Digital streaming options for my system are confusing

re gnrbob. So you are saying that if you ran my CC for an authorization of the depreciated value of demo gear in case I choose to scam you and keep the stuff) and offered me the same cost for new gear as the on line guys but as a result got me to buy from you that its a bad business decision? The morality question aside... why wouldn't you do this? And if you had vendors that would kick in a box or two for you to demo that got someone like me who has never heard of the majority of these manufacturers to buy there stuff?

If you want to make your $$ back for the shipping offer me a free tech walkthrough to make sure I have my system optimized and then suggest an upgrade somewhere? Seriously? I and about 500,000 other guys who love music would pay $50 for a better cable than I can get my local "magnolia" store....

Anyway, sorry this thread is dead. I appreciate your feedback and guess I am as frustrated at the overall process as I was in my lack of basic digital audio knowledge. I appreciate you all taking the time to reply.

OP, at the risk of being redundant, I just don’t believe that once a certain price point has been reached, that there is much of a difference between streamers when they are inputted into the same DAC.  The improvement obtained going from a $500 Node2 to a $5000 will not be a factor of 10, more like a 2%....it is asymptotic.  My suggestion is to start with the Node2 and compare it’s DAC vs the DAC of your McIntosh.  After a while if you get upgradeitis, my next move would getting a killer DAC, that will enhance all of your digital sources.  After all that, if still not fully satisfied, buy a higher end streamer

I went a very inexpensive route by using a Raspberry Pi as my renderer. Took a bit of work to get it stable, but now it is flawless. A new user will find recent versions easier to use than I have for the past few years, for sure. I use Max2play on the Pi. Wired to my Orbi satellite. The Pi has a Digi+ on board to send digital signals to my dac via coax or Toslink. I use JRiver on a desktop on the main floor as my server. Connects to living room, sunroom, and Pi. All points controllable with any Android or Apple device. Total cost with the Orbi network included is right around $400. Not including Dac, of course. I would challenge anyone to listen to my system and find fault. At my level ($15k system), it is more than sufficient. There isn’t a server/computer/streamer worth the $10k that one company charges! Nuts! It is digital audio! In 5 years it will be totally different. Also don’t buy into this high res stuff. Most recordings are made at 24/96. And this is only done to allow digital headroom for EQ, Compression, etc.