Upgrading digital side

A nice budget.  I am sure that you will get a nice outcome.  A few suggestions/observations.

 1) I totally agree about separating the streamer from the DAC.  Of the two I would place more budget in the DAC.

2) regarding SACD. I get excellent results with a my Oppo 105 playing SACD over HDMI to my Bryston DAC 3 which has HDMI inputs.  The Oppo has to be programmed in settings to output SACD over HDMI.

  Oppo of course is long gone but their creators moved on to Magnetar and the setup menus are the same.  Magnetar players are supposed to have good internal DACs.  With your budget you could afford to add a separate player just for SACD or if you find a DAC that accepts HDMI use that DAC for both SACD,CD, as well as the streamer.  My understanding is that Bryston no longer makes SACD DACs.

   I listened to the McIntosh SACD-DAC combination that uses a MCIntosh proprietary input between players.  It was awesome.  At the time I saw it the combo was about 11K.  Even if it’s gone up that still leaves a healthy budget for streamers.  Good luck

@mahler123 I was reading about Bryston DAC 3 doing HDMI. What I was surprised to hear was that a PURE DSD stream was going into the DAC 3, though that should be a function of the OPPO.

BTW - as I am writing this, I am listening to the RME DAC and the B.BOB with my very best disk, an SACD version of DSOTM. Neither Qobuz of Tidal (I have both) sound as good on this album as my SACD. I was sad when my modded Sony SCD-1 died and then me selling my Benchmark DAC3B. I had no way to listen to this great disk.

I had 3 ROON ONLY Sonore OpticalRendu streamers. One of them died after about a decade of work and I am going to sell 1 more of them because I will not stream in the bedroom system anymore. I will use the D.BOB and disks. It is such a waste to most listen to my disks.

@yyzsantabarbara Thanks for the feedback on the GeerFab device. I have a large collection of SACDs, but after my Marantz SACD broke three years ago I didn't bother to buy another SACD player. I do have a very nice transport, Ayon CD-T, which is excellent with regular redbook CDs. I am considering GeerFab as an alternative so I can get the maximum out of my SACDs. Unfortunately, there is very little discussion on this device from a sound quality perspective. Most of my SACDs are hybrid so I can still use them with my existing transport with or without this device.

Some questions I have ...

How much of an improvement can I expect playing my hybrid SACDs with this device in the chain? Are we talking a noticeable improvement or subtle at best?

Can I expect that the combination of my CD transport and GeerFab will give me the performance that is on par with a dedicated SACD player?

Any issues or shortcomings I should be aware of?

Thanks for your feedback.

@arafiq My Sony SCD-1 modded by Vacuum State to Level 5+ was one of my fav sources. It was not as detailed as the newer DACs but the sound coming from it was mesmerizing. The stock SCD-1 was not as good as the modded one. So that was my baseline for SACD, the CD section was OK. The SCD-1a died a few years ago.

While the SCD-1 was working I did a head-2-heed with the D.BOB and the D.BOB was more detailed than the SCD-1 but it lacked that terrific musicality of the Sony. Now I attribute that to the Benchmark DAC3B that I used with the D.BOB. It was a good combo but the SCD-1 was preferred.

Now the Allnic DAC that I wanted to hear with the D.BOB is incredible. It is the most detailed DAC, and it is incredibly holographic. Even though it uses a ESS chip the secret sauce is the OTL/OCL output. If it works with the D.BOB and I am almost certain it will (as is the D.BOB designer) it should be the very best sound from these SACD’s I own. I expect to stream with my Sonore OpticalRendu for most of the time with the Allnic but having the D.BOB working with it will be a bonus.

I am listening to the D.BOB today with my ’DIY headphones’, the Magnepan Mini with KEF KC62 sub and the RME DAC I mentioned previously, and it is really good. Not as good as the Sony but I am having a great time listening to these disks.

If the D.BOB works with my Schiit Yggi+ OG and the OPPO bdp-103 that is one its way to me. I may buy another D.BOB to use in my office. I saw an ad from B&H web store for $599 for the D.BOB. If you do not like it sell me yours, I will likely buy a cheap DAC in the future if the Yggi+ does not work with the D.BOB. The Yggi+ OG stays with me forever.

Hello @walt8489 ,  you have gotten some good input here, partly due to your well phrased topic.  @soix as usual is lending top advice.

I have extensive experience with the MM Tambaqui, with its internal Roon bridge, an Auralic Aries streamer, and finally a Grimm MU1 running Roon core and streaming to the Tambaqui.  Each version was progressively better.  The Aries breathed life and emotion into the excellent Tambaqui, but the MU1 is the perfect pairing with this world class DAC.  One would be happy with this combo I think.  The Grimm running Roon core and serving the DAC is elegant, avoiding a separate core completely.  I now use the Grimm as Roon core for a MM Makua with onboard Tambaqui.  Good power cables and AES cable are important. I do have a lifetime Roon subscription and am very used to it’s software.

My reference system uses this Roon core, with an Aries serving the amazing Master Fidelity Nadac C and D.  I am still searching for the nirvana streamer to sit with the Nadacs.
 

I have also listened to the MU 2 and it is nice as well, but not as nice as the MU1 / Tambaqui combo.  It is appealing though as another box and 2 cables go away with small sacrifices.

I do not think the Bricasti is on this level.

I am anxious to hear the new U2X streamer by Lumin, paired with the Nadacs.

I am a Roon fan, and love the software and metadata, playlists and ease of use.  I avoid any of its DSP.  I have had an Aurender N20 in my home, but it did not sound better, and a JCAT S1 streamer, which sounded great but did not have a Roon option

As for spinning any type of CD, I no longer am compelled.

please let us know where you go with this!  Ken.