Anyone got an Onkyo NS 6130 streamer ?

[steve-z]

Hi all, due to an Amazon purchase I’ve just started 3 months free Amazon Music subscription. Have to say the UI and the sound quality seems better than Spotify, I’m currently streaming from my iphone to my Apple TV by Airplay but I don’t like the fact that it ties up the TV so I can’t use it for anything else at the same time (monitor for my Macmini).
Because of this I’m considering a budget streamer, the Onkyo has caught my eye by dint of the low price, £199 from Richer Sounds, mainly as I’ve just bought an Onkyo A-9010 and found it to be excellent. A wonder if any forum users have one of these and can comment on how they find it performs.


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[Tim]

I'm assuming you have not tried Spotify Premium and you're comparing a lower version of Spotify to Amazon Music?

Amazon Music is 256kbps, Spotify Normal is 160kbps, Premium 320kps.

Amazon is .mp3, Spotify .ogg - not personally found anyone yet who finds Amazon Music superior to Spotify when it comes to sound quality, as long as you are doing the comparison correctly and have the correct bitrate selected? If you are comparing Spotify Normal or the free version, then yes Amazon Music should should better.

So you might be getting better results at the moment, but bear in mind the above as you are not comparing the two correctly as they have different bitrates. If you are comparing Amazon to Spotify Premium and it sounds better, it's likely you are doing something wrong as Spotify should be sounding superior to Amazon. So before committing to Amazon, make sure you are getting the best from Spotify before making a decision - at the moment you can get a 3 month trial of Spotify Premium for 99p, which might be worth investigating if you already haven't. If you are comparing Premium and have it set up correctly and Amazon Music still sounds better, then just ignore the above ;)

Good luck with your streamer, can't help you there as I have no knowledge.

[steve-z]

I'm assuming you have not tried Spotify Premium and you're comparing a lower version of Spotify to Amazon Music?

Amazon Music is 256kbps, Spotify Normal is 160kbps, Premium 320kps.

Amazon is .mp3, Spotify .ogg - not personally found anyone yet who finds Amazon Music superior to Spotify when it comes to sound quality, as long as you are doing the comparison correctly and have the correct bitrate selected? If you are comparing Spotify Normal or the free version, then yes Amazon Music should should better.

So you might be getting better results at the moment, but bear in mind the above as you are not comparing the two correctly as they have different bitrates. If you are comparing Amazon to Spotify Premium and it sounds better, it's likely you are doing something wrong as Spotify should be sounding superior to Amazon. So before committing to Amazon, make sure you are getting the best from Spotify before making a decision - at the moment you can get a 3 month trial of Spotify Premium for 99p, which might be worth investigating if you already haven't. If you are comparing Premium and have it set up correctly and Amazon Music still sounds better, then just ignore the above ;)

Good luck with your streamer, can't help you there as I have no knowledge.

You’re probably right as I’ve only been using Spotify Free which I believe is 160kbps MP3, the thing that sways me is I prefer the Amazon UI better and the price is lower, just need streamer advice.


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[Tim]

If you are using the free version of Spotify that's only 96Kbps .ogg, so isn't going to sound as good as Amazon Music. You are comparing apples with oranges ;)


Spotify: Streaming speed/audio quality: There are three quality ratings for streamings, all in the Ogg Vorbis format. The choices are Normal at 96Kbits/sec, High at 160Kbits/sec and Extreme at 320Kbits/sec. Users with the free version will automatically get the Normal version, and Premium subscribers can choose at what level of streaming quality the music plays, but the Automatic style is recommended – it will change according to your network connection, with a minimum rate of 96Kbits/sec.

https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/technology/1405999/spotify-vs-amazon-music-vs-apple-music-vs-youtube-music-which-is-the-best-music-streaming

[struth]

Yup spotty is pretty good for 320kb. It's a good algorithm. Ive just got 3 months for 9.99 again so took it. Even tho I use tidal it will be good for the new car and save me altering my tidal outputs all time. 320 in car is fine.
Also does this streamer currently do Amazon and any others? Or are u casting if from phone. Just that these things can become redundant if they fall out or they don't keep up with updates etc

[Tim]

That streamer certainly looks good for the money though :)

[steve-z]

If you are using the free version of Spotify that's only 96Kbps .ogg, so isn't going to sound as good as Amazon Music. You are comparing apples with oranges ;)



https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/technology/1405999/spotify-vs-amazon-music-vs-apple-music-vs-youtube-music-which-is-the-best-music-streaming

I user selected best quality which gives 160kbps, 96kbps is the default setting.


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[steve-z]

Yup spotty is pretty good for 320kb. It's a good algorithm. Ive just got 3 months for 9.99 again so took it. Even tho I use tidal it will be good for the new car and save me altering my tidal outputs all time. 320 in car is fine.
Also does this streamer currently do Amazon and any others? Or are u casting if from phone. Just that these things can become redundant if they fall out or they don't keep up with updates etc

I’d be casting from my iphone or ipad.


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[struth]

That's fair enough then. Your not reliant on the streamer keeping up with codecs etc.

Yup it looks a nice machine

[Sherwood]

If you can I would compare it to this. The Music Cast interface is very good and the streamer good quality.

https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-network-stereo-pre-amplifier.html

Geoff

[steve-z]

If you can I would compare it to this. The Music Cast interface is very good and the streamer good quality.

https://www.richersounds.com/yamaha-network-stereo-pre-amplifier.html

Geoff

Thanks for that pointer Geoff which has actually led me to a lower price alternative the Yamaha WXAD 10, £123 from Amazon, it appears to do all I need and according to Amazon it’s Alexa compatible so I can add the cheapest Echo Dot and I can have voice control, sounds like a plan [emoji846]


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[Tim]

Yamaha WXAD 10, £123 from Amazon, it appears to do all I need
This is very good, don't have one myself but a friend does and uses it for Spotify, it sounds very good for the money and the app as Geoff has mentioned is also good.

[Sherwood]

Thanks for that pointer Geoff which has actually led me to a lower price alternative the Yamaha WXAD 10, £123 from Amazon, it appears to do all I need and according to Amazon it’s Alexa compatible so I can add the cheapest Echo Dot and I can have voice control, sounds like a plan [emoji846]


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Steve, the cheaper model may fully meet your needs, but you might want to watch this review of the higher spec model https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovrS88tddmo&t=502s

BTW. The latest Amazon Echo dot (3rd gen) is on sale at present for 25 quid.

Geoff

[Tim]

Good point Geoff re the WXC-50

[steve-z]

Finally I decided as I only needed to stream Amazon Music to get a new 3rd Generation Amazon Echo Dot, picked one up from my local Curry’s a little earlier today. Tbh I had fairly low expectations with it being so cheap (£25 currently), how wrong I was, after a quick setup, 10 mins tops, I connected the aux output to my Onkyo A-9010 in the bedroom system, the sound quality it produces belies the low price, I’m guessing the DAC chip in it probably costs pennies, no matter it does the biz, sorted then for just £25 [emoji846]


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