I have an old Auralic G1 and a smsl su10.
I am not getting the clarity I was hoping for. I do try to explain it is the imaging and separation of instruments that seem to be a problem. On acoustic tracks were it is just one or two instruments it is fine but when an ensemble of musicians play the sound becomes constrained and unclear. Should i change my streamer or are bits bits? Or should i get a ladder DAC? I like the Gustard R30 and the Auralic g2.1?
Spend the time checking speaker placement and room treatment or DSP. Neither the transport nor DAC have a bearing on the things you’re concerned about.
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That’s not quite true because if I play Vinyl the sound is fine and more dynamic than digital.
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Isn’t that down to the masters for vinyl are almost always more dynamic? The digital masters are mastered hot for streaming & playlists.
It might be worth playing dolby Atmos on your system to see if that gives you the same sensation. Not because you have an atmos system but because Dolby enforces highly dynamic mixes, which still play even if you don’t have a multi speaker setup.
Almost, depends on the digital mastering. Pre-1994 CDs are not usually hot mastered as the loudness wars hadn’t really started up yet.
That is why I said almost to try and avoid the gotchas 
Yes there are exceptions but even with those, the labels often “remaster" and release on streaming…
I"m blessed to have 1000s of original release CDs and vinyl. It is amazing the differences that can be heard between what was originally released and what is streaming now.
I was reminded of that this weekend, when I pulled out my copy of George Micheal’s “Faith” I purchased the first day it was released in 1987. It is still in shrink wrap and had only been played once in the 80s. I played it again while digitizing it (24/192 PCM). I was amazed at the differences (although I shouldn’t have been), between this original vinyl mastering and what is currently on streaming services. It had been so long since I’d heard the original vinyl that it was shocking just how far all the remastering’s over the years had shifted/colored the sound to a different presentation.
I’m pretty confident in making the statement that if you are listening to streaming music produced originally over 30 years ago, the chances are in the high 90%s that what is on streaming in no way is the same as what was originally released. Which is a shame.
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DAC will make more difference here so I’d start with that. I don’t have experience with any of the hardware you mention so I cannot comment on each piece from experience. However, I know plenty who do enjoy their Gustard. The SMSL is an XMOS + ESS based DAC. This combination generally, very generally, has a specific sound signature and what you write leads me to believe its a signature you want to move away from. The Gustard is an R2R DAC with NOS mode. The NOS mode is the interesting part as it lets you run your own filters ahead of the DAC with something like HQPlayer. It’s the filters and dither / modulator (if you decide to try DSD, requires firmware update on Gustard) which will really allow you to very surgically define the separation between instruments. The Gustard is a tool which will give you this flexibility if you decide to go down this path. Not the easy button path but the results are very rewarding.
Anyway, all that to say…. I’d start with the Gustard as it’s a better tool to “fix” what you describe than any streamer and trying to keep the S.M.S.L.
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The overuse of dynamic range compression is way, way, way more dependent on the type/style/genre of the music than anything else. I listen to a lot of jazz and dynamic range compression is rarely an issue regards of when the mastering occurred. Popular music releases all have way too much dynamic range compression.
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I might try that @ipeverywhere Thanks.
I have a Gustard R30 and it is a wonderful unit in every way possible. Great build and sound quality with all the inputs one might need. Plus it can act as a Roon Bridge, however I use mine with an Eversolo T8, another outstanding unit.
I have several DAC’s at home which I have bought over the years. Most of them have a ESS Sabre chip running the show. And they all sound pretty similar to each other. Clean but quite sterile.
However I also own 2 FIIO K11 R2R DAC’s. Which sound less clean and more warm. Great for listening to older music. They sound more organic to me.
When it comes to soundstages it is the DAC which you are using which will present it. So if you have connected the Auralic to the SMSL, it will be the SMSL which will run the show.
DAC’s have influence indeed. However in my opinion the master quality of the music you are listening to is just as, if not, more important. You can have a hi-res file, but if it is mastered from a terrible source. Then the end result will still be terrible.
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