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spend on the streamer or on the DAC ?

I a considering splashing north of 5000 (euro) for a new source for my rig (MOOON 340i, OPERA QUINTA speaker, McIntosh SACD, Node2). Better to spend more for the DAC or the streamer ? I was thinking about a Schitt yggrasil.Or would it make sense to spalsh on a more expensive DAC and use the Node2 as a streamer, or, for that matter, stream from my Macbook Pro. Regards.
olica
joeeuro
16 posts
 
A few weeks ago I upgraded my Sonos streamer to a Auralic Aries G2, there is no comparison in sound quality. (Auralic Vega dac with Tidal, Roon).
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@joeeuro

not at all a surprise

stock sonos streamer is a jittery source... needs reclocking

hence the w4s or other mod or appendage which solidifies the clock timing of the digital out

with this, i don't think you will hear any meaningful difference to other dedicated streamers
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oldschool1948
502 posts
 
DAC - Audio Mirror Tubadour III is good, Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE is better
oldschool1948's avatar
oldschool1948
502 posts
 
DAC

Audio Mirror Tubadour III ($1500) is quite good; Audio Mirror Tubadour III SE ($2500) is even better
melvinjames
416 posts
 
Thk u all for the useful insights. I am attracted to a single-box solution (streamer/DAC, and I'd like to keep my MOON amp,and MOON seems to make nice DAC/streamers BTW). In this regard there is the issue of obsolescence: where does technology move the fastest, on the streamer side or on the DAC side? This might be an issue if one considers future upgrades. Regards. Olivier

Unless you're the type who likes to keep up with the latest/greatest I wouldn't worry too much about obsolescence. There will certainly be new DAC and streamer iterations from every manufacturer out there. Good sound now will still be good sound when the next version comes out. Seems to me a Moon streaming DAC would be a great choice for you.
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