Hello,
I’m working to understand high quality streaming.
Is iancanada a good choice?
I have a new decent quality DAC and Amplifiers soon to arrive.
Emotiva differential reference DAC and Monoblock’s.
I’ve been using Amazon Music… I was thinking this is decent quality? True?
Hey and welcome Thad!
You may not be aware of the fact, that Roon doesn’t work with Amazon Music.
Maybe check out Roon’s knowledge base to get the basics covered.
There’s the ones advocating for special audio streaming components to be able extract the ultimate audio experience, and then there’s the others just transferring data to their DACs, and common ground usually can’t be found.
Go for what you want to believe and make peace with that, saves you from a lot of grievance!
Thank you very much for helping me to learn.
Use your ears, Thad 
Seriously though, you’ll get a million and one opinions on here covering the entire spectrum
If you can get to a dealer, friend or get a sale/return home trial - try stuff out and understand what suits your own requirements
Regards
Andy
PS. Maybe show us your results on the ‘showing off’ thread - many of us like to see the fascinating array of systems and rooms, me included 
Thank you all.
The conversation helps me to think things through, and to not go too far off a decent path.
There’s not much to streaming. It’s basically just taking data packets off the Ethernet, and re-formatting them to send them out again via USB or S/PDIF.
I imagine it will work as well as most things. A bit over-hyped, in my opinion. Audio is nothing special when it comes to data.
iFi Zen Stream, Bluesound Node2i, Wiim Pro, or just a little minicomputer like a Raspberry Pi or a Beelink MiniPC, all will do a reasonable job. I use a Pi and two Chromecast Audios as streamers.
What are you using for speakers? Speakers and room conditioning outweigh the effect of a streamer (and pretty much everything else in the audio chain) by 100x.
Thank you Bill_Janssen
Speakers are nice for me: Carnegie CST-1. MTM, Planar Magnetic tweeters, and labyrinth transmission line ported low back (upgraded crossovers). 12-inch SVS sealed sub.
Room is soft with carpet and furniture, concrete floor, wooden / sheetrock ceiling, behind camera is open to a ~20x30ft room. Although listening is diagonal (dog in fence), the speakers are equi-distant, and room correction software and my ears are pleased.
Looks cozy! I’m sure it sounds great, no matter which streamer you choose.
Ian Canada stuff is all diy build. If you enjoy tinkering and feel confident in your abilities then the results can be very satisfying. In my experience though, it’s as much about the fun of the build as it is the sound quality in the end. The parts do add up and a fully stacked system probably won’t save you much over a decent commercial product. Although on paper the parts may be superior, as diyers we struggle to match the overall synergy of a professionally manufactured system. Of course, there are some very talented people around who can really get the most out of these components.
If you go down this route, my advice is to do it for the journey as much as the destination.
Thank you very much for the reply. Sorry it took so long for me to respond. I’m already into several hundred dollars of IanCanada parts that I’m really liking it.
I’ve travelled deeply down the IanCanada rabbit hole now. $3000 +
2024-July
I am now hearing very beautiful and surprisingly magical sounds that I did not know could exist.
Example provided>
I’m originally from the deep South.
I’ve tasted the most fresh seafood that I’ve caught myself over 20-40 miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
I now live near Indianapolis where F-ING Yankees get excited about McDonald’s …
Anyway… I’ve ended up with a very Beautiful sounding system…
