Where to invest the most in the "digital chain"?

@donnylovely - that is very interesting indeed.

I have replaced my Amp and DAC and that has resulted in great improvements. I'm currently using USB into my Ares II DAC with an ifi USB iPurifier3. I have tested with and without the iPurifier3 and it definitely helps remove noise. I have also tested with a very expensive USB cable versus something for around £30 and noticed no difference once the iPurifier3 is at work.

As a continual tweaker, I have got a few components on order and will experiment with them in various combinations:

Audiolabs DC Blocker (will test on my Rega amp and the Denafrips DAC - may end up with two, one for each, or none if I can't hear a positive difference)

ifi GND Defender (as above)

ifi iSilencer+ - for the source end of the USB connection

Audioquest Cinnamon Coax - will try this instead of USB from the Zen Stream

ifi SP-DIF iPurifier 2 - will try it with the AQ Coax (with an iPower X for the 5V input)

Douk U2 Pro DDC - will try this with and without all of the above tweaks to see what gives in this super-budget device (I have a second spare iPower X 5V for this though reports say it is better with USB power)

An Intel NUC for ROCK - I want to evaluate Roon as I want to use Qobuz and Tidal in harness. Plus Tidal connectivity is intermittently glitchy to the Zen Stream.

If I like Roon I will try it direct to the DAC both via USB and via the Douk DDC - to see if I can eliminate the Zen Stream altogether. I will also probably buy a better PSU for the NUC.

Other than the NUC, everything is returnable (though I got the NUC for less than the barebones unit sells for new so I'm sure I can resell it).

I also have a pair of Cisco 2960's spare with SFPs and a short fibre optic cable that I can put in front of the NUC if necessary.

Believe it or not, my end game is to have as few boxes as possible but I want to experiment to find the best SQ with the "budget" kit.

If the DDC makes a big difference I will almost certainly try a Gustard U-18, Singxer SU-6 or Denafrips IRIS (if I can find an IRIS!)

With all of the above said, I'm also very interested in the new ifi Neo Stream but if Roon works well for me I will try to remove another network device and go direct to DAC. However, I suspect the galvanic isolation of either Wi-Fi to the Zen Stream or the Optibox into the Neo Stream will really help (plus the Neo Stream removes the need for a DDC and Coax/USB tweaks!)

@lollipopguild - I've actually removed Ethernet entirely from the path. I have upgraded my Wi-Fi router quite significantly and switched to the Wi-Fi circuit in the Zen Stream which sounds superb (and Wi-Fi is about as 'isolated' as you can get compared to Ethernet!)

So all of my Ethernet purchases have been returned except for my 2960s.

@jabbaman what router and wifi circuit did you use? Do you have a link to the mods? 

In my system the 3d sound stage dissappears over wifi. With one modded meraki 220, it’s kinda there, but with two, that is where the magic happens.

I've implemented a TP-Link DECO XC80-5G and it is superb. The Wi-Fi circuit is built-in to the ifi Zen Stream. 

J

hi @jabbaman 

I would like to say you missed out 1 more 2 more on the chains between Zen Stream & Zen Dac. 

it is iDefender + 5V iPower-X for your Wireworld USB cable. that really shine the ipurifier3 to the max level because of the iDefender.