To Stream or not to Stream


[A collective sign resonates from forum members upon seeing "Stream" in the title]  ...Before you run away, I read a number of threads dealing with streaming, so this is to ask about what I didn't learn.

I am trying to select a streaming option into my McIntosh DA2 DAC. I would like to stay south of $4k and get the best bang for my buck. It would be best if I could sit in the comfort of my chair with my MacBook, iPhone or iPad and control my music. I do not need a fancy screen on the component. They are nice, but I only care about the sound.

To make a decision / purchase I hope to get answers to the following:

  1. I have a CD collection, but none are HD. Why do people rip CDs when all of those CDs can be streamed from music services? I have Tidal and want to drop it for Qobuz. Learning more about the burning CD topic will help narrow down if should go with a ripper / streamer combo. 
  2. I can't find much on my DA2 DAC but assume it's top notch being from McIntosh? Consensus? How do I know if I should use it versus another streamer option with its own DAC?
  3. It appears that a USB connection is needed for DSD512 (basically the most demanding formats)? I can't find much on this but many of the recommended streamers on this site do not always have USB-out, which is confusing at some of the high price points!?
  4. Is DSD only achieved from ripping CDs?
  5. What are people doing to stream DSD512 or other formats of this quality? 
  6. I haven't seen anyone recommend the Roon Nucleus? If I'm not going to rip CDs, is it one to add to my consideration list?

This would be easy if I had money... Aurender ACS10 if I want to rip or N20, up. Others as well at these price points.

I see used N100s here... maybe that's my answer unless I want to rip. The Innuos is intriguing, but you have to buy a separate power supply... I just want to get this right the first time and be happy. I'm already gun-shy of making another purchase mistake like the new Bluesound Node 2i I need to sell... It's only a mistake because it does not do USB-out (as of this post) or support the formats I wish to stream to my DA2. Not a fan of its software either. 

Thank you!


128x128izjjzi
The blue sound 2I has a better dac then the old one the old one has a usb out this new one should have had also the stupid idiots 
released it when 2 days work or just copy the old one ,I wrote to them a future firmware upgrade very soon ? Whatever that means . I just don’t get it  my Mrs was going to use
with a $800 dac for upstairs . All newerMelco  n100
maybe even older ones big firmware upgrade I think last month 
now has Roon very well made . Sure you could add a linear powersupply if you wan5 at a later point still night and day 
better then any regular computer much much more quiet and sonicly better. I highly recommend to totally remove noise from your Ethernet signal the Uptone Audio Ether Regen for $640
a easy recommendation , I also bought the mini Ultra still points 
they truly clear up inner detail and overall performance 
if running a streamer no wifi a decent Ethernet cable from modem 
to router, I hav3 over 30 ft I use pro grade certified Beldon cat6
500 MHz , at the end where the regen Ethernet switch is a pretty goo Wireworld Ethernet cable which is the most important cable 
only $210 retail to match the modem $1570 retail just in refinements , the Bricasti M3 with streamer card is excellent 
now I just need to fbi your a excellent dedicated music server,
Thinking maybe , Melco N10.

Fail to understand


It’s the vintage of re-issues they stream, later ones are usually much more compressed than earlier non compressed releases of the same thing, and chances are you get the later ones, and they don’t tell you the Catalog number so you can check here https://dr.loudness-war.info/

Cheers George
Before you drop some serious coin on the ability to stream, as a less expensive solution, how about this bluetooth streaming device from McIntosh...  This MB20 looks cool.  
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/media-streamers/MB20
Looks like the perfect thing instead for what probably is not a real serious streaming, but it looks like its got potential.  I plan on getting something like this as a first step.  
Fail to understand those who loath streaming in favor of cds and records.  I have 500 or so albums and just as many cds and i am not interested in only playing them.  Love variety and convenience.


 High end systems used for streaming sound as good as lps and cds.  Cd quality is often a problem and scratched lps dont heal.
Also have lots of casettes, very nice.
snbeall
I guarantee the convenience is worth it alone.
All the more reason to trial streaming with relatively inexpensively equipment first (and with home trial).


I give you that part, it is convenient, but there’s no booklet which is a shame.

