Digital Advice

Looking to replace my Denon 2900 which is very old and having more problems.

Option #1DAC and Mac (I already own)

Option #2 Stand-alone Streamer DAC

For digital I play CD’s to the 2900.

Many but not all my CDs have been ripped to the Mac.

Goal is to stream music to HIFI system & play legacy CDs.

I stream Amazon Music HD, on my Mac and mobile devices.

My budget is $600.

mybuddy02-05-2025 1:47pm

mybuddy OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 28 posts 02-06-2025 at 11:58am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete DAC & Mac = 0 Streamer DAC = 4 votes A repurposed Mac allows me to spend the entire budget on a DAC. This should result in a better DAC. Also the Mac is already setup for streaming, and most of the CDs I own are on the hard drive. Surprised to see zero votes for this option. Why?
mybuddy OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 28 posts 02-09-2025 at 12:06pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete DAC & Mac = 5 Streamer DAC = 8 votes After reading the many great advice my thought is I need to decide if this is an end game purchase or a start of a journey. An end game purchase requires 2-3x the budget I have now. Even those who suggested a streamer DAC at the $600 budget hinted at adding a separate DAC as an upgrade path. One thing I learned here in selecting a streamer is to pick one with a good app. I admit I have to be educated here. I have only used the Amazon app to stream music & Apple Music to play burned CDs.