Ready For Digital Source...Computer?

@high-amp 

You can see two of my systems if you click on my ID. If your budget I'd ~$5K then I recommend a Aurender N100 streamer and a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC. I use a Aurender W20SE streamer and Audio Research CD9se DAC. On my headphone system I use an Aurender N100 streamer and a Ayre QB-9 2020 DAC.

I bailed on this issue years ago by getting a series of good SPDIF converters, then recently a DDC. The USB cable goes into the SPDIF converter and outputs digital (up to 24/192) via coax cable to the DAC.

It’s not perfect, but especially w/the DDC in place, any noise from the big desktop computer is less of a concern.

Great thread! I am learning lots! Getty too many to thank individually, so thanks to you all!

The Innuos reclocker should be able to improve the sound of a audio streaming from a computer It is very pricy so it may not be the perfect choice for your budget but it may be worth thinking about. There are other brands that are cheaper that may or may not sound as good. I have not tried this but is using an Audioquest Jitterbug which improves the sound for me.

http://hifiknights.com/reviews/accessories/innuos-phoenixusb/

There have been threads about this before.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/which-usb-re-clocker

I just want to add another option. Start with a Raspberry Pi as a streamer and use this for a few months or a year. Then you can upgrade to something better. You may be able to try another streamer in your home and compare them. I have a RPi with a s/pdif card and it works great. I might upgrade later but have to upgrade the dac and speakers first. This solution may be had for around $120.

I also use the Volumio software (including their $3.5/month subscription) which let's me use the Tidal app on my phone to control what to listen to.

RPi requires some technical knowledge and tinkering. If you don't feel this is for you there are pre - built solutions available for about $500.