For those that have separate Streamers & DACS

Thanks.  My only hesitation on the Aurender is its lack of compatibility with Roon, but I hear nothing but good things about them.

Appreciate all of the responses and opinions.  I agree that the DAC choice will have a big impact on the final choice of streamer, and also know that not too many folks actually build their own streamers.

Some things I have personally had in my system for sometime and kind of how this got started for me.  In my second system I had a Bluesound Node 2i going into a Chord Qutest.  I replaced the Bluesound with the iFi Zen Stream and noticed a surprising improvement.  Over time, I've upgraded my second system so that it now rivals my main rig and the last piece of the puzzle is the digital source and DAC.  I moved the Innuos Zenith MKIII into the system two to audition DACs and noticed how much better it was than the Zen Stream which started me wondering what would be the ultimate best fit for my final DAC choice.  Right now, the leader in the clubhouse DAC wise is the Merason DAC1.  I've also lining up a Bricasti M3 audition and an Ideon Ayazi audition for DACS and have already played with a few others.  Based on my system, I've eliminated anything Chord and Weiss.

Assuming I decide to spring for the Merason, some streaming options that I'm thinking about include the newer Innuos Pulse series, the Bricasti M5, the Auralic Aries G1 (not sure what the bump to 2.1 would get me), something from Sonore and maybe something from Aurender (but the lack of Roon does give me pause). 

System is Fleetwood Deville's, Backert Labs Rhythm 1.3 and McGary SA1E.

@verdantaudio If I'm looking at a streaming solution under $4K, what are the differences between the Bricasti M5 and the Antipodes S30?  Pluses and minuses with either?

@phastm3 "that sounds a lot like Dr.Vinyl’s old system…he had that same setup last year"

He still sells the Backert Labs and McGary, and yes most of it came from him.

@verdantaudio Thanks!  I do have an Innuos Zenith MkIII in the house so I have the server end covered if I need that for whatever goes into this system.

For anyone with experience with the Bricasti stuff.  I've got a local owner who is letting me demo his M3.  When I use the USB input from my Innuous Zennith MkIII, no problem.  When I try to use the ethernet port (which is lit up and connected), Roon doesn't see it and one of the displays says "LAN OFF".  Is there a way to turn it on or am I doing something wrong?

It's not showing up on Roon to enable at all.   If I use the USB input, it's there, not when I switch to the ethernet port.  A little baffling.

Thanks!  No Mac minis but some other Macs in the house.  I've rebooted once but will shut down the macs and try again. 

@verdantaudio For whatever reason, I couldn't get my network to see the M3.  I rebooted the router and switches three times, restarted the Innuos and tried connecting via the Innuos ethernet direct connection as well as other places on the network.  I'm perplexed as to why I could not get it to connect, but was also running out of time on the demo so had to use the USB input for my comparisons.  My short answer (as demoed) is that I really like the Bricasti but it's not a perfect match with the Fleetwood Deville's.  Thanks for all the suggestions!