I have a fantastic DAC (Denafrips Terminator II) I upgraded from a nice Bluesound Node to am Innuos Zen Mk3 Streamer. I'm not as knowledgeable or technically gifted in terms of describing what I am hearing as a lot of the vets on this forum by a log shot, but I am hear to tell you..... NIGHT and DAY. The SQ improvement was stunning. Every Component in the chain matters, some may matter more than others, but the higher quality streamer was a game changer for my system.
Help settle a streaming argument!
This is a SQ argument and is as follows- I argue if you connect your streamer to an outboard DAC the streamer does not matter it’s just serving the music to the outboard DAC to do the work. Therefore, buy a basic streamer. The other is that you need to buy a top quality streamer and DAC to get great SQ.
I liken it to cd players or the more pretentious cd transport argument- if the intent is to connect to outboard DAC the cd player doesn’t matter the outboard DAC DOES!
features and functionality aside! Thoughts…..