Mac vs streamer.

  Streamers are specialized computers, optimized to improve Sonics compared to a multi purpose computer.  The answer to your question partially depends on the streamer…I’ve auditioned at least one low end streamer that was inferior to my 12 year old Mac that I had previously used as a streamer.
  Many audiophiles are perfectly happy with  computer sound, and a program such as Audirvana can really help as it attempts to disable everything in a computer that adds noise.  Personally, I tend to agree with @fuzztone.  With the exception noted, even a relatively inexpensive streamer such as Bluesound will sound smoother and more tactile, even on a mid Fi system.  Still, I encourage everyone new to streaming to start with a PC, because everyone has one, so the entry cost isn’t a barrier.  You can always move one later

@mahler123
All true. I "started" with general use computer for many years I went from sound card out to card optcal into S.M.S.L to USB to m2tech coax to Multibit. All big improvements.
Then I graduated.
All 5 streamers <$1K sound much better. It could be just a better than Schiit DAC but I’m not getting a PC anywhere near it.

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences around this. Here’s another question that’s come up for me: I need to be able to use a remote of some sort with any streamer. I have my iPhone set up to control my computer but I have a small one and the screen is small and it would not be good for trying to control a streamer. Would I need to buy an iPad to have a big enough screen to use as a remote for someone with not particularly good eyesight? Do any of the streamers have really big screens?

My Pro-ject Stream Box can be controlled via an Internet browser with any PC or Mac (laptop or desktop) on the same network as the streamer. This works as well as any iPhone or Android phone. (or iPad). I think many other streamers such as the Bluesound Node have a similar capability. Bluesound requires the Bluesound app for Windows or Mac to do the same thing.

I find that capability to be really useful as I am often controlling the streamer while doing work.

 Thank you so much for that information. It makes the streamer thing much more viable for me in my situation.