Clock vs Streamer advice

@ghasley thanks for the excellent and knowledgeable response. I didn't think you just had a generic ethernet cable only. 😉 I am doing very well, with my new streamer, but I'm not saying what it is yet ha ha. Hope you are well yourself, and it sounds like you are 😁

@zpatenaude37

Is your Bricasti MC1 similar to the M1 in that you can have a network card installed?

I own a Bricasti M3 and a close friend owns an M1.  We have listened to them using every input.  The network input is, by far, the best input for these DACs.  One of the main reasons is that the network signal path is the shortest to the chipsets inside the chassis according to the designer Mr. Zolner.

My friend compared his insanely purposely built PC using two separate Mutec boxes (master clock then a reclocker) to his M1 and the network input from his home server.  We were able to blindly choose the network input every time.  Nothing changed tonality.  It was all about spatial cues and greater size and delineation of soundstage right/left and front/back.  Oh, BTW, he also uses B&W 802s.

TL;DR

Set up a home network if possible and use the Bricasti network card inside your MC1.

“I really, really believe that the clocking in the server is a very real thing”

+1, @ghasley on the importance of clocking in a server/streamer. I have taken a slightly extreme approach by addressing the clocking in a streamer and DAC with a very high quality external master clock that has yielded to a very satisfying listening experience. 

Do you exclusively stream through Roon?  If so and you don't have a big budget then why not Roon Nucleus as  your streamer--then USB to your DAC same as when you used Macbook.  Nucleus is purpose built for Roon, has no fan and even though one user here had a bad experience his situation was unusual.

@zpatenaude37 how are you getting on?