brbrock, I said that my current streaming setup is the best digital I have ever had and that it rivals and perhaps bests my vinyl, although source quality has everything to do with what sounds best, as I expect you know. Some records are not bettered by their streaming counterparts, and vice versa, because of source quality.
My benchmark for comparison is vinyl, which is what I listened to primarily for many years.
I have a CEC transport and used a John Wright hot rodded musetec bidat for many years, prior to entering the streaming world 3-4 years ago. The bidat is a redbook DAC known for its analog like qualities.
My contemporary DAC experience includes Aurender A10 (passed on to friends), Rose 250 (second system), 005 (sold) and now 006.
What DACs have you used? What is the rest of your system comprised of? How is your room? Your power?
If your 006 is harsh, I fully agree with sns that it is probably an issue elsewhere in your system. Specific to streaming, I can say with certainty that I would not be hearing what I am hearing out of my 006 without my sonore optical moat, the signal and power cables I have in place, or my gaia. I have tried the 006 without same.
Of course, I would not achieve my current level without my power conditioning, room treatment, rack systems, other components, and a whole lot of tuning and tweaking.