@rvpiano, Hey, we miss you over at the “What’s on your Turntable” thread. Hope you’ll post there more often.
In answer to your question here, I believe that it will eventually become important to you to ditch wifi; then, you will learn that you should have fiber optic and not just (CAT whatever) between your modem and/or an audio-purposed built switch and your streamer (whichever/whatever your streamer is); and then, after that it will become important for you to have fiber optic between your streamer and your DAC (that is if you don’t want your streamer and DAC in the same box). Until more affordable DAC manufacturers put connections on their products like the fanciest do, you can either convert this link to fiber with adapters or go with good USB from streamer to your favorite asynchronous USB DAC.
You have received a couple of (very reasonable cost) suggestion here that get you most of the way there to what are inevitably important ways of your looking at and listening to digital.
In the mean time if you just want a WAY better coax streamer consider this:
https://en.wattson.audio/emerson
(The “Digital one”)
explained/reviewed here:
https://youtu.be/p-HeiVfAz4w
if your favorite dac has USB go with the optical setup recommended by other members above.
Also, consider getting Roon. But that is a separate thing.
The people on here recommending Bluesound are either afflicted with hearing loss or don’t have systems as resolving as yours. You already know even Arcam beats it with your DAC. Bluesound is fine for a second system or something but i don’t believe it’s what your after for your level of listening.
In answer to your question here, I believe that it will eventually become important to you to ditch wifi; then, you will learn that you should have fiber optic and not just (CAT whatever) between your modem and/or an audio-purposed built switch and your streamer (whichever/whatever your streamer is); and then, after that it will become important for you to have fiber optic between your streamer and your DAC (that is if you don’t want your streamer and DAC in the same box). Until more affordable DAC manufacturers put connections on their products like the fanciest do, you can either convert this link to fiber with adapters or go with good USB from streamer to your favorite asynchronous USB DAC.
You have received a couple of (very reasonable cost) suggestion here that get you most of the way there to what are inevitably important ways of your looking at and listening to digital.
In the mean time if you just want a WAY better coax streamer consider this:
https://en.wattson.audio/emerson
(The “Digital one”)
explained/reviewed here:
https://youtu.be/p-HeiVfAz4w
if your favorite dac has USB go with the optical setup recommended by other members above.
Also, consider getting Roon. But that is a separate thing.
The people on here recommending Bluesound are either afflicted with hearing loss or don’t have systems as resolving as yours. You already know even Arcam beats it with your DAC. Bluesound is fine for a second system or something but i don’t believe it’s what your after for your level of listening.