Does anyone have a digital system that is as involving as their analogue front end?

@audphile1 

We only have one network and the Meitner is hardwired with ethernet. It does not operate over wifi. The iPad operates on wifi to the same network. I checked bluetooth and the Meitner is not listed, but it might not talk to the iPad on bluetooth. When this happened to my Moon, the tech at Moon had me take everything off the network, shut down the Moon and reboot it, but it took him several times to do this in the right order. I'll listen to records today and call somebody tomorrow.

There is no Bluetooth there. It’s all network. 
You said you have 2 mesh nodes? Each one has a different network name?

Let’s say mesh node 1 wifi network name is dog 1. Mesh node 2 that the Meitner is hardwired to, network name is dog 2.  
Go to your ipad wifi settings, and select the network with the name that corresponds to the node that feeds the Meitner. 
You should be good to go. 

By the way, EMM Labs has a longtime partnership with Kimber Kable. I have Kimber PK14 Ascent power cable and KS1116 XLRs on my Meitner and there’s excellent synergy. I used Kimber Carbon XLRs as well (lower line than the KS) and it was great too. Highly recommend you try Kimber cables on that DAC. 

I have Kimber cable XLR interconnects and Ethernet going into the Meitner. I just ordered a 50ft. ethernet cable which I will run across the room (under a carpet) and plug the Meitner into the mesh that is connected to the ATT fiber. I will then have only one mesh. Chatgpt thinks that each mesh has its own subnetwork. The guy who sold me the Moon suggested I connect it directly to the main mesh, but when his installers came here they said it would work just as well on the second mesh. Chatgpt seems to know its stuff on this subject and says that should fix drop offs as well as have Jplay connect to the Meitner. Amazon. The cable arrives before 8 am.

If you like the sound of your VPI turntable, the dCS DACs may not be your speed. I've heard both the Bartok APEX and the Rossini APEX. Of the two, the Bartok actually sounded better to my ears, but surprisingly not as good as my Denafrips Pontus II. The Rossini had an artificiality to its sound quality that was off-putting to me. The Bartok at least did not sound overly synthetic to me.

The one streamer-DAC that I've heard, for which I think I could gladly give up vinyl, is the Linn Organik DAC as part of either a Linn Selekt or Klimax network music player. I heard one at a Linn dealer and had just gotten done listening to their demo of the 50th anniversary version of the LP12 turntable. If I were blindfolded listening to the Linn Organik DAC, I think I would have had trouble knowing if the music I was hearing was coming from an LP12 turntable or the Linn Organik DAC.