You may also wish to consider the cambridge audio cxn. You can purchase a refurbished series 1 in your price range on their website. It comes with a one year warranty. I use it on my system at my mountain house to play FLAC, ALAC, Tidal, and internet radio. I have been very happy with its performance. Their software also works well and is easy to set up and use.
Streamer Advice: Bluesound Node 2 vs Aries Mini vs Oppo
Hello,
I know a lot of these advice threads already exist, and plenty of useful info from those. I’m looking for a network streamer with a budget of $500 ($600 is my absolute max). I’ll be playing my own redbook quality FLAC files, and streaming via Tidal. The Bluesound Node 2 and Auralic Aries Mini each check a lot of boxes for me, but I’m having a hard time finding an Aries Mini for sale.
My questions are...
Is there a significant benefit to the Aries Mini over the Bluesound Node 2? If folks think I’m better off with the Aries Mini I don’t mind waiting, and continuing the search for one.
And would an Oppo BDP-103 or BDP-105 be a better choice compared to either the Bluesound or Auralic?
I can’t afford the prices that Oppo UDP models are fetching, but I’m finding a lot of BDP-103s between $300-$500 and even some BDP-105s around $500-$600.
Having a Blu-Ray, CD, SACD player coupled with streaming is very enticing. Since Oppo’s digital components are no longer in production my hesitation is software support potentially going away.
Thanks, and cheers!
- MD
I know a lot of these advice threads already exist, and plenty of useful info from those. I’m looking for a network streamer with a budget of $500 ($600 is my absolute max). I’ll be playing my own redbook quality FLAC files, and streaming via Tidal. The Bluesound Node 2 and Auralic Aries Mini each check a lot of boxes for me, but I’m having a hard time finding an Aries Mini for sale.
My questions are...
Is there a significant benefit to the Aries Mini over the Bluesound Node 2? If folks think I’m better off with the Aries Mini I don’t mind waiting, and continuing the search for one.
And would an Oppo BDP-103 or BDP-105 be a better choice compared to either the Bluesound or Auralic?
I can’t afford the prices that Oppo UDP models are fetching, but I’m finding a lot of BDP-103s between $300-$500 and even some BDP-105s around $500-$600.
Having a Blu-Ray, CD, SACD player coupled with streaming is very enticing. Since Oppo’s digital components are no longer in production my hesitation is software support potentially going away.
Thanks, and cheers!
- MD