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

When I was in your position looking for a streamer to change up from using my laptop, the biggest thing aside from sound quality was the user interface. As I had to have it connected over wifi that reduced the list of components I could look at. I finally settled on Auralic and I use their Lightning DS app. I have no idea why some people don’t like it as it’s incredibly intuitive and seamlessly integrates Qobuz, Tidal and Amazon Music. You can organise your music into playlists and access music on hard drive or NAS if so inclined although it doesn’t sound like you are.

I have never had a problem with the software and you don’t need a computer to set the streamer and software up, only an iPad which may be a deal breaker for you. I say all this just to give my positive experience with Lightning DS as an option.

My advice then is to work out whether you need wifi or can it be hard wired, if hard wired you have more options. Once you know that I would strongly recommend choosing a product that has an excellent app. I know everyone seems to love roon, but there are great apps now that do the same job and reduce the expense of paying for roon. Innuos has their own app and I watched their hour presentation on it, it seems superb with excellent functionality and a great intuitive user interface. By all accounts people also love the lumin app, aurender app and the bluOS app, so there are plenty of choices.

Narrow those questions down and you’ll have a group of options that you can read reviews on to narrow down to 1 or 2 and then it’s demo time.

The Bryston BDP-3 is also worth a look.    Software interface is a bit spartan but it works and the product support is good and their SQ and right up there with the best.

If you do consider Roon , which gets you a super nice interface on your iPAD, I would also look at Small Green Computer (SGC) as previously suggested.   It just takes some knowledge and patience to get it all dial in but you wont be dissappointed. 

If I were shopping in that league I would look hard at the Grimm audio MU1 . Hans Beekhuysen, a reviewer who I respect, is swapping out his Aurelic G2 for the Grimm  product. John Atkinson at stereophile  also gave it a definite thumbs up. It replaces both the Auralic  G2 and the Chord Mscaler and would seem to be perfectly suited for the top of the line dac  which you own. There is a concentration of audio excellence in Holland which seems to stem from the mid 1980s when the Phillips corporation developed the CD at a large plant there. Grimm audio boasts a lot of strong connections with very intelligent and innovative people like Bruno Putzeys, The noted designer of leading clase de amplification.

As you can tell from the recommendations on this thread, there are many good streamer options out there. I have been extremely happy with the Innuos Zen Mk3 streamer/server (and the more expensive Zenith is reported to be just a little bit better if you want to invest a little more money). 

Before you decide on a streamer, though, I would suggest that you decide whether you plan to use Roon or not. Most Roon users rave about it as a music file management tool, but quite a few users complain that its sound quality doesn't quite match the sound obtainable with a streamer using its own software, such as Innuos, Aurender, Auralic, etc. I do not use Roon and have found the current Innuos Sense software to be excellent as well as less complicated and less expensive than a Roon set-up would be.

Before I bought my Innuos Zen, I wasn't sure I wanted or needed a built-in server integrated with a streamer (as the Zen provides). I planned to just stream from Qobuz and use a CD player for CDs. However, the Innuos has turned out to be perfect for those of us who don't have the interest or skills to mess with complicated computer interfaces. CD ripping to a WAV or FLAC file on the Innuos is so quick and easy (and great sounding) that I rarely play CDs from a player anymore. I haven't bothered to rip all my CDs to the Innuos, but whenever I find a CD I want to play, I just rip it to the Innuos and play it back from there. Playing a WAV file on the Innuos sounds better than my CD player does, and I can easily put together playlists that combine tracks from Qobuz with tracks from WAV files.

You have a lot of good streamer options, but I would urge you to make a decision about whether to use Roon or some other proprietary software before you buy any piece of streaming gear. You don't want to get locked into using software that is difficult to use or may compromise sound quality unless it has other features you value more.       

I think for the OP the intersection of synergy with current DAC, simplicity, flexibility and future upgrade paths lies with the upper tier options from Innuos. 
 

Having the new Innuos streaming software, easy CD ripping, album management, server integration and sound quality is pretty solid. You can add Roon down the road if desired? I tried Roon but found it did not solve any problem I had. The cool magazine browser like functionality is fun though. I decided to stay with my Linn Akurate system.