Streamer + DAC or streamer/dac all in one?

Rs507 the best bang for your buck will be a streamer/dac.

You have a lot of advantages in such a design and only one possible disadvantage, that disadvantage being you may pay for a dac that you won't use if you upgrade later.

A steaming Dac requires no digital cable to link a separate dac and streamer so you save money, you have one chassis so you save space and you need only one power cord which also saves money.

Also with an all in one you will probably have much less jitter so for the same money you should be able to achieve better sound for less money.

Even witn a dac streamer you can often times just bypass the dac stage and use the dac streamer just as a streamer.

Ultimately it comes down to listening if you have your mind set on a particular dac with a streamer you need to then listen and see how that compares to today's best streamers.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I would not think of separates versus an integrated design as automatically providing sound quality benefits. The guaranteed benefit of separates is really the ability to mix-and-match and change things over time.

Streaming audio is still evolving, and fast.
The same with DAC technology.
For me, buying separates allows me to upgrade in the future-though many good companies will offer upgrades to their products.
One very good buy for a streamer/dac combo is the Bluesound Node. It also has the ability for the user to add a separate DAC, so you get the best of both worlds at a reasonable cost.
Bob

Gdnrbob, the Blue Sound Node is really a great starter dac/streamer it is not a great dac nor a great streamer it is a good piece for its price range.

The higher end dac/streamers are a huge step up in performance over the Node, these units are going to cost $1-2k ish in price. 

The Lumin D2 has the ability to act as a transport as it has a digital output as well.  

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Lumin and Blue Sound dealers