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.
Smart thinking on holding off to Roon lifetime subscription. Is there a reason why you’re not using Sense App? I subscribed to Roon lifetime membership 2 years ago, barely used it due to inconsistencies with SQ. No issues with Conductor app managing my library. The playback is seamless streaming from my library or Qobuz/Tidal. If you wanna see how everything neatly curated, take a peak at my ‘Digital’ system - Pic 19 & 20. |
@lalitk It does appear your local library is neatly organized. Perhaps my issue is cd rips are on NAS, and Euphony OS/Stylus imports files from NAS differently than drives within streamer or usb drive, maybe a direct connection vs. going through network may help the situation. Stylus does fine with my Qobuz, Tidal libraries, play lists. Just don't get it, Roon imports NAS files just fine. In any case, this issue means I have to continue to use Roon for the NAS music. I'll have to do some experimentation, try the usb drive I use for NAS music library backups direct connection to streamer. |
My cable modem is from Xifinity (formerly Comcast). Since my modem is about 30’ away from my dedicated room, I use a pair of Apple Extreme routers in a mesh network configuration to feed my Telegartner M12 Switch Gold. If you would like to see my network configuration, please visit my ’Digital’ system page and click on Picture # 22. You can avoid mesh network if you place your cable modem in the same room as your audio system. This would mean, running a short LAN cable from modem to your choice of streamer. I am going to be soon comparing another network switch in my system. It will be interesting to see how this switch compares to my existing switch. |
Thanks, I have a two-story home and also a finished basement where my audio system resides. My cable modem is currently in a first floor library. I was going to use a mesh router in my listening room with close proximity to the streamer connected by a LAN cable. I hadn’t thought about modem in listening room LAN connection to the streamer. It seems that either would work fine. Mesh router near streamer appealed to me. Charles |
