Better DAC or better Streamer


Hello,

Which is better upgrade between the two?

1.  Chord DAVE DAC.

2.  Nagra Streamer. 

I am currently using Chord M Scaler with Hugo TT2 DAC.  Also using Astell&Kern SP3000 DAP for streaming the music.

Thank you,

 

 

eddy1

DAC hands down.  I have a Chord Dave and it is huge.  I also have the Farad power supply for it.  I am not using mine now as I have gone Tube with Lampizator but in the AB the DAVE held it's own

Jerry

In streaming as with all audio the chain is only as strong as the weakest link, and in your case the DAP is by far the weakest link so get thee a good dedicated streamer.  You already have a good DAC, but using a DAP as a streamer in a high-end system???  No…just, no. 

I certainly depends on the sound character you want to change. If I had your system, I would want a more musical and natural sounding DAC. The DAC is likely to have a bigger change on the sonic character. The streamer will lower the noise floor, increase  dynamics and detail.

System dependent. I've heard discernible differences between DACs and music servers.