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It's the analogue side of a DAC that can substantially alter the sound quality. There are so many options on the market at the moment, it's both a good time to be buying and a very complicated choice to make.
A decent DAC is always useful to have around. I've not regretted having a few Lavry convertors, they are available for a fraction of the original price these days. If you can settle for 96/24 conversion then lots of good options exist.
On the other hand I'm streaming through a Marantz unit too (SACD unit) and the sound is superb.
Airhead
Have just picked up a new system: Rega P6, elixir-r, Apollo-r and Harbeth M30.1. Absolutely loving it – many thanks to @BRM for recommending Radlett audio, Dave is really knowledgeable and lovely guy.
The only thing I’m missing from the system is a streamer/DAC. Previously I’ve had a chromecast audio feeding into a cheap DAC then into an amp. I’ve then cast from Spotify or BubbleUpnP/my NAS from the phone when I’ve needed.
Is it better to get a decent DAC (like the Benchmark DAC3) then a cheapish streamer I use via a phone/tablet, or whether it’s worth getting a combined DAC/streamer (like the Cambridge audio CZN V2) that supports Spotify connect? Looking at prices, I can’t stretch to both a decent DAC and high-end streamer.
I guess it boils down to me not really understanding the importance of the streamer quality. Is it a bit like HDMI cables, that as long as the signal gets to the DAC it’s fine, or does a higher quality streamer offer better sound quality?