@kota1 My streamer I have is better than a Node already. I am not sure you are following what level I am at already. My current DAC is no joke, it's really good.
New DAC or New Streamer?
This should be fun. After I pay to get my amp upgraded at VAC next month I plan to either upgrade my DAC or Streamer next. I should have enough for that by late spring/early summer. I'm retired so I save some each month until I have what I need. My system is in my user profile. But to keep this simple my current DAC is the Dinafrips Venus II I got a year ago. (I also have the Hermes DDC)
My streamer is the Cambridge CXN V2 via coax to the Hermes-> I2s -> DAC which is also 1 year old. I was just getting into streaming then and knew little about it. I have learned a lot this past year, a whole lot.
I think the bottle neck is leaning more toward the streamer. It seems the DAC is pretty good, I know there are much better DAC's out there but it holds it own I think. Maybe not? I cannot afford the likes of DCS, Lampizator, etc.
The next planned upgrades are a Terminator II DAC and Aurender N200 Streamer. Both are $5000-$6000. (Unless I go for the Terminator + DAC that is $7500 but I am not sure it is $2500 better than the Terminator II)
So, since both will get upgraded a year apart, which should I go for first? Which would provide the biggest upgrade?
Thanks. Happy holidays to all.
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The OP is aiming at his end game digital front end. Your suggestions so far suggests an entry level streamer options which is clearly opposite OP’s goal. +1, @charles1dad “A mediocre source will impede a good DAC”. |
Trying to put myself in you shoes: if I had said that I thought my streamer was the bottleneck, and I had purchased a DAC prior to the streamer - I would probably be wondering about how much of a bottleneck my Cambridge is while listening to my new Terminator. Curious if that bottleneck would become even more pronounced with a better DAC? |
@fthompson251 , thanks, I was simply illustrating a point that the backend is a better value IMO than the front end. Streaming is what it is, convenient, but on a high resolution system it generally won’t deliver what you can get from ripped files. I would rather spend the majority of my budget on the dac. In my system I use my Onkyo DP-X1 DAP via USB to stream. It can convert ripped files to DSD/DOP then pass it off to the Sony where it "remasters" it in DSD. When you get used to DSD quality from ripped files the streamed versions lose a step if you know what I mean. This is from TAS: Sony’s new “DSD Remastering Engine,” which according to Sony “combines a high-performance DSP (digital signal processing) and FPGA (field-programmable gate array) to convert any signal (my emphasis) into DSD128 signals. It was designed based on the know-how garnered from Sony’s 8-times oversampling and Extended SBM (Super Bit Mapping) technology for professional recorders.” Yes, you read that right: the remastering engine can convert any and all PCM music files into DSD128 format, regardless of their original sample-or bit-rate. @toro3 , on a highly resolving system the "bottleneck" starts with the network. Any noise on the network is passed downstream to the streamer and the DAC.
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Recently I attended a Linn presentation of their newest DAC/Streamer $45K? not sure. As they outlined all the new improvements I asked which part improves the SQ most? Immediate reply-the DAC.
For your situation Aurender is good but pricey. The Innuos Zen 3 I have Streams/Rips and stores. I paid $2,200 new and I think they up about $1k today. Love the thing. You should still be about $2k ahead if you go with Innuos and that gets your new Terminator as well. Yeah you owe me now fella!!
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