All-in-one or Separates

Hello,

Computer Room : Roon Core on Synology 918+, Large FLAC database on Synology

Music Room : Ethernet wired.
LFD LE V Gold Signature
Esoterics MG20
Sonos ZP80

Looking to replace the Sonos ZP80 stread/DAC by a higher quality Source
Budget = 2500 EUR
Question is then whether to invest in an all-in-one suiss knife style Netwerk Player/DAC like the Cocktail X45 or Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ or the Altair G1… or to look at a combi of specialized separates like the Sonore Ultrarendu and the RME ADI-2 DAC……

Anyone experiences/advise to share ?
Thank you and enjoy the music.
Paul

If you are happy with the way your kit works just add a streaming DAC. Devices that come to mind include Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, Lumin D2 or at the lower end budget wise Teac NT-505. To be honest I don’t know if the first two are within your budget but I think they are worth looking at. I don’t know Auralic products but they have a following. I do know the Teac and suspect that performance wise it’ll outperform the ZP80 by a decent margin. It’s biggest issue is it’s branding.
I have pursued the separates path myself and it was a rewarding journey. But they have a dependency on USB and the streaming DAC bypasses that which takes a lot of variability out of the solution.

There is a lot of variability in Ethernet inputs in DACs with most made from inexpensive hardware with components to match. From my perspective I would not want to be committed to these implementations.