Streamer v DAC - which is more important?

DACs went out of fashion a while back....   and now they are one of hottest categories of hardware discussion and sales.   I've been using a DAC since the late eighties for good reason,  they handle multiple digital sources and often sound better than one box solutions.  Now with streaming and archived digital files theres never been a better time to buy a DAC.   Im using a NAD M51 DAC with several digital sources including a Bluesound Vault 2i and it sounds awesome.    Movies, bluray audio, files on my HD...  all sound better through the DAC.   

"Having a high quality stand alone DAC is worth every penny paid."

pgcollie just nailed it. I made some costly mistakes in my system building before realising this. 

I’ll add my $.02.  I’ve posed this very question to myself and elsewhere in these forums.  I don’t have an answer in which I’m confident - I don’t know which is the more important.  They both are.  

I have multiple systems, and own a Node 2, an Aurender N100H and an Auralic Aries G2 to serve each. I’ve had a chance to compare all three streamers going into the same DAC - and they all sound different.  Not radically different as I would note that the difference is presented primarily in spatial information.  The tonality is the same, but the better streamers sound significantly more “open”.  The Node 2 is excellent for its price, but sounds “flat” dimensionally in comparison - even when connected via a Nordost Heimdahl digital cable (more expensive than the Node 2).  

I also ran all three streamers into a different DAC. Same result. I still don’t know which is more important - I’m guessing the DAC, but am unsure. But, let me also suggest that those who believe certain DACs eliminate or are immune to jitter (the inference being that a good source/streamer is irrelevant) may be missing something.  As has been stated elsewhere - everything makes a difference.  Unfortunately, this has been exaggerated as I’ve improved my system.  Pairing a state of the art DAC with a budget streamer, or vice versa, would be a mistake in my view.

Stay safe out there.
mgrif

I opted for just a DAC for reasons mentioned above.

What hadn’t seen mentioned is that I basically hook up my iPad via USB into the DAC. This way my iOS Tidal app is always up to date, works well and I get MQA level audio or up to 24 bit/192 kHz (effectively achieving same result). 
 

and I can also easily switch between other music apps (Apple Music w lossless, Spotify, etc). 

DAC by a wide margin. With that said, don't discount what precedes it.