Digital Dilemma

Do not get a better DAC. R26 is quite good with it's external clock input.

You need 10mhz Master Clock LHY OCK-2 with a good 50ohm Master clock cable (Messi & Paoloni, Times Microwave etc.) for that R26.

Use the R26 internal streamer as the master clock will clock the the streamed source as well.

That will align the planets. Trust me.

In terms of upsampling filters the R26 is better fed a pure NOS signal. If you had the A26, then I'd recommend using the upsampling filters as the delta sigma DACs take to those better in lowering the noise floor and creating overall smoothness.

Best of luck to you whatever you decide. New DACs are always fun.

I find the streamer vs CDP (or transport-DAC) argument to be non productive.  Rarely are people comparing apples to apples.  Usually it is a mid level component on end vs a pricier piece on the other.  And if everything is comparable price wise there can still be differences in design philosophies.  So it becomes which streamer vs which transport.  The differences between digital technologies is not as significant as the difference between digital and analog.

  What can be off putting is when beliefs are stated as dogma-usually in this case as “streaming always sounds better than CD”.  This dogma has become so prevalent that people think there is something wrong with them or their systems if they conclude other

This proves, streaming systems (modem, cables, pc card, dac, more cables, software whatever ...) add up to varying degrees of success.

CD/SACD players, using their own internal DACs can be: Great, good, bad, ugly. OP is telling us: his model sounds great!

Any CD player/changer: It’s a salad: physical steadiness, laser accuracy, clocking, over-sampling, propriety filters .....

Some here may know my quest, and finally finding my Sony xa5400ES SACD player. It’s awesome, there’s a reason it costs as much used today as it did when new in late 2008.

I’ve re-discovered my many CDs and few SACDs and been buying used CDs since choosing it. I just bought a spare remote, $15. just in case ...

Get an old Marantz CD-94 which is more of a reference player that the one you own.

Here in my office, I ’stream light’, primarily free YouTube and Pandora, nothing special or paid for: just Fios ethernet, pc intel motherboard with integral video/audio, usb 3.0 out to inexpensive DAC to my Little Luxman 10 wpc tube integrated and restored AR-2ax speakers which have the advantage of high and mid level controls to ’tune’ them to any space they find themselves.

I’m quite happy, thus I rarely play a CD here, just make copies for car or friend. Also LP and R2R here, sometimes I remember them, but ease of streaming and hopping around to new to me music is fun.

Main system: No Streaming: LP’s 1st, CDs 2nd, R2R 3rd (even though most involving sound), FM last.

Home Theater, 5.1: Fios ethernet, router, modem, Sony: Smart TV, AVR, Blu-Ray. DBX Soundfield FL/FR; Klipsch center and rear; Velodyne sub with 1,000 w amp.

Lot’s of Streaming: recorded Idol, Voice, Talent; hop about on YouTube for known and unknown artists, rarely Pandora here. DVD Movies and Music Videos, not CDs

I’m quite happy with the sound of this Sony system, no interest in going for ’real streaming’. I also find, changing some content to 2 channel sounds better. Not the system, good 5,1 sounds awesome, but some surround content ain’t done well.

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IF I ever get the bug to 'stream high quality', before I plunk money down (adds up to a lot) I would want to take my Sony xa5400ES to a friend's system, compare it to their great sounding streaming.