Better music player alternative to Mac Air / laptop

Yes, as mentioned, I was using the Mac Air with external DAC but wonder if the circuitry inside the Mac / laptop is "dirty" as claimed and switching to cleaner streamer/player will render better SQ. So, are you saying that switching to streamer as the player won’t render better SQ based on your experience? Please confirm.

I was using the old (2013) Mac Air that has the option for higher sampling rates but you need to change it every time. Also you need to switch it to highest rate in order to accommodate all the high-res. PCM files I had. So it means some of the lower sampling-rate audio music will be over-sampled. I heard the Asio plug-in in foobar 2000 could get around the issue but I do not have luck to get it working yet.

While I was done with replying your first msg, your 2nd msg pops up.  I will try that.  Sound exciting although I am not tech savy.

Thank you all for the advices. Before proceeding with streaming route, I would like to explore the use of the streamer / file server for playing music out of the HDD / SSD. Based on my research, most of the streamer comes with the USB port for connecting with the HD and support the PCM file up to 24/192 and/or DSD (vary in res.) I only need a streamer / server do two things and do them well, which are (1) deliver the digital signal from HD to the DAC and (2) convenient file retrieval / management. I read the user reviews on several more affordable streamers with good feedback, including ifi Zen streamer ($400), BS Node 2i ($600) and Cambridge CXN v1 ($800). If none of these more affordable gears sound good, I will consider going with (much) more pricey options as you have mentioned. Your opinions in terms of the sound quality, friendliness of the sever, etc.? Do these options stand up to the challenge?

Thanks, @ghdprentice. Thanks to this fellow’s review on Aurender N150 and the comparison with the Mac Air as the player, I was finally convinced thru my ears that noticeable part of spatial / SS information was indeed missing from using Mac Air as the music player. So, Aurender costs $3500 and can only be considered as a mid-tier performer, I am not sure if I have deep pockets for that kind of money to refine my system. My current system is worth only two-third of price for single component. I may choose to give up because I will end up with chasing my own tail with incremental upgrades.

Finally, I tried out the iFi Zen Streamer when it is on sale for $299. I still has not streamed hi-res music from those music providers but simply played out the flac files from HDD. Wow, I wish I try earlier. The SQ is improved in every way as compared to playing from Mac or laptop. Music is more airy and open. SS is wider/deeper with darker background and better separation. Clarity is improved too, making low volume level music listening more enjoyable.  For example, cymbal sound more real with extended reverb. I was fully convinced.

Yep, I plan to try iFi iPower 2 or possibly LPS 12 volts next.  Let me know please if you have positive experience with them.