Best Music Streamer to pair with Rogue Audio monoblocks and Pre-Amp

what he (@jji666) said…

I prefer the Roon model of a powerful machine on the server end, kept away from the audio system, and a lightweight low powered quiet streamer connected to DAC. This means you can use an ordinary computer at 1/5 the price as your server and its even well more flexible.
 

that’s exactly what I had. Roon on Mac Mini in another room away from my system, streaming using Roon ready network card in the Bricasti M3 DAC. Dreck.  

@audphile1

Your experience is exactly what the data on jitter from the M3 with network card would have predicted.  According to the lab report of the HiFi News review of the M3, jitter is over 1900 psec, which is 190(!) times as much jitter as the Mytec with any streamer they ever tested it with!  I’ve attached a link to that review for you.  I’ve also attached the M21 review, which at over £17,000 has the same problem.  

Your experience only serves to validate the point I’ve tried to make in this, and many other, threads.  For streamers, measurements can be very insightful, both in terms of what we hear, and what we don’t.  Too often, we assign credit and blame based on imperfect inadequate or imperfect information.  And I’m just trying to help others avoid that problem.  

Bricasti M21

Brisasti M3

I have an Innuos Pulsar and it's fantastic

Mdalton I just saw your response. So…the difference between using the M3 network card as a roon endpoint and using the M3 as a DAC only via USB from the Aurender N200 is huge. The article talks about jitter in the M3 as a hole, not just the network card. 
M3 is super low noise, resolving and natural sounding DAC. If there’s any jitter I couldn’t hear it with a CD transport or Aurender. 
I auditioned Mytek Brooklyn 2 against Chord Qutest and Bryston BDA-3 in my system. I liked Chord the best and Bryston a close second. Absolutely hated the forward digital nature of the Mytek. But again, Bricasti to my ears is better than all the aforementioned DACs.