For those that have separate Streamers & DACS

The best I have auditioned are the following two:

*Ideon Audio Absolute Streamer (using its own player, preferred over Roon)

*Taiko Extreme

To be clear I am not bashing the Innous, and others mentioned above, just my subjective top two. And no, I don;t own either of them😉

Auralic works for me. Aries G2.1 streamer feeding Vega G2.1 DAC, the DAC also benefitting from the Leo GX.1 Reference Master Clock. Excellent results. No Sirius yet 🤣🤣

Get an Aurender N20 it's the sweet spot, Aurender is a major brand with good support and resale value.

Computer based servers will have you fiddling around, forget it.

If you are positive you never want a pre-amp, I'd consider a Lumin U1.

People will try to confuse you with esoteric and exotic brands but where will they be in a few years?

An N20 is the best bang you'll get this side of 20 grand.

I started with a Raspberry Pi, which worked quite well, then "traded up" to an Aurender, which didn't. I dumped that in favor of a Bryston BDP-3 and have been happy ever since.

Visit resellers, audition what your research tells you could be options.

Make a shortlist, then...

You have to audition in your own system / environment. If you can't get a home audition, then cross that dealer / brand off your list.

Try with internal and external DAC's.

Try direct into pre-amp.

Take your time, your choice is important to YOU.