Best Direction/Product Combo DAC/Streamer

I like them seperate.  

Do people ask for them combined because they only have one spot on their rack?

Jerry

Gustard R26 for $1.5K is so good you need to spend WAY more to get better sound, something like a Lumin T3 for $6K (and even then I'd say it's not "better" sounding just different). The only downside to the Gustard is you need to use ROON (or a DLNA), and ROON will require a host computer like a NUC.

On the LuminX1 the digital is an output only.
you can’t connect a CD transport

USB can be an input or  an output .

If you are looking for true streamer DAC - Naim, Lumin, Aurender, Auralic and HiFi rose are likely all good options.  They all make software that works really well.  Their are tons of units that have "streaming capability" but they rely on MConnect or MControl and many don't love this software but it is free or close to free.  

Full disclosure, I am a Naim dealer and not a dealer for any of the other units.  

+1 again for the Auralic Altair G1 or 1.1 now.  Great performance for its price I think. I have one in a second system, run it on wifi, and it immediately brought out much better sound over my cd player or lesser streaming sources.  IMHO much better than node or other $1000 solutions.  And one box.  I run an Auralic G2.1 in my main system with a custom power supply.  but the Altair gives close to that performance at a reasonable price.  Talk to GTT audio.  Ken