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

I’d love to continue the discussion, but I’d much rather listen to wonderful sounding music through my jitter minimized and noise diminished streamer. laugh

If anyone is still using SPDIF, well, it is their problem.

Unless they have a really good coax cable - then not so much.

kn

@knownothing +1. I never cared for a coaxial connection until I got an Acoustic Zen mc2 cable. That made a noticeable improvement. I had used cables by Harmonic Tech, XLO, Morrow, and others. 

@sls883 yeah.  I did a blind test of eight different coaxial cables ranging from $30 to amounts I never would have considered spending for a cable (until I did this test) with another audio enthusiast who is a critical listener.  The cables we both liked best were the two most expensive in the test from Nordost and Chord, and one of those lists for the same price as my DAC.  I was able to find it used for about a third the cost of new and have zero regrets.  Funny thing is, that cable sounds a little bit better than my best optical and USB cables, but that positive difference grows with every improvement to power delivery upstream of the DAC and streamer.

@eddy1 elaborating on my streamer recommendation, also upgrading your cables from your source to your M-Scaler and the two coax cables to your TT2 might be a better investment now, and one that will continue to pay dividends when you finally move to a DAVE.  Just a thought.

kn