My first exposure to steaming was a simple BT receiver which went to my pre and I just streamed Pandora and iTunes from my phone. Not the best sound of course but I was hooked by the convenience. So I upgraded to a Node2i and really enjoyed the uplift in SQ and convenience. Next step was a Jolida Glass external DAC. It was an improvement in detail and soundstage. Finally I recently upgraded my DAC again to a Border Patrol SE-i and am delighted by the improvement in dynamics and soundstage. Taking into account my current system and budget, I'm content to enjoy this setup for now. There's a Jadis/B&W system in my future however so depending on how the Node and BP DAC sound with it, I might be looking into something more commensurate. We'll see.
Happy listening.
Happy listening.