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Fairly new to streaming. Where to start?

$2k & under budget

Aralic Vega has streamer  and DAC. May be the easiest start?
Then there is Schiit...Yiggy or Gumby...which streamer?
Ladder NOS dac? Or Chip? I'm old. maybe I'll like the old school DAC?
Then there is  Benchmark DAC 3...I think it has streamer?
Then
Exasound E32
Audio Mirror?
Metrum
MHDT Orchid
Border Patrol?
Musical Paradise?
Whats a newbie to do? I am a classic rock fan with lots of FLAC & M4a files. I like detail & PRaT. Love a good bass line. I also play some 70's jazz. I have a Theta Miles CD player from the 1900's & play a lot of vinyl too. But I need to come into the 21st century.  Besides, I will probably become tired of the vinyl ritual and work at some point as I get older. I think I have done enough homework to be somewhat confused. Maybe the biggest question in light of how fast digital changes is the question of streamer with DAC or separate Streamer and DAC. One other question is the streamer & bridge the same thing? OK Thanks!! 
artemus_5
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
6,183 posts
 
artemus_5,

You can certainly use a laptop to stream  audio files but it won’t sound as good as dedicated ‘audio’ streamer from aforementioned brands. 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
OP
One advantage of seperate items is if you decide you want a better DAC, well that's all you need to replace.
Or streamer only etc.

One advantage of streamer/ DAC is fewer cables( power and interconnect).
Less shelf space taken up.

But less flexible as opposed to seperates.
artemus_5's avatar
artemus_5 OP
2,016 posts
 
@crn3371  @lalitk 

Can I use the Bluesound Node 2i as a streamer only with another DAC?
What are other lower cost streamers ie Node 2i? Seems that I have looked mostly at the DAC portion of the equation.

djones51
4,947 posts
 
Yes you can use the Node2i as a streamer with a different dac, you can always just start with the Node2i using its dac to get your feet wet for low cost. 
big_greg
6,821 posts
 
Yes, you can use another DAC with the Node 2i. You should also take the app interface into consideration. This is an area where Bluesound excels.
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