Streamer-DAC vs Seperates

Thanks for the perspectives! @lalitk , I’m not actually considering upgrading my digital chain at this point. As I said I’m very happy with my sound, and as of now I don’t feel the need to upgrade. I started this thread only because I am interested in the latest HiFi developments and the community’s perspectives, and my digital chain is an area I simply wonder about because I never went through the excruciating process of careful component selection. Despite that I think I landed in a pretty good place!

I have a few friends who are just getting into HiFi (or maybe MidFi but I won’t tell them that) and are ALL adding lower grade streamer-DAC combos which made me start wondering. They asked me if the combo approach made sense at their level and I said I really didn’t know (I had lots of advice on their other components). In the end they liked the convenience factor.

Also was recommending they try a variety of amps but the allure of McIntosh blue meters was too strong and they all went with MC462’s and the Mac tube preamp. Seems crazy they did that as I don’t think they realize the extent of the sonic differences amps can make - none had ever had a HiFi system before. I did test McIntosh separates when looking for an amp a number of years back and the Diablo clobbered all the separates I tested in that range.

I think it’s nuts they refused to test amps (they all tested speakers extensively). But I guess I didn’t test any digital options either… but I did go by community recommendation and not what gear looked sexy…

i too very much like one unit streamer/dacs.. after trying so many, i have kept 3

msb analog dac (w powerbase and lan module)

weiss 501

chord m scaler and hugo tt2 - fed by optical rendu via usb (really love the sound of this combo, small form factor as a stack, and particularly, its fantastic ability to drive all sorts of downstream gear)

the first two take ethernet in, does the rest, i am roon user... of course, upstream, there is quite a bit going on... switches, word clocks, ether regens or n-a passive filters with lps’s so there are plenty of boxes still

“I started this thread only because I am interested in the latest HiFi developments and the community’s perspectives and my digital chain is an area I simply wonder about because I never went through the excruciating process of careful component selection,”

@nyev

The latest trend seems to indicate one box Ethernet based DAC with rendering capabilities. Like Bricasti, Grimm Audio, Weiss and Merging Technologies plus what @jjss49 pointed out …..switches, word clocks, ether regens or n-a passive filters with lps’s….to further sweeten the pot.

Yes trend definitely seems to be streamer-DAC combos with “tweak” boxes like reclockers, upscalers etc.  But I’m wondering if what @lalitk said is true - that separate DAC and dedicated streamer always wins.

If I was upgrading now I’d be carefully testing separates like what I have (Zenith Mk3, PhoenixUSB Reclocker, Diablo 300 DAC module, PhoenixNET Ethernet switch) but maybe moving to a dedicated standalone DAC, and really seeing if the how the performance compares with combined boxes like the DCS Bartok, Weiss 501, etc.  Really curious if anyone has done comparisons along these lines.

Maybe not, because it seems people start by committing to the combo or standalone approach first, and testing components within those categories?

For me it came down to power cables and interconnects.  When I looked at all separates the total cost versus a DAC with built in streamer was not really close.  I ended up with a Bricasti M1 se with network / streamer card.  I would do that again and invest the savings into a music server like the SGC i5.