But here something you could do, to see if you don’t mind listening compressed vs uncompressed music, go with the trial streaming company that can give you the "vintage and Cat No, "of the recording issue they stream and you listen to. (If not I wouldn’t even go that way)

Then you can compare it on the Dynamic Range Data Base site to see if your getting the "later/est compressed one" compared to the "earlier/est non-compressed ones"

(Like this Springsteen Born to Run album)

Red (bad) means highly compressed
Green (good) means uncompressed and original usually from the master.

The first 1982 release CD
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/98918

And here is the 2014 compressed (squashed) Qobuz one
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/58448



Cheers George
@snbeall,

Sorry to say but you’re barking up the wrong tree…. Just read on last few posts and you’ll know exactly who you dealing with! 
https://forum.audiogon.com/users/georgehifi/posts

+1 georgehifi! I agree with you!


Yep, with the later issue compressed ****, there’s no space of quite stuff between the loud parts, it all hectic, no chance for the ears/brain to breath, and do you think the muso’s want it that way when they originally played/recorded it
NO Way!!!!!

Well, in that one particular example, I would have to agree.
All you have to do is look for whatever you want on the DRDB site https://dr.loudness-war.info/ and get whatever issue is most green, and it will be 9 x out of 10 the first vinyl or cd issue

Cheers George
Well, in that one particular example, I would have to agree. Have not compared the two personally so will have to take the data at face value. All the more reason to trial streaming with relatively inexpensively equipment first (and with home trial).

I guarantee the convenience is worth it alone. But there are some excellent fidelity streaming recordings as well. And the greatest advantage in my opinion is the VAST amount of music one would never be exposed to otHerwise. 
+1 georgehifi! I agree with you! The original flat transfers tend to be the best! Streaming users are trading off fidelity for convenience!
Post removed 


Just look at this compression comparison of the same Bruce Springsteen "Born to Run" from the first 1982 CD and the re-released 2014 Qobuz streamed/download one.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/cd-quality-versus-streaming-quality/post?postid=2214946#22149...

Cheers George
Easy. Bluesound Node (2021) from Crutchfield on 60 day home trial plus Tidal. Use digital out with first MQA unfold done to your DAC (unless it is MQA compliant - I don’t keep up with Macintosh). It will show you the quality and more importantly VARIETY of streamed content. You may just stop there and save yourself a lot of angst (and $). If not, or if you want to try something else, no foul. Send it back to Crutchfield.

I’m enjoying mine right now feeding my Meridian DSP speakers directly, controlling from my IPad while feeding it Apple Lossless HIRez alternately with Tidal MQA. New recordings sound infinitely better than older stuff on CDs thru a very excellent Meridian CD transport.
I first started ripping because I liked iTunes and the convenience of moving my music to an iPod or iPhone. I ended up ripping my collection 3 times (ending with ALAC) and then my next move was to buy a NAS to hold all of my music. I moved into a house with Sonos installed everywhere. Then when Qobuz became available, I got that after I’d started using Roon.

I rarely ever listen to spinning CDs. For me the convenience of listening from one integrated database across midfi (Sonos, Apple TV,  Chromecast), or my hifi system, is worth it. Like others, I have CDs that aren’t on Qobuz. FWIW I am currently using a PS Audio DAC with a streaming board connected to my home’s Ethernet for my hifi system . Looking at options is dizzying, but I’d recommend trying to listen to 2-3 options then letting that go and just enjoy the music.
Yep, streaming can be complex undertaking, so many routes available, constant change and innovation. Unique solutions are far more rule than exception. The only advice I can give is every link in chain matters in optimizing streaming sound quality. I started streaming many years ago, this has been fun and interesting journey.
I think you’re way overthinking this. You don’t need to be spending a fortune. Just take itsjustme’s advice. He knows what he’s talking about. 
how do you connect your tablet to your Bricasti DAC?  Does it have the power & bandiwdth (over???) to upsample and stream both full CD and HD? the convenience and simplicity soudns alluring for many at first, but leaves lots of questions.

