Bargains - not CDs!

[Cockney Sparrow]

The most comprehensive review I have been able to find is in French, on QOBUZ: https://www.qobuz.com/ch-fr/info/Hi-...streamer179788 The output is limited to 48kHz sample rate and 24-bit quantization.

Good enough for me - 48kHz/24-bit....

At £23, a few years use until the app is no longer maintained would be OK. Not as though I'm paying over £1,000 (or well over) for a glossy box when I am taking a risk on the survival of the niche/specialist audio manufacturer continuing in business/maintaining interest in, say, 10 years time.

I'm interested because my Chromecasts which will deliver similar rates into my DAC (s) will undoubtedly become unsupported at some future date to be decided by Google, but then they cost me £15.

[Beresford]

Is this similar to the Chromecast devices - in that it connects direct to the internet, but just uses the local wifi for control purposes?
It doesn't need a phone or tablet to be active to actually stream, does it? If playlists are set up on streaming sites, can it just be "pointed" at one, and then play everything from that?
Could be an interesting toy to play with - and it seems cheap enough.

It has a button on top to toggle between radio, music server, and Spotify, but this can be done from UNDOK on a tablet or smartphone.
It needs UNDOK for setup and to set things going, but from then on the streaming is via wifi from the router, not using the tablet.

It's like a Chromecast Audio, but it also does Internet radio very well. It can play your PC music files if you have software that has DLNA output. Windows Media Player does this, but I have not found a browser that allows audio DLNA streaming, unlike Chromecast streaming which is integral with Edge and, unsurprisingly, Chrome. The "pointing" has to be done by the smartphone or tablet, which can then be switched off.

The Sound Quality should be the same as Chromecast, which is probably not quite as good or expensive as a Squeezebox, or Cambridge streamers, or Linn stuff.
I also have a Steljes bedside radio, looks like a Ruark, probably using the same processing as the streamer, and I can't detect any quality difference between R3 internet HD and R3 on DAB, but that might be down to the cheap internal DAC, amp, and speaker.

[Cockney Sparrow]

It has a button on top to toggle between radio, music server, and Spotify, but this can be done from UNDOK on a tablet or smartphone.
It needs UNDOK for setup and to set things going, but from then on the streaming is via wifi from the router, not using the tablet.

It's like a Chromecast Audio, but it also does Internet radio very well. It can play your PC music files if you have software that has DLNA output. Windows Media Player does this, but I have not found a browser that allows audio DLNA streaming, unlike Chromecast streaming which is integral with Edge and, unsurprisingly, Chrome. The "pointing" has to be done by the smartphone or tablet, which can then be switched off.

The Sound Quality should be the same as Chromecast, which is probably not quite as good or expensive as a Squeezebox, or Cambridge streamers, or Linn stuff.

I presume that refers to the internal DAC, so, what one thinks about the sound, as opposed to other DACS.

It has an optical output for a separate DAC; it's internal DAC is ....

If using the optical output I presume its the same as any other streamer output -back to digital files being Os and 1s - they either deliver the audio sound, or don't, whether its from the £23 Stejles, the Chromecast or some other unit.

[Dave2002]

I already have Chromecast devices, but I got a bit disillusioned when Google discontinued some of the software support - or so it seemed to me.

I just couldn't face trying to get these to work again with a reasonable hi-fi system - but maybe I should have done. I used to be happy with Logitech Squeezebox etc., but again the lack of support was a deterrent to continued use. However if the Steljes device and the UNDOK software are easy enough to install and use, and if they work for a few years, then maybe that would be good enough - at the price.

[TBuckley]

Ghost Stories for Christmas (BBC) - 6 x DVD set (BFI)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-Christmas-Expanded-6-Disc-Collection/dp/B009XD7M2Y/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=ghost+stories&qid=1635881771&s=dvd&sr=1-16

A bargain at just under £24 - it is usually over £40. All the stories from 1969 right up to 2005 plus some nice extras. Perfect winter viewing.

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Faced with having to fork out the best part of £200 for a new concert DJ to replace the one I've had for the last 10 years and which is now showing its age, I decided to give the local charity shops a try.

Result! £12 got me one of a certain vintage and good quality but showing few signs of wear, and in exactly my size too - well, allegedly, as I need to shed a few pounds in the middle for it to be a perfect fit.

[Bryn]

A few weeks ago, I took a chance on a pack of three Kodak brand 10w (equivalent to 60w filament bulb) 'daylight' LED light bulbs (bayonet fitting) from the larger of the two local Paundland shops (the smaller one did not have them). The price of the pack was £4. I was sufficiently impressed with them to return and purchase three further packs. They are also available as "warm white". They can sometimes also be found on eBay from £7.49 (including p&p). Recommended.

The pack looks similar to that below but with bayonet fitting and designated "daylight". The screw type, and other shapes, can also be found in bigger Poundland shops.

[Bryn]

Though these recordings are available on CD and as 96/24 downloads, amazon.co.uk has them in fairly high data rate mp3s for the knock-down price of £2.37 for over 3 hours of late Feldman piano works.

[Dave2002]

Though these recordings are available on CD and as 96/24 downloads, amazon.co.uk has them in fairly high data rate mp3s for the knock-down price of £2.37 for over 3 hours of late Feldman piano works.

Not sure which ones you mean.

Here is one for 99p on the am.uk site

- Label : Warner
ASIN : B000005J27

Feldman: Piano and String Quartet

[Bryn]

Not sure which ones you mean.

Here is one for 99p on the am.uk site

- Label : Warner
ASIN : B000005J27

Feldman: Piano and String Quartet

Oops! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morton-Feld...s%2C119&sr=8-1

Amazon's per track pricing can sometimes reap benenfits for the customer.

[Dave2002]

Oops! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Morton-Feld...s%2C119&sr=8-1

Amazon's per track pricing can sometimes reap benenfits for the customer.

I'll have to check - I think I've got those already, but perhaps not those performances.

[Bryn]

I'll have to check - I think I've got those already, but perhaps not those performances.

Pretty surely not those recordings. They are a very recent release.

[Dave2002]

Pretty surely not those recordings. They are a very recent release.

OK - will check.

Perhaps the one with the Kronos Quartet and Aki Takahashi I mentioned for 99p is also worth having?

[RichardB]

in exactly my size too - well, allegedly, as I need to shed a few pounds in the middle for it to be a perfect fit.

At a certain point I thought I might as well give up buying clothes for the size I thought I really was once those pounds were shed!

[Bryn]

OK - will check.

Perhaps the one with the Kronos Quartet and Aki Takahashi I mentioned for 99p is also worth having?

At that price, yes. However, I prefer both the Tilbury/Smith Qt (audio DVD from Matchless Recordings or download from https://www.rerdownloads.com/?page_id=8481) and the recentish Apartment House recordings.