Streamer suggestions with both wireless and wired connections

ghdprentice , Your experience with digital audio and LP reproduction is valuable. It did not come to my mind to compare streaming with LP reproduction, partly, because my turntable is not so good. Besides, I have not so many LPs of the quality I like. I did A/B comparisons of some well-recorded jazz LP with the corresponding CDs. The frequency range is always better with CDs, but LPs give smoother and non-harsh sound reproduction. Besides the T&A DAC, I used other DACs in my comparisons, including a Reimyo DAP and an Ambar Lampizator DAC, with similar outcomes . So  for me, a streamer that doesn't sound  better than a CD would not make much sense. I strongly doubt that a streamer may sound better than the combination of a good CD transport and a DAC, hence I see no sense in spending $22k or even $7k on a streamer. Your experience is different though. 

@carlsbad2 , I agree that the DAC in Node 2i is no good, I never used it, and of course, while doing comparisons, I used the same DAC for both, the CD transport and the streamer. 

My CD / DAC and Streamer / DAC sound the same when playing the same red book files… from CD (I am using the same DAC I either scenario), stored files or streamed. This is true for me by design… getting the highest quality sound at my level of investment. However, streaming sounds better when streaming high resolution files like the half a million albums on Qobuz.

I am not completely sure at how you are looking at the CD comparison. what a CD sounds like is dependent on the transport and DAC. I am going to use cost as a shorthand for performance. So for instance if you were to compare my streamer to say a $5K CD transport (with the same DAC being used) or $10K+ CD player, my streamer would sound much better, as well as having far greater functionality.

A streamer can easily sound much better than a CD player or transport. It depends on the comparison. The sound of a CD is fundamentally controlled by the equipment used to play it… as is streaming. The better the player / transport or streamer the better the sound.

Sorry if that is either over explaining or a bit jumbled. I’m just not feeling very concise at the moment.

I understand your point of view. But in my experience, the price does not necessarily determine the SQ, and they are not necessarily proportional (and not only is audio stuff). Jay's Audio CD transport is known to be one of the best, hence I don't think that by replacing it with a $20k CD transport the picture will essentially be changed, and the same with the DACs I use.  Overall, while measuring the SQ we are often subjective, and it is a matter of an individual taste. 

But I think you reached the most important thing - you are completely satisfied with your choice.   

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It’s true price does not equal performance, but better parts and additional R&D increase costs that must be passed on to the customer. Moving up a brand’s product line, like Aurender, one would expect better performance. Whether the increased performance is worth the price is a matter of a subjective opinion.

@niodari

I understand. You cannot randomly choose equipment at a price point and expect to realize this relationship. It must be carefully chosen to be the best at the price level and to be purpose built to your sound quality values… like highly detailed, or musical… warm… etc.

I do not come to this opinion by comparing two or three auditions and purchases but from hundreds over fifty years of dedicated pursuit. In general, if you do good solid research… you get performance at the level of your investment. Each 2x in investment gives you a “wow… I can’t believe how much better that sounds!”