Pretty much every person I know on the planet has a streaming subscription.
[Bleep] Stop doing that.
The ring thing. How many takes do you have?
You have to put it in the video.
By now, we have you playing it.
Yeah, right.
Sorry, that was weird.
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Sharp!
We're back with more streaming how-tos today
and in case you missed it, our first video recaps some basics
about music streaming - what it is, streaming services and more.
In our second video, we discussed some portable solutions
to music streaming, DAPs, USB DACs, and the best ways to get
the most out of your high resolution music while you're out and about.
Be sure to check out those videos for an overview
or if you're interested in portable streaming.
That being said, what if you just want to stream at home?
Cool. We have options for that.
Welcome to Music Streaming 103: The Beginner's Guide
to Streaming at Home.
Streaming music at home can be easy.
And for this video, we're going to focus on
standalone music streamers that are easy to set up.
Simply plug in and stream away.
There's a bit more to it than that.
But today we're going to take a look at streamers that don't have any storage.
Their job is to simply stream your favorite music to whatever system
you want.
I want to feature at least two products today, the Bluesound
Node and the Zen Stream from iFi Audio.
Both entry-level streamers represent a great starting point
for at-home streaming with a budget under $600.
For those wanting a little more out of their streamer with a bigger budget,
we'll take a look at the Roon Nucleus at $1,458, which is just as easy to set up
but offers some more with their proprietary ROON software.
To reiterate some points before moving forward, remember in the first video
I said that streaming from your phone is perfectly fine,
but if you want more from your high resolution music,
we recommend a streamer with high-end components built to do one thing
- stream your music optimally and efficiently.
These streamers are built with high-end processors,
great I/O to connect to your audio system in various ways,
and all three of these are standalone streamers, meaning that their sole purpose
in your audio system is to access and playback
your connected streaming service or source.
You're not going to find any onboard storage for a local library here.
It will solely be for streaming music from your wired or wireless network.
Standalone streamers like these are meant
to be integrated into your existing hi-fi audio system.
Therefore, the streamers would be just one component
of your audio system, along with your DAC, amplifier, speakers or headphones, etc.
In the case of the Zen Stream and the Nucleus, you'll need
to connect them to an external DAC since they do not have an internal DAC chip.
To do this, you'll need to connect the streamers
to an external DAC via the SP-DIF or the USB out on the Zen Stream
or the HDMI or USB out on the Nucleus.
We'll go over I/O here in a minute.
This way the audio from the streamer will then be sent to the DAC,
which will then be sent to your designated headphone or pair of speakers.
For an affordable option, we recommend the Clarus Coda
if you don't already have a DAC in your system.
It's a USB DAC.
You simply plug it into your USB audio out
and you now have a headphone output with individual volume controls.
You can also do this with the Nucleus.
It's a very easy way to add a DAC and a headphone setup to your system.
The Node has a built-in DAC and therefore has the option to direct out
to a headphone with the 3.5-millimeter jack located in the front of the streamer.
It's a nice option to have, especially if you like listening
on headphones and don't have the space for a full on high-res system.
That being said, you'll still get better audio quality
outputting to an external DAC.
But just so you know that the Node can act like a standalone
streamer and headphone amp, or even can be used with a pair of active
bookshelf speakers with its analog outs on the back.
It's quite a versatile device.
Let's take a quick
look at some of the ports on these streamers.
On the back of the Zen Stream, you'll find the antenna connector,
the mode switch which sets the play mode for the streamer.
We'll pop those up here.
So first is the all in one.
Use this for the setup.
Then there's Roon only, Tidal only, NAA,
which stands for network audio adapter only, and then DLNA only.
The SP-DIF output, two USB 3.0
ports - one output to connect to an external DAC
and the other for input to connect to external storage.
You have a system upgrade port, Ethernet and then power.
On the Node, you'll find a few different options.
Left and right RCA Analog outs,
designated Subwoofer out, Coaxial Optical Out,
Optical, and Ethernet, USB,
HDMI ARC and power.
The Node offers some nice connectivity features, including HDMI
eARC that integrates well with home theater systems.
RCA is a nice option too for direct out to active
bookshelf speakers or to an amplifier.
On the Nucleus, you'll find dual HDMI ports
as well for stereo and multichannel output.
Why HDMI?
Well, if you have an AV receiver or another device
with an HDMI audio input, then you can connect it
to the HDMI audio output on the back of the Nucleus.
