I have been researching streamers since I mostly use headphones for my music listening now since the wife of 37 years has issues when I listen to my 2-channel system due to loud listening levels. So, as they say, happy wife happy life.
My current headphone rig:
Headphones: Denon AH-D9200’s (closed back) and Senn HD 650 (open back). Contemplating buying the ZMF Caldera
DAC: Schiit Bifrost 2/64
Amp: Schiit Folkvangr with Mullard E88CC tubes.
I have been using my custom PC I built since I am still a gamer at the age of 57. The cost of the PC was over 5k and the most expensive part was the GPU (ASUS RTX 4090). The PSU is a Corsair AX1600i (80 PLUS Titanium) at $610 (USD). I believe the PSU is the heart of the system. The CPU is a i9-13900KS and I am using 32gb of Corsair DDR5 ram. The motherboard is an ASUS Z790 ROG Maxiumus Hero. Storage used is 2 Samsung 990 Pro 2TB on the motherboard and an 8TB Samsung QVO SSD. I connect my PC via USB to the Schiit Bifrost 2/64 DAC. I do not hear any audible noise when the music is not playing.
I use Tidal and Apple music for streaming. I have used iTunes for many years before Tidal and I like using it. I have connected my iPad Pro via the Apple lightening to USB adapter to my Schiit DAC. I have recently purchased a Mac Mini M2 Pro (16gb, 1tb SSD) as my streamer. Comparing my custom PC to the Mac Mini M2 Pro I give the edge to my PC for sound quality. I bought the Mac Mini as an open box at Microcenter for $1,100 (retail $1,499), yes, I know Apple products cost money. I like the small foot print of the Mac Mini and I remember attending the stereo show in SOCAL (THE SHOW) pre covid and many of the exhibit rooms were using a Mac Mini as their music server.
I also own a Oppo 205 in my main system and after reading one of the posts I may use it as a streamer. There is a lot of talk on the internet about the Eversolo DMP-A6 as a streamer, it is currently on Amazon at $859 and I have contemplated trying it. I have been advised to try the Lumin U2 ($5k) or the HiFi Rose RS250A ($2,695). My thoughts are the streamer is sending a digital signal (not going to use the DAC in the streamer) to my DAC and the DAC should take care of the processing. Decisions, decisions.