OP here is our take on the matter, we had a client trade in the same DCS Pucinni you had, however, he did not have the clock.
He traded it in for a Lumin A1 which he found to far outperform his DCS.
As per streaming vs CD we find that a good server with a good USB cable or Ethernet cable for those that have streaming/dac's makes a very audible improvement in the sound.
We have right now in the shop three world class uber streamers, the Laufer Technik Memory Player, the Innuous Statement and a Baetis Reference and they all sound quite different.
We have also run testes of comparing Innuous, Aurender products and a few others vs the more expensive stuff, and the impact that a good server makes is incontrovertable by listening.
A Roon Nuclus is not in our opinion a proper level streamer to power a big DCS rig, and it also depends on how the DCS is receiving its signal and are you using any upsamping or transcoding.
If you want to be blown away by a one piece streaming dac the Lumin X1 is considered a match to the DCS Bartok and many people feel that the Lumin is in reality a class by itself for its price point.
A recent review on the X1 proclaimed it to sound better than most multi box setups at two to three times the price. The X1 is rather extraordinary sounding and as an added bonus it benefits from being feed by a good server outputing a cleaned up ethernet signal as well.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin and Innuous dealers
He traded it in for a Lumin A1 which he found to far outperform his DCS.
As per streaming vs CD we find that a good server with a good USB cable or Ethernet cable for those that have streaming/dac's makes a very audible improvement in the sound.
We have right now in the shop three world class uber streamers, the Laufer Technik Memory Player, the Innuous Statement and a Baetis Reference and they all sound quite different.
We have also run testes of comparing Innuous, Aurender products and a few others vs the more expensive stuff, and the impact that a good server makes is incontrovertable by listening.
A Roon Nuclus is not in our opinion a proper level streamer to power a big DCS rig, and it also depends on how the DCS is receiving its signal and are you using any upsamping or transcoding.
If you want to be blown away by a one piece streaming dac the Lumin X1 is considered a match to the DCS Bartok and many people feel that the Lumin is in reality a class by itself for its price point.
A recent review on the X1 proclaimed it to sound better than most multi box setups at two to three times the price. The X1 is rather extraordinary sounding and as an added bonus it benefits from being feed by a good server outputing a cleaned up ethernet signal as well.
Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin and Innuous dealers