vinothkumar
Well-Known Member
Could you please elaborate a bit more on sound quality on both grimm and holo or even with nagra? Want to understand where it excells in sound quality.
The new Nagra Streamer
- Thread starter essrand
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But not everyone can program these in the same way. This is where the real game could be. The high-end companies like Esoteric, dCS, Nagra, MSB, Aurender, etc might be doing better here compared to the Chinese who have come very close, if not equal or better to the high end companies regarding hardware quality. That might change in the future though.
If done right, the SMPS power supply could be as good as a linear one. IFI, sotm etc do make SMPS PS for audiophiles.
sachinchavan 15865
Well-Known Member
Interesting. Just wondering, and the DIY gurus here might be able to help, what might be the aggregate price of all those parts and case etc (ie the material cost) to get an idea of the gross profit high-end audio equipment make on their products?
I dare not. The first example that will be hurled at you is the iphone. But to be fair, immense amount of R&D has gone into the iphone to utilize every amount of space to cram useful electronics, battery, etc into the case. Taste and Hearing is heavily influenced by psychology of the person tasting some item of desire or listening to an object of desire. Nagra knows that and all it needs to do is not to botch it up so badly that it looks like an Allo streamer. In all such glaring cases (this clearly is not an iphone) you just need to say YMMV and move on.
The device that @reignofchaos posted should cost much more than the Nagra.
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reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
Most of them are just resting on their past laurels and will soon be history if they don't change. At least in the digital space, change is happening at a really fast pace - especially in streamers. Putting mega buck money on streamers makes no sense as they get obsolete very very quickly and better things land up on the horizon.
A streamer is rather simple - you need some form of board to get the data stream via a convenient format and then reclocking/retiming hardware to adapt it to standard audio outputs. It's simple enough for diy guys to build one - check the ian canada streamer. It is really good.
So what matters is:
a) Quality of the soc used,
b) The board layout and quality of clocks
c) Isolation and power supply and finally
d) Software.
The last one is where most money needs to be spent. So either you do it all in house or use Open source. The former is unsustainable in the long run.
Mayasandra_l
Active Member
I am not sure if the chase to the latest and greatest "new" tech and costly streamer is useful. As what was noted by @reignofchaos and others, software is the key to the operation of the streamer. Wiim started the disruption, with a software interface that needed no tweaking by the user. Bluesound was forced to bring in new products at lower price point, with improved interface. Many others are following the same path. Where would the uber expensive streamer (I would call anything above USD 1000 expensive) land, is a big question mark.
Not everyone has a system that can detect the SQ difference between a streamer with SMPS and LPS. With time, the SMPS have improved big time and delta in SQ between the two is shortening with each passing day. Hence personally, I would prefer a Roon ready, lower budget streamer (ie under USD 1000) with an software interface that is easy, intuitive and is preferably supported and upgraded by the manufacturer regularly. Roon is an excellent interface and with more manufacturers adopting it, may be the de-rigueur in the times to come. Logically, this should also lead to a lower cost of Roon subscription and lowered price point for future streamers. With an interface like Roon, manufacturers do not need dedicated software development team to continually upgrade their interface. Hence the possible price benefit. Full disclosure - I still use the Audiolab 6000n with the archaic "play-fi". I just love the SQ that this streamer brings to the table. But yes, after about 3-4 years of use, I do plan to retire this streamer this year and replace it with a Roon ready streamer under USD 1000.
Not everyone has a system that can detect the SQ difference between a streamer with SMPS and LPS. With time, the SMPS have improved big time and delta in SQ between the two is shortening with each passing day. Hence personally, I would prefer a Roon ready, lower budget streamer (ie under USD 1000) with an software interface that is easy, intuitive and is preferably supported and upgraded by the manufacturer regularly. Roon is an excellent interface and with more manufacturers adopting it, may be the de-rigueur in the times to come. Logically, this should also lead to a lower cost of Roon subscription and lowered price point for future streamers. With an interface like Roon, manufacturers do not need dedicated software development team to continually upgrade their interface. Hence the possible price benefit. Full disclosure - I still use the Audiolab 6000n with the archaic "play-fi". I just love the SQ that this streamer brings to the table. But yes, after about 3-4 years of use, I do plan to retire this streamer this year and replace it with a Roon ready streamer under USD 1000.
No personal experience, just check the review for Holo vs Grimm in the link I send, and Grimm vs Nagra is just in-home comparison from an American audiophile acquaintance.
I decided to upgrade from Paradigm PW Link, which only has toslink out, to make full use of the Pontus II DAC that I just acquired. I was looking for a pure streamer rather than streamer cum DAC and came across the Holo red. Searched on the forum for Holo red and landed on this thread. Another option that I'm looking at is the Eversolo A6 Master edition for its ability to play Apple music. Could someone knowledgeable suggest which way to go?
reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
No contest. The eversolo is nowhere close to my SOTM stack and holo red with tweaking is much better than SOTM. Eversolo is my apple music only streamer. Have kept it for that purpose as alternatives are 5-10x more expensive.
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Thanks for the emphatic response. Are there any dealers in India? Any pointers would be very helpful. Wonder what would be the mark up from the US price of $798!
reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
Not available locally - you'll have to import.
heliumflight
Well-Known Member
I would put my money on a dac, than a Nagra streamer
reignofchaos
Well-Known Member
Absolutely agree - big name brands don't matter in streamers. Buy them from a specialist who are known for building these and make sure you have access to either roon or open source firmware.
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