For build quality ,made in MA. U.SA. Machined billet aluminum case 
Classic AD 1955 laser trimmed dual  Multibitbit dacs ,separate modules for dsd conversion ,separate linear power supplies and Streamer card for $6500
Bricasti M3 dac  with analog preamplifier is a true high end bargain. And run all your music off your tablet,no drivers to load,or firmwear headaches👍

However, I do not stream my music for serious, usually by myself, listening. (snip) In those instances it is LP’s, cd’s etc...I have not invested a lot into the streaming stuff,

I've taken this pretty seriously and I can say, without reservation, that good streaming (minimum full red book, better: high res) sounds better than ripped CDs and ripped CDs from a good, low jitter streamer sound better than those same CDs played from a CD player --. SPDIF --> the same DAC.

LPs vs digital is more of a philosophical and preferences thing. Objectively most old, commercial release records tend to suck - lots of pressing distortion, compression, etc.  to me, no comparison. I am not referring to "audiophile" pressings but they are generally marginal music.  But 99% of the time, LPs come in, for me, dead last. (but often romantically so)


You had a different experience.  Your own words explain why you  feel differently. You have not put the time or $$ into making streaming good. So that's hardly a reason to criticize the format.


Before you think you must spend a lot, my first epiphany came when i ripped CDs and played them backing using a Macbook pro, bitperfect, USB, running the laptop on batter to reduce ground and power supply noise.  Just better.  I began experimenting and never looked back.  Note my ripped CDs and streaming come from the identical source:  my Roon server - so its apples to apples.

Just sayin'


I like streaming and it sounds pretty good. However, I do not stream my music for serious, usually by myself, listening. In those instances it is LP’s, cd’s etc...but when casually listening or with family, streaming is a great option. I also enjoy finding new music via streaming. I sort of use it to test whether or not I’d consider buying the physical copy. I have not invested a lot into the streaming stuff, as I see no benefit. What I do have sounds very good to my ears.
@itsjustme (G) Thank you for taking the time to respond in such detail. Absolutely helps to understand. : )  I hope your fingers have recovered!

I am on vacation and will be reading more on this topic, but thanks to everyone's responses and a special thanks to a private helping hand, I am in a really good place mentally to take the next steps over the coming weeks. 

Joining this forum was a good move and something I think can be included as a component in many of our systems - the audio loving community - you.

Best,
J
IN reply to the requests above, her is (part of) what I’ve learned.______________________________________________

Guys - I’m not sure where the best place to put this all is - since i expect I’ll think of many things over time, and since i cant write everything in one sitting. LMK if there is a place for a blog-type entry.

Start with "what’s in my system?"


The rest of the system:
_____________________In the large this list may not be all that meaningful -- because it almost cannot be familiar as a reference. I design stuff commercially so much of what i have are in fact prototypes. Some are prototypes of old products my companies made; others are prototypes of designs I performed contractually for others, and never appeared exactly in the form i use them. Most today are new designs I’m working on and kinda like, so i keep.

In my reference/main system

  • -- speakers are Vienna acoustics Mahlers
  • -- amp (either one or two monoblocks ’depending") is a Sonogy Concept 60 prototype from the late 90’s. Still as good as anything i know.-- preamp is a prototype where I’m using computer controlled logic to provide remote control with fidelity that exceeds the best high end volume, balance and selector hardware. Its addictive.
  • -- alternate preamps when the prototype is down for experimentation or loaned out ) are either a Sonogy Concerto or a Rappaport PRE-3 of which only ~ 3 were made and mine may be the only one that works properly - it never did as built - i finally tore it down, reverse engineered some issues, and rebuilt. Its pretty damn good and used actual stepped attenuators with 1/2% mil-spec resistors for volume and balance. A user-factor horror show but pretty revealing sound.
  • -- cables are high quality but nothing brand name or particularly fancy. I do have fuses since systems often have hand made, experimenter equipment in them and the thought of blowing up $20k worth of speakers that don’t always have replacement parts is not attractive. Anyone who tells you home depot fuses ruin the sound is hearing the glass of wine. The fuse holder and its contacts, OTOH, matters.

The digital chain;
_______________OK, now to the stuff at hand - the digital playback chain. I have about 300 CDs ripped, FLAC. I also have a Tidal subscription and may add qobuz.

