Upgrading my digital system

The first thing I see in your pics is that right speaker in the corner and the glass behind your rack. I would recommend repositioning your system away from the corner and if possible away from that glass window. Next, treat the room acoustics, and then finally use a DSP device to measure and tune your in room FR. I think any gear changes won’t give you what you want until you get the room tuned better. What do you think?

This is just me but spending $8-9K on digital seems out of proportion to the rest of your system. Are you planning on upgrading the whole system piece by piece?

which martens?

Nice looking system.

I first would mirror @kota1 ’s comments. There is an enormous opportunity for system tuning and improvements in the sound you get from your existing system.

But on your question. First, my streaming sounds the same as an equivalent CD or stored files. However high resolution albums through streaming sound better than a CD and on average streaming sounds the same as my vinyl rig. See my system.

So, if I were to upgrade from where you are I would skip the CD transport part. Assuming you want the largest bang for the buck.

Qobuz is the service to use not Tidal. Qobuz has over half a million high resolution albums. You mention Aurender, I definitely recommend Aurender I have two. The Conductor app is free.

I quickly reviewed the DACs you are looking at and a couple reviews. I don’t feel I know enough about the DACs and your tastes to help there. I will say that at this time in the technological advancement you can get an outstanding DAC for around $10K and an outstanding streamer for $10K and that allocation of funds in about equal proportion is about right. My streamer is about 20% more than my DAC… a well worth it investment.

@ghdprentice , thanks for checking out my system and your feedback. In my HT I stream music and movies in either DTS or Atmos 90% of the time using the X-Box Series S. I can set the format in the X-Box settings as I like. I can play every track on tidal in either 2 CH, DTS, or Atmos, no limitations through the X-Box. I have a Bluesound Node in that system for streaming 2 channel and a Sony UHPH1 for playing CD’s and SACD’s or any files I have in DSD. The setup is measured to Dolby specs like in the video I posted in how to setup an atmos room. The rear speakers are the same distance from the MLP as the front speakers. The front and rear height channels are set at the angles dolby recommends. The top middle speakers are a little closer because they double as my VOG channels in auro 3d. When I treated my room I got recommendations from studios where they mix immersive audio, the dub stage and galaxy studios. Wilfred Van Balen (founder of Auro 3D) even took the time to share how to treat the ceiling and suggested bass traps (the geofusors double as bass traps as I back filled then with polyfil). I made a conscious choice to have a separate system for 2 channel which is the one in my office. After getting their recommendations I followed Anthony Grimani’s acoutic "recipe" when placing the panels and dialed it in with measurements. The Audyssey software I use was updated in 2022 around the same time they released the brand new MULTEQ-X. It is NOT the same version Amir used fifteen or whatever years ago.

I REALLY like wide channels and my preferred upmixers are Audyssey DSX and DTS Neo-X. I’ll post an article in a follow up.

@ghdprentice , when the industry started the new format war (atmos vs dts-x) they through the baby out with the bath water IMO. The work Tomlinson Holman (THX founder) did at USC on acoustics when developing Audyssey DSX fit what I prefer to a T for replicating a live space. Here is a little more about the importance of wide channels from audyssey dsx:

@ghdprentice if you read that article Tomlinson Holman states:

As Mr Holman is quick to point out, any audio engineer confronted with the question, “what do you want to do with a higher bitrate?”; will always ask for more frequency range and more dynamic range because they don't know what to do with more channels.  "It's a new paradigm."  "Just to go to 192 KHz sampling rate to satisfy passing bats instead of human beings is pretty crazy, but adding channels is of very great value."  (For those readers not terribly familiar with flying rodents, bats have an ability to hear ultrasonic frequencies, the kind you can reproduce with a 192 KHz sampling rate).  In answer to the question what is 10.2?  Mr Holman replies "It is as far as we can push the market without people thinking we are crazy."

10.2 versus 9.1 Surround Sound

To the OP, if you get the room tuned, you might not want to change anything else, do that first.

@kota1 those pics are not updated, I’m sorry. But you’re right: acoustic treatment is a must, specially with glass behind a system. I think I’m gonna follow your suggestion and see the level of resolution…

@jond  my system:

            - spectral dmc-30s

            - spectral dma-250

            - luxman da-06

            - Aurender x100l

@grislybutter marten django l

@vargtimmen That upgrade makes sense then I was going by your virtual system which is much different. Good luck!