I have a macbook pro going into a benchmark DAC - what's the best upgrade path?

when I stopped using my sony ES5400 CDP with my DAC and switched to using my macbook, I kind of expected a loss in sound quality (because people say computers are 'noisy'), but I didn't notice any - and of course I love the convenience. I'm happy with the sound of the benchmark, so there are server-streamers without DACs I could try, and the claim is that they have higher-quality parts, so they'd be less noisy, but the reviews I've seen make me think the main reason to do this would be the bells and whistles (album covers, interface, etc.), not so much the sound, i.e. reducing whatever 'noise' the computer's adding might be a pretty small upgrade.

I've also read that shunyata's digital AC cord (V14 digital) would improve the sound (I'm already using a standard shunyata AC cable); that'd be an easy thing to try, but I'm mostly curious to hear people's opinions about using a server-streamer vs. using a computer. thanks.