Another person going digital and full of questions

Thanks for responding.  As I suspected, opinions are all over the map, ranging from  the ASR view that streamers make no difference and DACs have been solved and anyone spending more than $100 is a dupe, to the opinion that the dcs Bartok at $20k is the cheapest DAC you can get that makes music sound like music.  (but of course, not without another $10k or so of wires etc).

Then inside that difference of opinion there's "the streamer doesn't matter, spend the money on a DAC" vs "the streamer makes all the difference, get a good one and upgrade the DAC later."  Then inside THAT controversy another one about the particular DAC architectures, and inside that, of course, an endless debate about which brand or model is crap and which one is nirvana.

Anyway, I'm enjoying it all, though, I have to say, not yet very enlightened.  So thanks again.

Anyway, I’m enjoying it all, though, I have to say, not yet very enlightened. So thanks again.

op - i have had some fun on this thread you started...but here are some (serious) key points that may help your quest for enlightenment on the subject

1. it all matters, from ethernet/wiring, cabling, noise management (digital signal, power supply and mechanical), and of course dac and streamer

2. but dacs matter most ...up to a certain level (call it well reputed ~$6-10k+ dacs, then they converge in sound) - below that level, dacs sound pretty different as all sorts of cost/quality tradeoffs are being made

3. in general up to that high level of dac where sound quality converges, i would say dac choice drives sound quality 75-80%, rest derives from streamer selection and the rest...

4. but... and here is the big but... once you are into that high, truly excellent level of dacs (msb, top chord, weiss, bricasti, totaldac and so on), in order to get the most out of these, let them fulfill their potential (call it getting your money’s worth out of what you paid for that superb dac), everything feeding it from upstream needs to be pristine.... streamer, ethernet, noise filtering, jitter control, connections, computing (roon core, that ilk)... and the high level of dacs, the underlying technology matters less (r2r vs bitstream), the makers have used whatever technology they have chosen to deliver the end result (great great sound), and then it is more about features, form factor, connections...

5.  one can get terrific sound at a lower level of cost than isolated computing to streamer to super dac... but as usual, in this hobby, just like in analog, speakers, amplification, you spend alot, work hard, make great efforts for that last 10-15-20%....

good luck

@mattchanoff : how do you plan to stream? Do you subscribe to any streaming services, such as Tidal, Qobuz, and such? It looks like you have no interest in ripping your CDs and streaming them? I am assuming you don’t use Roon?

If only streaming from Qobuz Tidal or similar, IMO the easiest solution is a nice DAC, with built in streamer, such as this:

You will obviously need to provide internet connection to it, such as an Ethernet cable from Router or Ethernet Switch to the streaming DAC.
 

There are other brands, similar concept (I.e LUMIN others have mentioned). I agree that upgrading your DAC should be your top priority.

If you get a DAC with no streamer built in, then you can add a stand alone streamer, USB out to DAC, such a Sonore ultraRendu or microRendu (cheaper)

LUMIN U2 mini

The range of products and opinions can be bewildering so I would start from a different angle. You want something to “complement” your other sources. What does that mean? Are you talking about a comparable sound? If so then that narrows your options if you can describe the sound you’re after. You might also want to re-examine your starting point. If you want to use streaming to discover music you might subsequently buy on CD then yes of course ripping and storage is pointless. If you’re spending up to 5k though it poses an opportunity to match or exceed your current source. Whilst CD ripping is slow ish - it took me 5 weeks to rip 2,000 - it’s also fabulously worth it if you get the streamer/DAC right. It’s absolutely not dispiriting.