Streamers - Auralic, Aurender, Lumin, others...

A lot of advice about getting the noise and bits perfect BEFORE the DAC. A cheaper option is to add a fibre cable BEFORE the DAC and do not worry about what comes before the fibre.

Someone above posted about the PlayBack Deigns streamer that has a glass cable, well that is fibre. I actually owned the Playback Designs STREAM-IF and that also supported fibre but only for PDB dacs (non-fibre for other DACs).

A few weeks ago, I gave a local audiophile a $20 fibre cable that he plugged into his HiFi Rose streamer. It was connected to about $200k worth of gear. He is keeping the $20 cable and told me it was a great upgrade.

Put the fibre just before the DAC and forget about what comes before the fibre. I think this approach is starting to gain some momentum based on the posts I read online.

Op, very happy with my N150… sound, size, build quality & app. The only downside is USB output only. If your DAC likes USB, highly recommended. 

The Wiim Pro is a Swiss Army knife, does everything and works great for a nice price.  

I concur that chasing the final few percentage points of performance often costs exponentially more, and the improvement may be perceptible only under ideal conditions—to highly trained ears and, of course, highly revealing gear. After I fulfill my commitments in other priorities, I’ll probably pursue the same path as @ghdprentice. Fortunately, before I can afford to do so, today’s market already offers excellent gear across all price tiers to serve both camps: those who pursue ultimate performance for passion’s sake, and those who prioritize value and practicality. Performance to cost ratio matters more than ever.

Bottom line is if you pick one of the top 3-4 companies specializing in streamers and digital playback the differences will be more a preference, not that you’ve made a bad choice, they all will be great streamers.  There are also some new kids on the block that offer even better “bang for the buck” but don’t have the track record, history to lean into and aren’t as safe a pick.  Streamers matter, I’ve had 4 different streamers over the course of the last 6-7 years, they all had differences in sound.  Good luck.