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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
128x128artemus_5

Showing 1 response by mtraesbo

mtraesbo
46 posts
 
I would recommend separate streamer and DAC. 

Regarding streamer I would first of all select one, where your favourite streaming services is embedded (Tidal, Spotify, etc). Secondly, I would vouch for using Roon. I enjoy the music metadata and music management capability. Personally, I am on my 2nd streamer and is using the Innuos Mini and that is great. 

For DAC a initial consideration is whether it is is MQA-enabled or not. Secondly, pending your budget, you could consider a FPGA-based DAC vs chip-based. Currently, I have the RME ADI-2 DAC and that works very well with the Innuos. 

Both sell for around 1k €. 
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