RS150b vs RS130 as Streamer Comparison

I have an RS150B, currently used purely as a streamer going into Mola Mola Tambaqui.
Has anyone compared the difference with RS130 purely for front end streaming. Will it make a difference to change to RS130.
Anyone with experience/ tried this.

HI @IGP
My friend and I were RS150b users. We compared it to the RS130 in the distributor’s showroom three times. We eventually decided to get the RS130 since it is better to our ears.
I sold my RS150B before I got the RS130. But my friend still had the RS150B when he received his unit. He confirmed the RS130 is better in his system, too.
Since you have an external DAC, you may tempt to add or change other associated components, such as SFP switch and cable, etc.
It’s all up to you. :wink:

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Hi Tom, thank you. So what u r stating is you compared both purely as streamer front into a external dac. Am I right? Was it a significant difference or a mild one. Is it worth the money? I will continue to be using the tambaqui as dac. That’s the plan.

I have a question for both of you (IGP & TomT)… I want to test my RS150B with an external DAC via USB and I’m told that in order for it to work properly, it would be best to keep a fixed Sampling Rate from the RS150B at 96K… is this a setting I can manipulate or choose in order to avoid synchronization issues with the external DAC? Would appreciate any feedback you can share from your own experiences in using external DACS with the RS150B or RS130. Many Thanks!

I am using via USB and you can definitely change sampling rate . That is my experience. Have not faced any issues of synchronisation issue with the 150b and tambaqui combo

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I also have a Tambaqui. An opportunity came to borrow a RS150b for a few days to see the sound quality gain versus using a computer for streaming. Based on that experience I decided to buy the RS130.
For me the difference between the RS150b and RS130 is quite large. Better bass definition, even more pristine highs and a bigger soundstage. But I also think it depends on the rest of your system quality level. I would buy an RS130 again and highly recommend it.

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Thank you orbiter. Appreciate it

Many Thanks for the feedback IGP… :+1:

It is very much appreciated… :ok_hand:

I am not an expert, but to connect the Tambaqui to the RS130 via sfp USB, you need an USB fiber optical hub like the RSA720.
But if you preferred the Tambaqui standalone versus via the streamer from the RS150b (I find this very surprising), you would do best to keep your money, I think.

The way I look at those optical, galvanic, isolation … terms: I ignore them. I feel they have become more like marketing terms than anything else. Every ethernet connection is by default galvanically isolated (or am I wrong?). Most quality dacs have USB ports galvanically isolated. So taking this further by additional boxes may help, but it is not very clear to me why. I intend to even buy this RSA720 eventually, just because it is not very expensive and I might have fun trying it out. But I do not have very high expectations…
About the RS130. I have a computer running Roon and only use rose as a pure streamer. I even turn its display off. So those software problems people are reporting don’t affect me very much. I tell everyone this is the first box of electronics that I bought that I don’t understand what it does. I just know it helps the sound of my sistem tremendously and I would not want to be without it.

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I can recommend using the sfp as a data connection from your router to the rs130 and from the rs130 to the tambaqui through a high quality usb cable. This meant giant steps in my system. Of course, these will become more or less apparent depending on your system’s resolution. Good luck!