Library/streamer: Roon. I like Roon a lot. I also hate Roon a lot. Its software; there are issues and always feature development disagreements - but it does more better than anything else i know and will get better over the ages, rather than just old. I like Roon for many reasons:-- myriad remotes - any laptop, tablet or phone works-- multi-room, with synched or independent streams-- excellent UI with all those liner notes etc of years gone by-- MQA first unfold-- upsampling-- DSP for many possible uses including not-bad digital volume control (with only minimal loss of resolution)-- lots more. read up

I run Roon on a dedicated 4-core intel I5 NUC headless server.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Unit_of_Computing

I run what is called ROCK Roon Optimized Core Kit, the free linux appliance base code that makes Roon an appliance on the server, and self-updating and managing. Mostly. Roon + ROCK + NUC = Nucleus. A NUC like mine with one SSD for Roon and another for music (1TB) can be had for $700-800. Roon is like $750/life or $129/year or something. I’ve had it for years. IMPORTANT: early on i had good luck running Roon on a 10 year old MAcbook pro. But i was not doing fancy things, liek DSP on 4 streams, at that time.


I do not have a particularly fancy power supply for my NUC, but i do have an in-line noise filter on it that i built. But careful- this is only because i don’t hook stuff directly to my Roon/ROCK/NUC. I run ethernet (cabled, not wifi, wifi is compromised for music, mostly by jitter radiated noise, to a "bridge" for each room. A bridge connects tow different networking types/protocols, in this case Ethernet and USB. That provides electrical and ground isolation so the power supply doesn’t really matter much.


My bridges are all Raspberry Pis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_PiA Pi is an open source computer on a board that you can buy for about $75-100. But its DIY - you need power, a case, blah blah. For mine i built a very quiet linear power supply that costs more in parts than the computer/bridge itself. But i do that. You can also have regular cheap Pis and cheap-y wall warts in places you care less about. It still sounds damn good, just less good. I run DietPi Linux OS with Roon Bridge and Airplay too. I can hook several DACs to it via USB, and i do. Int he big system sometimes there are 3, some of them experiments.


All of my DACs also have, right at the USB input:


  1. ground and power supply isolation. This means you need to power the DAC side and the USB plug side independently. The USB plug side is powered from the computer bridge itself like any other USB. This cuts down noise.
  2. Re-clocking immediately after USB decoding to reduce jitter.


    SIDE NOTE: You can read an old blog at www.sonogyresearch.com on jitter but suffice it to say that a digital signal to a DAC is not 100% digital. This is why the bits is bits argument is flawed. Music is reproduced from the SPDIF signal to essentially PAM and then reconstructed to an analog signal. You can think of this as a cartesian coordinate system (remember them? X & Y axes?) in which the digital code is the Y-value and the timing is the X-value. Jitter changes timing. Change timing and the waveform changes. Simple as that. We can argue all day about whether its significant but i hear it all the time. Or its the wine talking. But i don;t believe so since I perform repeated tests and my work depends on not lying to myself. I also recruit others to call BS on me when needed.


  3. Really excellent power supplies, always independent for the digital and analog stages. I don’t mean tow different 75 cent regulators: i mean independent back to the wall. I’m not alone, most really good DACs do this somehow.



None of my DACs are state of the art. I have not spent $15k on one, and the ones i have partially designed and built reflect that I am still learning. Yet even whit these, i can get some remarkable, almost analog-sound, but with much better noise and dynamics. I have typed so many times its a broken record (remember records? I also have three cool turntables, but i digress) that the key to any good digital music is the original recording and mastering. Most of the best i have heard are.......... really old analog recordings lovingly converted to RED BOOK CD. 16/44. Nothing special. Old verve. Old blue note. Old Mercury Living Presence (Matt Fine may come over and listen now that Covid is under control around here....).

https://www.stereophile.com/content/fine-art-mercury-living-presence-recordings

Sources: I have a wall of albums and a great Turntable ( 3 actually). I have 100s of CDs. I rarely listen to either - i listen to Tidal. There is usually a remastered version of whatever that sounds better than the one i have. And an MQA version (which i typically find to be just a bit better). But the mastering makes a vastly bigger difference. Listen to Ella and Louis on verve. Or Song for My Father on Blue Note. Or the needle and the damage done on Reprise. Still think CD sucks? Then you have system issues IMO.

Do i wish that studios had learned how to filter and record digitally earlier? Of course. but what we have is much better than it is given credit for, And of course, the mid-80s awful recordings still sound awful - worse with all their shrillness revealed in its glory. But that’s not CD’s fault. Note I ma playing whit what i amusingly call a "de-nastifyier" filter. we shall see if it sees the commercial light of day in some product.

