Use of Denafrips Iris 12th DDC with computer

I’m going to contradict myself some relative to my last post.  I think the DDC is a good upgrade especially if you use a laptop to stream.  Many here state that computer audio pales in comparison to a good streamer, not necessarily expensive just good at streaming.  That has not been my experience.  I had a HiFi Rose 250a which was a great unit but not quite as good as my laptop to DDC/DAC.  I don’t know at what point a quality streamer would eclipse my current digital stack but I haven’t found it yet.  Streaming with a WIIM Pro did not sound as good as the laptop, both connected to the DDC/DAC combo.  I did use the optical input for the WIIM vice USB for the laptop, so it’s not exactly apples to apples.  Would a Bluesound, Aurender, Innuos etc sound better than my laptop?  Maybe, even likely but I’d still run the signal through the Hermes so it’s not like I’ve spent money on something I wouldn’t use. The Iris is $550 the Hermes is $1300.  At this point I think I’d need to spend two to three times the cost of the Hermes to better the laptop.  The DDC will serve you well and would work with any streamer upgrade you might make.

If you spend $4k on a innuos streamer to your dac then it’s noticeably 

better and has a good interface like Roon but free 

any decent ddc and computer will beat the blue sound it’s just purposely made just for cleaning the signal ,blue sound inside even the latest not much filtering at all 

and the dac I would never use ,you can buy a pretty decent R2R dac new for under $700

I agree with @jastralfu, I’m running a dedicated fanless silent mini PC with optimized settings, no extra programs other than iPad connectivity, fed by cat5 cable from industrial grade switch fed by optical fiber internet service streaming Qobuz.  PC connection to IRIS  with good quality USB, and IRIS to Pontus II by I2S cable.  Less than $3k in all of the above.  I think I’d have to spend double or triple thar on dedicated streamer a la Grimm, Aurender, Lumin, etc., to get the same performance. Really just personal preferences and choices. 

It's amazing to see that some folks on this audiophile site still choose to stream music directly from computer to dac. An inexpensive streamer will improve your experience 10 fold vs adding any DDC between your computer and dac. Not speaking of experience, just common sense. Computer noise is what you are trying to improve. A streamer will do that, a DDC won't.

I thank all for the input.

My primary system is a modest high end system playing CDs via Jay's transport into Audio Mirror DAC. I have explored the purchase of a streamer (say $4K) for this system however prefer the CD avenue at the moment.  I have visited the many AG threads toward that possibility, not having to introduce another.

Streaming is primarily used in my secondary and tertiary systems via Qobuz. Most times I use streaming for background music.  I would use the USB interface most often out of the DDC. Hence my question was focused on the Iris for computer streaming.  

The feedback I have received so far supports that the Iris would make an improvement and to me be worth the dollars spent. I will likely purchase one.

I will keep all posted as to my progress.  Thanks again!