Better DAC or better Streamer


Hello,

Which is better upgrade between the two?

1.  Chord DAVE DAC.

2.  Nagra Streamer. 

I am currently using Chord M Scaler with Hugo TT2 DAC.  Also using Astell&Kern SP3000 DAP for streaming the music.

Thank you,

 

 

eddy1

Better DAC ! Cause through a DAC you could run several different sources like a streamer. 

There are plenty of good streamers out there but finding one with decent software is a challenge. Many people recommend Aurender but in my experience while the SQ is excellent the conductor software is lacking. I finally settled on Antipodes with Squeeze software which is adequate but far from perfect. I'm looking forward to Qobuz Connect which again while not perfect would be a step in the right direction. But to address the question I believe the DAC will have more impact on SQ than the streamer. DACs can sound significantly different and I would not limit myself to Chord and would try as many as possible within your price range.

One’s conclusion on Aurender’s Conductor app may be highly dependent on when you used it. They did a major upgrade about six to nine months ago. Not a spectacularly smooth transition. But is solidified and now far more powerful than the earlier version... and it is getting even better daily,