I hope this helps. My fingers are tired.

G













@ronboco I don't think I ever said I didn't like it? I love and HIGHLY recommend it. It is the best integrated amp I've heard to-date. Period. It's just that at its price point I wanted more in terms of features and the McIntosh integrated had it all. What I've learned after the fact is that is that I may not end up using much of the McIntosh. I'm not going to invest in vinyl, headphones, etc. I may also end up with a discrete DAC. So my basic thinking at the time was $14k for the MOON and then have to shop for a DAC, or spend the $11k I did for an "all in one", with a dac, display, meters, etc. I can't say I regret my choice and I have an MA-12000 on the way, but I cannot argue that I may have been better off having separate components for everything. I hope you get to hear the MOON, and I'm talking about the 700i. I did demo the 600 at home and it is NOT close to the 700. It is entirely different and I didn't like it, especially after hearing the 700i. Please let me know if you get it? I would love to hear about it.
@izjjzi 

If you don’t mind me asking. What did you not like about the sim audio integrated as I am considering one. Thanks 
For me, at a certain point, I realized that I needed to focus on what I really wanted. First and foremost, it was a streamer and high-quality DAC in one box. The rest fell by the wayside.
izjjzi,

". I see it's another offering where you have to buy the separate PSU." I started with the Antipodes S40. After I had the S40 I decided to purchase the S30, S60 PSU and K10 ripper. No absolutes in audio; therefore no matter one's preference only your ears can decide. Unfortunately it's impossibe to audition everything in your system.
You can rip any damn thing with Foobar in Win 10. Ripped digital files played from a RAM Disk are the best I have heard, and the NVMe drive I use is very close.

A Blueray/DVD Burner is perhaps the most capable device for ripping CDs. I have about 100G of ripped CDs and Hi Res files, well backed up, on my machine.

As a computer is a noisy thing we need a good way to get the bits out in good order. A Pi2AES used in a network bridge delivers astonishingly low levels of both noise and jitter to your DAC.
@lalitk +1 question to @itsjustme. Would love to know the configuration.

@griff69 The Auralic is also on my list. Thank you.

[ Warning: niave question ahead! ]

I like the idea of leveraging currency exchange rates to either pay less (Canada, Australia, etc) or purchase a solution from another country. My fear is with the power cord / supply. Is this a risk that I will have to have a solution to work in my Massachusetts home???
“because it indicates what technical characteristics actually matter and which don’t”

@itsjustme,

I would like to learn from your experience ‘what matters most in a server or streamer’. Would you also share your system details, thank you!
Glad you found and like  Hans. Happy to provide details on things i have tested and built - not because you would build it, but because it indicates what technical characteristics actually matter and which don't. Suffice it to say "buy this I did" is not he most useful advice....
@izjjzi, I can only speak for myself and my gear of course.
Check out the Antipodes server/streamers from New Zealand.
They range from under $NZ5K to 5 times that. Factor in your exchange rate and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I have a D2 which is about 5 or 6 years old now. It has a CD transport built in.

I reckon it sounds fantastic and their after sale service is second to none.
They have a DAC built in, which sounds very good but encourage a separate DAC via USB and
I use a Denafrips Pontus. They invested more time and effort into the USB section as this was, at the time maybe, the go to output for the majority of users. They do also have SPDIF outputs.
Bear in mind that I am talking about an older unit. Their focus may well have shifted since 2015.

They also say that a FLAC ripped CD from the HDD will sound better than the same album when streamed from Tidal etc. It might only be by degrees but I would agree with their claim.

I have some DSD tracks in my library and the Antipodes and Pontus both handle them perfectly.

