![]() The Songbird (from its 3.5mm analog output) is remarkably good. ![]() Throw in hi-res support, a much better control app, and access to almost every major streaming platform on the planet which only widens the gap between them. The Node is $400 more than the Songbird and the difference in sound quality does justify the price difference. I’ve spent enough time with the older Node 2i and brand new Node to consider them both category leaders connectivity, streaming options, and sound quality. Its closest competitors would be something like the Bluesound Node or the Allo USBridge Signature Player ($400 with power supply) which are both excellent streamers. Having spent a lot of time with some excellent and much more expensive streamers in 20, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the $129 Songbird. You can also connect to the Songbird through your laptop and stream directly from Tidal, Spotify, or Qobuz. More stations will be added to the supported list in the near future. The NAD C 316BEE gets a lot of use in my dining room system (19 x 13 x 9) and I’ve grown very attached to how it makes the Q Acoustics 3050i ( $799/pr at Amazon) come alive it’s an excellent pairing worth exploring if your budget for amp/speaker is under $1,500.Īndover Audio has created an app for the Songbird which allows you to stream from Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Napster, iHeart Radio, Deezer, and Tune-In. I also injected the Schiit Audio Modi Multibit, Cambridge Audio DacMagic 200M, and Topping D50s DACs into the systems to see how that influenced the sound quality. The Songbird spent most of its time running directly into the NAD C 316BEE, Cambridge Audio AXA35, and Naim NAIT 5si integrated amplifiers. We Have Both Kinds of Music…We Have Country and Western I utilize a custom 3.5mm to RCA interconnect manufactured by Audio Art and AudioQuest Cinnamon optical cable and that combination weighs a lot more than the streamer. The reality is that when you connect the power cable, Ethernet cable, Toslink digital cable or a 3.5mm to RCA cable to the analog output – the Songbird is going to move around. When I first opened the box, I smirked at the inclusion of Velcro strips. Wireless connectivity includes support for AirPlay and Bluetooth. The Songbird will offer gapless playback with Tidal and Qobuz in Q4 2021. ![]() I did that with a few DACs that I have at home and the performance of the Songbird did improve – although I wish the digital output wasn’t limited to a single Optical Toslink connection.Ĭost clearly influenced that decision and it’s understandable. The digital output of the Songbird is limited to 16-bit/44.1kHz so it will not pass 24-bit or higher to an external DAC. We’ve discovered one technical issue that was not originally mentioned to us in the literature. Most of the music people listen to isn’t high-res so the Songbird’s ability to stream at 24-bit/192kHz is a special bonus gift to those of us who actually care about better sound quality, or who actually plan on connecting the Songbird to a better quality DAC. We know Spotify isn’t high-res and the forthcoming Spotify HiFi won’t be anything more than lossless 16-bit/44.1kHz either. With some experimentation, we discovered that the Songbird might be only scratching at the surface of its capabilities.Īndover Audio is being very smart about this and clearly aiming for Spotify users who are probably curious about high-res streaming, but have yet to sign up for Tidal or Qobuz (which actually offer high-res streaming…minor detail).Īudiophiles who lift their noses at the mere mention of Spotify are not getting it.
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