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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
128x128artemus_5
headphonedreams
527 posts
 
If you are only gonna play ripped music a simple RaspberryPi with a dac should work great. You can buy them with built-in dac-cards or with inteface cards to connect to an external dac (I use this right now).

If you can tinkle a bit with it yourself you can have a solution for less than $200. If you prefer to buy pre-built solutions they cost somewhere around $500 and up.

Here are some options
https://orchardaudio.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fpcnp-strmr

https://volumio.org/product/volumio-primo/

https://www.hifiberry.com/
vdotman's avatar
vdotman
146 posts
 
Check out the Bel Canto eOne Stream. Has a built in DAC but can be used with an external DAC as well. Includes Bel Canto's Seek App that is also very good. Excellent sound quality.
gb21
8 posts
 
I second the Bluesound approach - excellent app then you can upgrade the DAC. Lumin D2 has a far less friendly app, does not have an antenna, and support from Lumin at least in the USA is non-existent. The access to all the streaming radio stations in the world will be a revelation. Tidal on the internal Bluesound DAC is pretty darn satisfying for all but those who sit in the perfect listening position imitating Jonsey from the Hunt for Red October.
nickttt
4 posts
 
If you're looking for a way to try out streaming, consider the Sonos Connect (which you could probably pick up for cheap on eBay these days.)  I'm using it as a Roon endpoint and feeding the digital output directly to the (way higher quality) DAC in my HK990 integrated.  Streaming TIDAL and my own HDTracks content from my NAS, the results are really good.
mrmanisundaram
82 posts
 
Lumin U1 mini with a MHDT outboard dac.  This pairing provides good sound quality, the Lumin app is super easy with ios and android.  Best of luck.
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