Naturally, if you just want to stream and play your CDs on a CDP, there will be an extra box on your rack.
So, a one-box solution as a server (for your ripped CDs)/ streamer makes sense to me.
@itsjustme Funny, I found Hans a few days ago on YouTube and have watched at least 9 of his videos. After midnight here... more ground covered, knowledge tucked-away, closer to something. Tomorrow, actually later today I have consulting phone call planned where I hope to have a number of other questions answered as well as some follow-ups on what I've learned here. Goodnight everyone..
@ricred1 Nice stuff. I see it's another offering where you have to buy the separate PSU 
to deliver considerably better audio performance.
a re-clocker if you want even better SQ. Add and a ripper if you want to rip. It's an unexpected education / learning of how something that seemed like a lay-up (before I knew better) is turning out to be the most difficult part of my journey. The funny part is Antipodes has a photo with all 4 components together and they look like a single, normal sized component. Maybe besides the benefit of isolation it makes sense to piecemeal a solution because instead of one very expensive box, you can buy each over time to "get there"? It is something to consider.

@audioman58 You brought up something I had not mentioned - I have the Netgear Orbi WiFi 6. One of the satellites is the rack so I'm able to connect via cat6. I am getting close to 1Gbps, so I'm not worried about throughput, however, you've introduced yet another expensive component I need to consider - an ethernet switch? Where does it end?!  haha The Rockna gear looks solid.

@builder3 The Lumina was on my short list before I started thinking a ripper would be nice. 

@audioman58 Understood. The McIntosh DAC may not be good and being new I thought for the reputation and price that it had to be decent. I could be dead wrong. I get it. I'm now leaning toward a streamer with a good DAC. A streamer that can interface with a ripper. The HiFi Rose seems to fit the bill again. 

Speaking of the Rose - I could save money by buying it outside the US, but will the power will be different and unusable in the US? The UK for example has far better pricing than the US.

1. There will be many opinions, some well formed, some not on ripped vs streaming, but having both, i almost never listen to my ripped CDs when there is likely a better sounding version on Tidal. Why better? Typically because they have re-mastered versions. I don’t find a big difference to most HD formats if the original recordings and masterings were excellent
2. I don know much about the McIintosh DAC
3. I also pretty much ignore the oddball format wars. Most music is RedBook - so i worry about where the music is. USB is a fine interface, if you take the proper precautions. Much to learn there- mostly about noise / ground isolation.
4. more on DSD and I’ll continue to say "who cares?"

5. Yada yada. You may think i don’t care about sound. Wrong -- believe me I care a LOT about sound quality, and have a crazy revealing system, but you are barking up the wrong tree worrying about all the niche steaming/digital formats. They really are not needed for great sound, and what does it matter since the music is not in those formats, unless you want to keep replaying the remastered version of "some nobody plays obscure songs, not very well". Pass.

6. Roon. Roon. Roon. I cannot imagine buying a last-century tech streaming appliance.  I also dont want to pay for custom hardware.  Nucleus is nice, but start by running it on an old computer. read up about how to get the best out of Roon. (the whole USB and network interface bit from above). Roon has its issue, but its also a great music-centric platform. I went from running it on a space 9 year old macbook pro, to building a dedicated ROCK server from an intel NUC. One key to good USB and roon sound is truly quiet, well isolated bridges. I custom build those from Raspberry Pis with custom power supplies and isolation. Not for everyone, but you can pay various firms to sell you the same thing.
Roon. Roon. Roon.
Now to really learn abotu streaming and the ins and outs i’d rather spend qutie a few hours watching this guy’s videos that asking random people here.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR4tuhqPppVp-PD0q17sPEA
G