Lots of times these work well for home theater system integration
and the Nucleus is able to do both stereo and multichannel audio content.
There are lots of ways to incorporate your standalone streamer
into your home system.
There's no right or wrong way to do it as long as you have
a streaming service to integrate.
Now, if you have the option, we always recommend
connecting your home streamer to your network via LAN or Ethernet.
You'll have more stable connections and speeds that way than wireless.
Sometimes when people have multiple access points in their home,
devices can have involuntary dropouts and switching from access points
depending on the placement of the connected device.
So be mindful of this
when setting up your streamer if you want to do so wirelessly.
If you're planning on streaming high resolution music files,
you'll also need to have a decent Internet download speed.
High resolution music files are larger than lower quality MP3s and such,
so making sure you have the bandwidth to support
your online activity is crucial.
When it comes to bandwidth, in most cases, you probably won't have issues.
But if you have a house of five people and everyone is streaming different things
and you bundle lots of services on the Internet, then dropouts can happen.
So there's no magic number.
You get what you pay for.
A good download speed for streaming, we think is around at least 100 megabits
per second and a good upload speed is 10 megabits per second.
Just another thing to consider here.
Luckily, the Zen, Node and Nucleus all have Ethernet ports and of course
that's how we would recommend
setting up your network connection with these streamers.
All right.
Now you want to know how to use these things, right?
Well, all things considered, it's pretty darn easy.
The next step here is downloading the proprietary app or software,
because that's the way you'll be interacting with your streamer.
Each standalone music streamer is a little different
and there are a number of ways to set them up for the first time.
In the case of the Zen Stream, you'll press the hotspot button and then use
your phone's wireless settings to connect your streamer to the network.
If you choose to go wireless with the Node, you'll have to download
their BluOS app for wireless setup.
In the case of a hard wired network connection, all you have to do
is simply plug in the ethernet cable and you're good to go.
Now to use these streamers, you'll have to download their respective apps.
BluOS for Bluesound devices and the Stream-iFi app for iFi Audio products.
In the case of Bluesound, you'll find all your device settings in the app
allowing you to connect your streaming services there to also, in some cases,
devices are compatible
with versions of streaming apps like Spotify Connect or Tidal Connect.
In the case of the Zen Stream, you'll simply
go into the streaming app on your phone and then the streamer
should pop up as an option for audio output from the app directly.
The Nucleus is a touch different only because Roon software
can not only control the Nucleus, but can also control the iFi and Bluesound.
In fact, all three at once to create a whole house approach or multi-room setup.
The Roon software is intuitive and works in the same way
as the Node and Zen with integrating your streaming services.
But Roon takes it one step further.
Roon can take your existing local music library,
your streaming libraries, and anything else you connect to it
to create one huge database of information for all your music
in one easy to use and well-laid out UI.
There's lots of ways to get your high-res music to your streamer,
and these are just a few of the easiest devices to get set
up and play music in no time.
With entry-level
streamers, you're not going to find any onboard storage for music files.
We'll get more into pricier streamers
with onboard storage and full server systems in a later video.
These devices are meant primarily for streaming from your online services,
priced at an introductory level that is quite reasonable
and will perform leaps and bounds over your phone or consumer-level player.
That being said, all three streamers
here, the Node, the Zen and the Nucleus
allow you to connect external storage in case you have a library
of your own music that you like to connect and access over your own network.
It's a nice feature and integration isn't necessarily complicated to set up.
Simply plug an external hard drive to the back of the unit via USB
and you'll be able to see your content through the proprietary application
as you would control the streaming content as well.
Final thoughts.
You're probably not new to the world of streaming.
Pretty much every person I know on the planet has a streaming subscription.
But if you're wanting more from your listening experience
and you want something you can just set up in your home,
integrate into your sound system and access whenever you want.
Then we can't recommend enough to check out some entry-level
music streamers.
They have much better technology to make sure your high resolution
and even standard res music sounds the best they can.
It's a noticeable difference
from your phone, computer speakers or Bluetooth speaker.
The best part is that they're affordable too.
It's possibly the best return on investment you'll find
if you're upgrading from this old...
from this old thing.
Should have had it ready. Sorry.
If you like this
video, be sure to hit that thumbs up and remember to subscribe
so you don't miss our latest videos here and Moon Audio.
If you have any questions about music streaming at home or on the go,
feel free to leave a comment.
And as always, thanks for watching.
If you like this video, be sure to hit that [bleep].