you thought they are that good.

I really don't see that you've got much to lose by trying out a cheap Yamaha or Sonos device. An NDX would be a good addition to your system, but these things cost less than 10% of the price of an NDX and are easy enough to sell on if you want to go further....by which time the successor to the NDX might be an even better option......

Did you mention somewhere you have a DAC?  Is this something you want to continue utilising or do you prefer to replace everything with a 1 box all in one?

For what purpose do you intend to use the streaming facility?  Is this just for casual background music?  What is your DAC?

I don't consider the purchase of an NDX to be "dipping one's toe in" or is it just me?

badlyread posted:

I don't consider the purchase of an NDX to be "dipping one's toe in" or is it just me?

Not really, unless that dip is followed by a full-on swimming

Hi all. Thanks for your thoughts so far. My dac is an arcam irdac which is now mostly used for playing internet radio through from my iPhone. Hardly hifi...  we've got probably 300 cds between us but I've got approx 2000 songs currently sat in iTunes on my Mac, many of which are just mp3's (a flash back to my ill advised youth im afraid..) although I have some wav files on there too. I think that streaming Could grow in our household, but the cost of a new or used NDX is not something I can currently justify (especially as our new house has no garden atm!). 

I'd personally go for a Sonos Connect which will plug straight into your existing pre-amp and you'll be able to connect to your iTunes library as long as it's configured to be shared.

It's relatively inexpensive, has a built in DAC and will certainly give you a feel for how streaming may be used.

The app is a doddle to use, so you could easily and quickly be streaming your library, using the phone / iPad / tablet app to choose your music and enjoy it at a reasonable sound quality through your existing system.

Should you decide you want to move higher along the streaming route (HDX, NDS etc.) , the Sonos should have a half decent resale value, or could be used in a second system.

Well I've shuffled a few things around and have got an NDX on the way from James at TomTom for a home demo. Can't wait to hear it in my system! 

Well, you are certainly pushing the boat out. It'll be interesting to hear how you get on with it. It will be a great match for the 282 and 250. 

Thanks HH. I've sold a few old pieces of kit on fleabay and have managed get nearly half the cost of the NDX together, so it became an easier decision to make (plus I obtained my better halfs blessing!). Now the process beings of re-ripping our cds to wav.. looking forward to experimenting with Tidal too. 

What are your albums in at the moment? If they are already in a lossless format you can convert them. My advice to you would be to use FLAC and set your upnp server to transcode to WAV on the fly. It sounds just as good as native WAV, but FLACs are smaller and managing the metadata is easier. I don't do it, but you can also transcode ALAC to WAV, or so I believe. 

Hope you enjoy the NDX as much as I enjoy mine also using a NDX into a 282 will allow the option of system automation to control the volume etc through the app a very convenient feature indeed.