STREAMER - WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?


I've been using the Eversolo DMP-A8 and think it's a mid-range, feature-rich, capable, and attractive machine.  For the past few months, my focus has been on putting my system together (e.g., new caps on the amps, new tubes, getting clean power, turntable, phono stage, etc) and have felt that I've been overly focused on the analog side.  I've long wanted to work on getting my end game digital setup and pulled the trigger on a BAT Rex 3 DAC and now want a streamer that mates well with it.  I know little about streamers. . .just enough to get lost in the topic.  

Other than an easy-to-read screen and balanced outputs, what features should I look for in an endgame streamer that will deliver a significant performance boost?  I invite any suggestions. 

patrickalston
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Here’s a used Pulsar at a good price you could try and likely resell for little loss if it  doesn’t work out and might be worth it for peace of mind since this is a significant longer-term investment.

https://nowlistenhere.net/Products/USED-Innuos-PULSAR-streamer__USED-colo--spc-INN-PULSAR.aspx

I’ll add, @patrickalston, if you do try out a Pulsar,  that the owner of Now Listen Here, Aaron Sherrick, is an excellent dealer and all around stand up fellow, so you might take that into account in choosing between these two units.

For what it’a worth: get an Etherregen with a decent external clock in front of your streamer and an LHYaudio UIP-1 on the same 10m clock on the USB link to the Dac and things start cooking. Use the SFP port on the Etherregen for further improvement.

The simple facts are as follows: A $2000 DAC or streamer can not contain a $5000 clock and no galvanic isolation on ethernet is as clean as a fibre conversion. That said use good power supplies and proper SFPs for the conversion. Ideally you can use the superior clock also on the DAC so that you have superior clocking through the chain while the DAC slaves the server