Being from McIntosh assuming the digital is good you could not be more wrong ,since theysold  their company out went the Audiophiles and part of their integrity .
some are in part made in China ,only their upper end is made in NY,and digital is by far their worst product ,if you want great digital 
buy from a company that specialize in just that Digital !!
Almost forgot, if you're still interested in ripping high-quality files from your CDs, look for a program called Exact Audio Copy. It's not only one of the best out there, but it's free, and will enable you to rip FLAC files. It's a little tedious to figure out the install, seems like the website is translated from German, if I recall.
izjjzi, I was in the same boat as you for a couple of years, finally jumped in 2 months ago, so my hands-on experience is about zero. That being said, I bought a Lumin T2, and love it. It has a very good built-in DAC, and does not contain a hard-drive. Lumin’s recommends running their app on an IPad, ideally, so you have that. I think you’ll need to jump thru more hoops to stream rips from your computer, I haven’t gotten to that. The Lumin itself is not wireless, it’s connected to your router with an ethernet cable. Musically, I think it’s excellent. Good luck.
I have found if you want a streaming system on par with a good 
cd setup or hard drive , wifi is not as good ,direct Ethernet  cable 
for sure ,then you need good filtering a good streamer and dac is a must , right before your streamer you need a Ethernet Switch 
or something very good like a Ether regen  which totally makes a new clean signal right before the streamer . Melco N10 for $3k 
a fantastic low noise hard drive ,and Roon ready hub super regulated low noise ,made in Japan class A rated.  A high quality 
dac with hi quality $500 and up usb cable is a must . The NewWireworld - Platinum 8 USB  is finally out and only $500. I have the excellent Final touch audio Callisto USB which is around $850. My point everything counts if you want a reference sound .I just ordered the excellent reference grade Rockna Wavelight dac 
and they just came out with a matching exceptional streamer $4800 and it has true I2S  connections Fron dac to streamer 
which is without question the cleanest best connection method dac to streamer on the planet  I will still use my purpose built computer until I can afford the Rockna streamer .
I recommend trying to listen to a Antipodes S30 or S40 music server. I think Antipodes competes with music servers at various price points and their customer service is outstanding. I rip all of my cds, because I prefer the sound to streaming. I actually like streaming for background music or to find new music to purchase and rip to my harddrive.
"[A collective sign resonates from forum members upon seeing STREAM in the title]".

Can someone please tell me what the sign is? Nobody told me the sign and I feel like I've been kicked out of the club.
@izjjzi  Thanks for sharing your 'backstory.'

My advice. Keep it simple. Focus on your core requirement / need. You can add additional layers once you are comfortable. All the best.
@david_ten I did not get into my backstory, but I grew up in a music loving home with my Audiophile uncle next door as well. I was raised on vinyl and 8-track. Fast forward more years than I care to count and I'm finally in a good place financially and with the backing of my wife. I've been revving my engine for a long time and the light just turned green at the end of June. I am eager to remember what I have in my CD collection and to discover new artists. I may not rip all of them but definitely want to try it and see what my ears think vs paid-service streams. What I have so far has been an emotional experience. It's like I'm hearing music for the first time. The right kit for you really does makes a difference.

I am loving it, trying to be patient, but this aspect has not been easy, especially because I've already had to return speakers (B&W), two integrated amps (Sim Audio & NAD), a power conditioner, and now have to sell my brand new, week-old Node. Almost forgot, I also purchased a VTI BL304SC rack that will not fit my MA-9000 (my fault) and it cannot be returned because I opened the box! This is why I'm having trouble and so thankful for everyone's help and humor!
Paralysis by analysis. We've all been there. Try to take a deep breath and simplify. If that's possible.
Paralyzed again... there are SO many flavors! I could be in this line forever! ...honestly, you had me at "ice cream". Heath bar crunch all day!

Just spent the last hour reading reviews, specs and watching videos [drum roll] I'm seriously considering the HiFi Rose RS150. The DAC seems impressive, which will allow me to AB vs the DA2. Talk about features, upgradability, build... and I can attach an external drive and rip my CDs. I know it's just north of my range, but the features! lol  You can toggle all inputs / outputs on or off so your actual connections are more isolated. Don't know if it really translates, but wow, seriously thoughtful engineering. I can't not see this thing pushing the current envelope. Anyone own this kit?
1. What’s the point of ripping your CDs if you haven’t listened to them?

especially if I want to rip the 200 or so CDs I haven’t used since the 90’s.

2. What’s the point of ripping those CDs if they are available through the streaming service you use?

3. What’s the point of adding component complexity and cost from a feature set you (likely) don’t need?

4. What’s the point of adding unneeded requirements to a checklist you are already overwhelmed with?
@izjjzi,

Perhaps the only way to settle your quandary is side by side audition of ACS100 and N100 or N200. I very much doubt you’ll will be able to tell the difference :-)

All of the aurender streamers are built to very high standards. Honestly, you don’t get to appreciate nuances until you step into N20, N30SA or W20SE arena. 
seriously, the DAC is more important than the streamer….but you also need a streamer company with longevity and a history of well executed software updates…

This is where IMO a solid relationship with supporting dealer is essential….

Have fun. The reality is there is so much quality gear out there and in a constant state of flux / improvement that the LaGrange point optimal solution you seek…does not exist…

i like Pistachio Almond, full disclosure..