No smart phone.

[Morgan D]

Is there a streamer that doesn't require a smart phone? I know I am living in the dark ages and woefully ignorant about digital products. Help?

 

[Rockyhill]

BlueSound Node has a very good Windows app.

 

[swechsler]

There are several, but to be honest it would probably be cheaper to purchase an inexpensive used, older smartphone or tablet, along with a good quality Bluetooth receiver for your system, than a dedicated streamer.

 

[RTally]

Is there a streamer that doesn't require a smart phone? I know I am living in the dark ages and woefully ignorant about digital products. Help?

It all depends upon how you want to control your streamer. You need some way to select the streaming service and to select the music to play and then to start, pause, and stop the music.

There are streamer boxes that have a small display with pushbuttons to navigate the menus. At best these are cumbersome. I consider them a PIA.

If you have a computer or laptop, you can use that device as a controller. I assume you have a computer and internet access since you are here. There are numerous ways to make this happen. A lot depends on what you want to stream and how your computer system is set up. Is there a service that you want enabled?

The most convenient option is to use a mobile device as a controller. You do not need a cellular plan. All you need is an old phone or tablet that uses WiFi (I assume you have WiFi available). If you have a friend who uses a smart phone, they more than likely have an old, retired phone sitting around. If not, low cost old phones are widely available at phone stores and on Craigs List. Or you can buy a pay-as-you-go phone just to get the phone and not use the cell stuff. I have an old Android tablet on my desk that I use to control streaming from my music server. It sits on a stand and shows the album cover and song title, along with buttons for controlling the music.

Really, though, before we can advise on hardware, we need to know what you want to stream. We also need to know the details of your computer setup: is there WiFi?

 

[HB3]

I use a ten year old Toshiba laptop to stream Amazon Music at home. Works very well for me. Run it into a dac and then an amp. Listen to either headphones or speakers.

 

[Morgan D]

Thank you, yes I have an old unused laptop But it runs really slow . R Tally Perhaps you can walk me through getting it running faster and I can just use the it with an external dac? Is spotify horrible qaulity?

 

[swechsler]

Thank you, yes I have an old unused laptop But it runs really slow

How old is the laptop? Make and model? Many laptops can be sped up by replacing the built in hard drive with an SSD, but this will require some technical know-how (there are videos that show how to do it) and reinstallation of the operating system (Windows, I assume).

 

[Condorsat]

Been steaming since 2012. I think that both my mains (speakers) & headphone rig(s) sound really good to my ears.

I stream on my mains using an old HP Laptop as the web interface to external DAC. On my headphone rig ... I use a HP desktop as the web interface to external DAC. I buy entry level computers ... Laptop during a Black Friday sale years ago ... my PC came from Walmart.

Don't own a Smartphone yet .. I keep saying I'll get one next year .. but next year keeps on moving to next year.
My wife owns a flip phone . That's about as modern as we get .. thus far.

 

[E-Stat]

Is there a streamer that doesn't require a smart phone?

Any streamers that support LMS can be controlled using any Win or MacOS based computer.

Which ranges from inexpensive Raspberry Pi based units to higher performance ones like my Sonore ultraRendu.

 

[RTally]

Thank you, yes I have an old unused laptop But it runs really slow . R Tally Perhaps you can walk me through getting it running faster and I can just use the it with an external dac? Is spotify horrible qaulity?

Unless you are technically skilled, it is best to consider getting something that already works.

What is your budget? What is it you hope to accomplish? What do you want to stream?

 

[Morgan D]

How cheap can I go to stream DECENT quality sound through my preamp without buying a smart phone?

 

[GChief]

Sounds like my 82 yr old dad, "I want it to do all the cool stuff but I don't want to upgrade the tech to do it"

Used smart phones are cheap and do not require a service for your use. I have an old iPhone that only hooks up to the wifi (no card for the cell service) that I stream with. And as others have said a cheap tablet works also.

Someone you know probably has an old phone in a drawer.

 

[Morgan D]

How old is the laptop? Make and model? Many laptops can be sped up by replacing the built in hard drive with an SSD, but this will require some technical know-how (there are videos that show how to do it) and reinstallation of the operating system (Windows, I assume).

LOVE Steely Dan! The Laptop is a compaq presario CQ57. Windows 7 ?If this no good, I also have a Samsung. But it has a key board that is a little weird. It was bought in Germany.

 

[Morgan D]

Sounds like my 82 yr old dad, "I want it to do all the cool stuff but I don't want to upgrade the tech to do it"

Used smart phones are cheap and do not require a service for your use. I have an old iPhone that only hooks up to the wifi (no card for the cell service) that I stream with. And as others have said a cheap tablet works also.

Someone you know probably has an old phone in a drawer.

I think I have a phobia for new tech. I want to upgrade, but sooo many choices.

 

[GChief]

I think I have a phobia for new tech. I want to upgrade, but sooo many choices.

I control both my streamers from an old iPhone with no service. It's really an easy day. And as I mentioned you can probably find someone that will give you one. It's only a remote w/ a calculator and such.

 

[Kayel]

Is there a streamer that doesn't require a smart phone? I know I am living in the dark ages and woefully ignorant about digital products. Help?

Wiim mini streamer.

 

[Morgan D]

Wiim mini streamer.

Needs a smart phone yes?

 

[swechsler]

LOVE Steely Dan! The Laptop is a compaq presario CQ57. Windows 7

You're probably in luck. If your laptop has at least 4GB of RAM, you can buy a cheap SSD (128GB is plenty to run Windows, but you might consider one of the larger models if you want to store a lot of media on the laptop; upgrades up to 1TB are still really cheap), install it yourself, and install Windows 10 (Windows 7 is no longer supported, but Microsoft provides free upgrades to Win 10) on the new drive, using a USB thumb drive 8GB or larger. It's actually pretty easy to do if you have another Windows PC to create the thumb drive, but you should ensure that your computer still has the Windows license sticker on it somewhere (if it has a removeable battery, take it out and look under there).

If you're near a Micro Center, they sometimes give away SSDs for free once you're on their mailing list.

 

[Kayel]

Needs a smart phone yes?

Nope. less than $100 on Amazon.

 

[Morgan D]

You're probably in luck. If your laptop has at least 4GB of RAM, you can buy a cheap SSD (128GB is plenty to run Windows, but you might consider one of the larger models if you want to store a lot of media on the laptop; upgrades up to 1TB are still really cheap), install it yourself, and install Windows 10 (Windows 7 is no longer supported, but Microsoft provides free upgrades to Win 10) on the new drive, using a USB thumb drive 8GB or larger. It's actually pretty easy to do if you have another Windows PC to create the thumb drive, but you should ensure that your computer still has the Windows license sticker on it somewhere (if it has a removeable battery, take it out and look under there).

If you're near a Micro Center, they sometimes give away SSDs for free once you're on their mailing list.

The Samsung is an R510. Would I have to do surgery on that one too?