Suggestions for a streamer only (I have a great DAC)

I thought dCS had their own streamer, no? Apparently not.

I have tried a few, of which I thought the Bricasti M5 and the Auralic Aries G1 were very good. I tried both at home, couldn't hear a difference, and bought the Auralic. I like it very much.

The similar Auralic Aries G2.1 is more costly (their top of the line), but it's unclear that it's better when used with a non-Auralic DAC.

@naperaudio - " I have heard of people not liking the Auralic software music management (Lightning?). Do you like it?"

I have not used it for many years, because recent versions run only on iOS, and I use Android devices. I would buy an iPad for this if I needed to, but there is no need. I use Auralic’s Web interface for managing the Aries G1 and other software for playing music.

As to people not liking Lightning DS, that is unsurprising. Name any audio product here, and you will find some people who don’t like it. I also have heard from many people who think it’s superb. But the Aries G1 hardware is not tied to Auralic’s software exclusively.

Now I am using Roon to play music. It’s easy to use and interfaces with Tidal and Qobuz simply. There is a recurring small cost and also the cost of a computer to run it on, but it runs very well with the Aries G1 (which is "Roon Ready"). If you own dCS gear, the cost of Roon isn’t likely to bother you.

Other apps I’ve used to direct music to the Aries G1 are BubbleUPnP, which runs on Android, and Lumin’s software, which I think is available on both ioS and Android. Of course, if you are willing to use an iPad for this, you can try Lightning DS, too. All of those can play from Qobuz and Tidal, as well as from local files.