To DDC or not to DDC. That is the question.

@mclinnguy yes exactly. The amount of musical information a good player can extract from a well recorded redbook CD is astonishing. On a surface at a first listen you go yeah it sounds similar or even the same as streaming. Then a minute into listening you are fully engaged and the music demands your attention. That’s the difference…musicality. Streaming, involuntarily, becomes a background type of listening. With skipping songs and albums looking for something that will eventually grab your attention but it never does. 

OP

IN my opinion, DDC is a hit and miss. it may improve and it may NOT. I love my digital gear for what it has offered. In my particular case, i tried Denafrips DDC and that was a mistake. nothing I heard has improved and it was a pain setting it up for me. 

YMMV

@joeycastillo 

I would surmise that because you listen to local music stored inside your Eversolo, there is less transmission noise than what is transported via a computer or over a network via streaming devices.  

It is a point to be taken by the OP, as the most confined/shortest path/circuit one can take to get their music files to the USB/DAC will result in a cleaner signal if using a considerable cable.

It makes sense that the need for a DDC can be associated with how many circuits, cables, miles, noise makers, etc are between you and your music. But unless you tried a Gaia (with a good cable) and not a Hermes or Iris..technically.. you did not totally buy into it in the first place. Your system, I contend, is of quality that would require the higher end DDC and cables to get your listening attention. 

@joeycastillo Installing Gaya between Aurender and Venus made a significant improvement in my case. The only setting up was configurating I2S on Gaya which could not have been easier.

Ok you guys have hit on my issue which is upgraditis in my digital streaming front end. I appreciate all the input! Lots to think about and weigh... Oh and thank you for reminding me about my CDs that have pretty much languished for years. I should haul them out and see what they sound like through my Sony SCD XA5400ES with the Merason as DAC.