This is a very enjoyable discussion with some very good recommendations. I have been streaming through my iphone with a direct connection to an external DAC. I too am in the market for a step up but my budget was not anywhere close to the yours or the recommendation by the fellow posters. I think a budget option that would provide a big step up would be the WiiM Pro with the voice remote. You can look it up and see if it has the features you need. It has a budget internal DAC in the form of the TI PCM5121. For the price of a hotel room on the outskirts of any major US city it is amazing full featured and sounds as good as it sounds. Once your are ready to move up it can be reassigned to the garage or hunting shack system. Enjoy the search and the joy of listening to your music for its pleasure without your left brain interference.
Digital music questions
I'm somewhat new to hi res digital audio and I'm looking for some tips. I have been building my system and have purchased McIntosh c2700, which has a DAC built in, a 462 amp, and B&W 802d4s. Using Apple Music, I have been streaming music through a Macbook Pro via a USB cable to the DAC of the c2700 preamp.
The McIntosh preamp states the streaming quality is 44.1 kHz, which seem to be the low end of high-res streaming. I currently have so many subscriptions, including Sirius XM for the cars and Apple Music for my family, and more recently Nugs for concerts, (not to mention video subscriptions...seems it never ends), so I was hoping not to add another paid subscription.
That being said, am I leaving a lot on the table? Would a dedicated streamer sound a lot better than the Macbook Pro? Are there streamers without DACs, so I can use the McIntosh DAC without purchasing redundant equipment? I understand I cannot use Apple Music to get high res audio to the preamp, as they only provide it through Apple equipment at this time. Can I get a streamer that uses the DAC of the c2700 preamp? Finally, do I then need to add another subscription, such as Tidal or Qobuz, to get high res audio?
Thanks....it's a lot of questions, but I'm sure someone here can help!