Streamer vs renderer vs music server...help

op

good advice given already

if you are just streaming tidal and you already know auralic’s stuff, then just get an auralic streamer (aries) and then use it to feed your future dac of choice

your vega does all that but it’s dac is integral, no digital output is offered iirc to drive other dacs, so if you are wanting to play with other dacs (holo may etc etc) and explore their sound quality, the vega needs to go

then you can also retire your outboard i-mac too, it becomes unnecessary unless you want to run roon (once again - not necessary if using tidal connect on the aries) - the aries will do what is needed and it will be less noisy (electrically) than the imac

@jjss49 agreed, some great advice and knowledge shared on the thread.  It has really helped me get a better understanding of how the digital pieces fit together and what would work best for my situation.  I do think a good dedicated streamer, regardless of my dac choice is currently a missing link. The comments have also helped get a better understanding of how Roon works and how others have implemented a dedicated core...to get the best out of that solution.  Lots of good stuff for me to digest!

HMI.  Human Machine Interface. 

Fancy title for app used to control your digital source?

Are there any reviews out there that address the pros and cons of these apps?

I stream exclusively and have been using the new NODE connected to a Qutest (w/ SBooster) via a high quality USB.  It's a $3000 outlay that likely provides me with 95+% of the sonic benefit my ears can detect.  Long-term, I may not remain in the BluOS camp, but it seems to be one of the few current OS' with the capacity to offer the broadest access to quality streaming content.  And, as streaming technologies quickly evolve, I'd rather incur a potentially slight compromise in SQ to investing significant dollars in an ecosystem that might eventually struggle to scale against the competition.  Good luck!

+! for rareace