Do I need a streamer?

@mahler123 

You make a good argument to not pursue a dedicated streamer. However, there are many here who were in OP position and believed what they heard sounded great until they made a switch to dedicated streamer and freely acknowledged the improvements from a dedicated streamer or server. Simply put, the proof is in the pudding. 

I say this to @whitestix If you have the funds then a streamer like Aurender N200 will definitely sound better than the iMac. A well appointed system like yours especially with LaVoce DAC can greatly benefit from a dedicated streamer. And N200 allows up to two 8TB SSDs storage for your music. Let N200 will be the only source for your stored music and streaming from Tidal or Qobuz. Just keep the external HD around as your back up. 

If you get a dedicated streamer like N200 then you need an iPad to navigate / browse music from Tidal and stored music. As long as both your N200 and iPad on same network, iPad is going to communicate with N200 wirelessly. N200 has its own proprietary iOS app called Conductor. I am including a link below for Conductor app so can see for yourself, the layout and functionality, 

https://www.notion.so/Conductor-App-Manual-V3-a78b4ddbe61440bc988fce52e34d0dfb

I do not want to muddy the waters by mentioning ROON here as you’re still trying to process all the information. A dedicated streamer like Aurender or Lumin would be the way go given your excellent system. 

@lalitk, @fuzztone ​​@mapman +1 on getting a dedicated streamer.

Per @lalitk :

"However, there are many here who were in OP position and believed what they heard sounded great until they made a switch to dedicated streamer and freely acknowledged the improvements from a dedicated streamer or server. Simply put, the proof is in the pudding."

So true.  Each time I thought my streaming sounded great: 1) using my Mac Mini. 2) using the internal streamer in PS Audio DS, Auralic Vega and finally MM Tambaqui.  But then I added a dedicated streamer (Auralic Aries G2.1) and it sounded WAY better.  Good Pudding!

@whitestix

Feel free to contact me here using private messaging to discuss if you like. I’ve been streaming various ways for many years to my pretty nice hifi setup for many years and have a good bit of experience to draw on there.

Try this experiment. Take an am radio and tune it to a moderately clear  station. Then move it closer to and further away from computer and see if that affects reception to get a handle on how much noise your computer creates or not. FM station may work also but fm is not as susceptible to RF noise that any digital device can create . Then maybe try same with a streamer and compare.

Streamers come with many terabytes of memory down to no memory (usually with empty solid state storage slots). Most have USB ports to connect USB drives and they can access Network Accessible Storage though the network.

The high end audio industry is going through a major transition from owning physical media -> streaming personal files -> using streaming service. The final stage is mature. I have a very good analog system and Qobuz streaming service sounds better on high resolution albums of the same as Red Book CDs on the same resolution.

If you get your streaming up the an appropriate level you will have little use for your ripped files. I keep some on my streamer… just in case of a network outage… but only use one about once a year. This is common… once you achieve equal or better sound quality you abandon storage.

I would recommend getting the best streamer you can afford… Aurender… although there are a number of good brands. Aurender only makes streamers and their flagship is the standard for audio shows it sounds so good.My rule of thumb is that (your carefully chosen) components should all be roughly the same cost (TT, DAC, preamp, amp… etc.). For me, my streamer is about 20% more… well worth the premium… it is a source component, like a turntable. Start out with poor sound and amplification will not make it sound better.

@whitestix

Yes, your Mac is a ’streamer’. That’s all streamers are - computers. As long as the bits are getting to your DAC without error, then you have a fully functioning setup. There’s no need to buy another box.

I currently use a Mac mini as a streamer for a living room system and a Raspberry Pi 4 for the downstairs stereo. The Mac holds all my music in a shared folder. The RPi can access the shared folder and streams my music library over wi-fi - everything from ripped CD’s to hi-res 24/192 downloads to archived SACDs without a hitch.