2. digital
  3. 160436-150944

spend on the streamer or on the DAC ?

I a considering splashing north of 5000 (euro) for a new source for my rig (MOOON 340i, OPERA QUINTA speaker, McIntosh SACD, Node2). Better to spend more for the DAC or the streamer ? I was thinking about a Schitt yggrasil.Or would it make sense to spalsh on a more expensive DAC and use the Node2 as a streamer, or, for that matter, stream from my Macbook Pro. Regards.
olica

Showing 2 responses by mgrif104

mgrif104
388 posts
 
@djones51. 

Sorry you’re missing out.  I have 3 streamers from 3 systems.  I’ve compared them all going into the same DAC.  Plenty more than a nickels worth of difference between them.  But, to each their own.

mgrif104
388 posts
 
I have a different view than the others.  Yes, the DAC is very important, but I also found that the streamer or source is as important. 

I started with a Node 2 going into an outboard DAC, and found a sizable improvement in performance when upgrading the streamer going into the same DAC.  BTW - It didn’t present itself as a tonal difference, but In the form of a lot more spatial detail.  The Node 2 sounded “flat” dimensionally in comparison. The upgraded streamer also offered more information and musical detail but the most obvious difference was how the soundscape just opened up dramatically.  

Perhaps you could audition better sources along with better DACs to see how it works in your system. In any case, YMMV but it’s worth exploring.

My $.02. 
More to discover