My question: assume my goal is to stream for convenience, simplicity, and achieve audio quality that equals or surpasses that of redbook cd’s. I am not looking to purchase music or download it for storage. What am I missing? I also have a dedicated iPad that can serve as the interface to the DAC/Streamer. Spotify also claims that streaming in high resolution is available on my account. Do I need anything else? Am I oversimplifying this?
I think the piece you are missing is Roon. This piece of friendly software will make the experience of using a streaming service and finding / keeping track of your music much simpler, much more pleasurable.
Roon plus a music collection plus a streaming service is a real eye opener.
Yes its a bit of a hassle, because you will need a computer to run the "core" (the main roon software" on - this could be anything in your house that is connected via wires to your network, or you can buy a box specifically for running the core software on. Yes its not cheap. But boy will it improve your enjoyment of music. It might even end up making it sound nicer to.