New DAC or New Streamer?


This should be fun. After I pay to get my amp upgraded at VAC next month  I plan to either upgrade my DAC or Streamer next. I should have enough for that by late spring/early summer. I'm retired so I save some each month until I have what I need. My system is in my user profile. But to keep this simple my current DAC is the Dinafrips Venus II I got a year ago. (I also have the Hermes DDC)

My streamer is the Cambridge CXN V2 via coax to the Hermes-> I2s -> DAC which is also 1 year old. I was just getting into streaming then and knew little about it. I have learned a lot this past year, a whole lot.

I think the bottle neck is leaning more toward the streamer. It seems the DAC is pretty good, I know there are much better DAC's out there but it holds it own I think. Maybe not? I cannot afford the likes of DCS, Lampizator, etc.

The next planned upgrades are a Terminator II DAC and Aurender N200 Streamer. Both are $5000-$6000. (Unless I go for the Terminator + DAC that is $7500 but I am not sure it is $2500 better than the Terminator II)

So, since both will get upgraded a year apart, which should I go for first? Which would provide the biggest upgrade?

Thanks. Happy holidays to all.

fthompson251

Showing 4 responses by jerryg123

If you are using an Innuos streamer or server using the Sense app is superior to Roon software. They also are very consistent with upgrades.

This is my opinion and many here are of the same opinion. 

I was an early adapter of the Roon Ecosystem and bought the lifetime package. Sure glad my kids are using it.

@lalitk I am wondering what filtering devices you recommend. 
 

I would love to hear your thoughts also @sns ​​​​​@charles1dad .

Well said! I will go one step further…without network optimization, you’re not hearing full potential of your streamer or server. It is so vital to clean up the Ethernet signal from your modem or router before it enters your streamer/server. Even if your streamer/ server is galvanically isolated or use superior noise rejection circuitry, using some kind of noise filtering device is proven to be helpful in cleaning up the grunge. The degree of improvement from noise filtering devices may vary in each setup but they are generally effective. Please don’t go gadget crazy…IME, one or two high quality noise filtering devices are more than adequate, atleast that’s been true in my system.