wanting to take a digital step

To get started I would suggest the AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt. and a minijack to RCA Y cable and some RCA cables long enough to reach your stereo from your listening position (or just use headphones).  If you find you enjoy streaming and you want even better sound quality It will probably cost much more than $500.  (heck the interconnects are over $500 if you buy them new).

The streaming services have free trials which will really open up access to so much music. Headphones and the dragonfly will surprise you on how good streaming can sound.

It's taken me over 5 years to get to my current digital setup and comparatively I didn't go the conventional route.  I've learned so much about what makes a difference in the sound during the process and I believe my digital system currently outperforms the dollars invested even factoring in all the Bluetooth, Chromecast, Raspberry PI avenues I pursued to get to where I am today.

I am excited to hear some music that I don’t know about that I will love…Or maybe I’ll go straight to the streamer but If I do go with the Schitt to start with my laptop what usb cord do I need to connect to dac?

You should be very excited! I’d suggest doing a free trial of Qobuz and you’ll be able to explore worlds of new music, and a lot of it is available in hi-res (I use my iPad or iPhone to run Qobuz). I’d also highly recommend not using your computer as a source and invest in a separate streamer that’ll sound much, much better, and when you can pick up an iFi Zen Stream for only $399 it’s not a big investment for the return you’ll get in significantly better sound quality. You’ll likely need a good USB-A to USB-B cable like this one to go from either the streamer or computer into a DAC…

https://www.lavricables.com/cables/ultimate-silver-dual-headed-usb-interconnect-cable/

You’ll also want to run an Ethernet cable from your router/switch or a Wi-Fi extender if your system’s not near your internet connection. I wouldn’t worry too much about accessing the music from your computer as there’s a good chance most of it will be available on Qobuz — I rarely spin a CD these days. Hope this helps, and welcome to the wonderful world of streaming!

@soix

Reading the forums, I know some people frown on the use of Wi-Fi. On the other hand, some say it works great for them. Do you find the use of a Wi-Fi extender the equivalent of Ethernet cable route sonically via a quality streamer?

Charles

@charles1dad Sorry, I can’t answer your very good question yet as I’m away from home and so haven’t yet been able to compare one versus the other.  But, I have a specific issue that I’m using Qobuz via an MConnectHD app with my iFi Zen Stream (iFi doesn’t have the ability to link directly to Qobuz — argh!) and am having connection issues via Wi-Fi that apparently disappear when using a wired Ethernet connection either from a router or a Wi-Fi extender.  I don’t have the ability to run an Ethernet cable from my router to my streamer as my listening room is too far away, but @ghdprentice has reported excellent results using a Wi-Fi extender and Ethernet connection in his top-notch streaming setup, so I’m kinda hanging my hat on that.  When I do get to compare the two I’ll definitely report back.

@soix 

👍

Charles