Upgrade streamer from Bluesound Node : what options to consider

Currently I am listening mostly from streaming digital services, using Bluesound Node as streamer and with external DAC Denafrips Terminator T2 -12. Wish to climb up the upgrade ladder for the streamer transport- don’t want one with inbuilt DAC.
My budget is around 1.5L for new or used. I am not inclined to look at anything older than (maybe) 3 years model.
I invite and appreciate FMs suggestions for my next upgrade.
Thanks
What are your sources? In terms of what services do you use - Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Amazon, Saavn.
 
Considering you are only streaming & do not have a local collection. I am guessing you would be using spotify/tidal/qobuz/apple music. Now keeping in mind there is no local collection -

If I was going this route, I would just suggest you buy something that can be offloaded easily - like a Wiim Pro (just an example).

1 - Then hook it up to your terminator as a transport and do an A/B between the Bluesound & Wiim. Do you hear a difference?
If NO - then well, doesn't matter - keep one and offload the other.

If YES - then try and get into it with Roon - they offer a trial, should be easy to setup - lots of videos online. If you have a tidal account that should work with Roon & you should be able to do an A/B between Wiim Pro & Bluesound again. Do you hear a difference? Spotify & apple music doesn't work with ROON BTW.
If NO - then well again doesn't matter.

If YES, then you can invest in something better.

I believe if you are only streaming & you want a SIMPLE SETUP - a lot of these basic streamers as transports do a great job. For most of the high end stuff, you only start getting value for money when you have a sizeable local collection or you use some proper software tweaking to get the most out of it. This is against what you are looking for - a simple setup.

2 - If you have an iPad - mini/pro with USB C and you are a Apple music user, you can just hook that up to your Denafrips and use the iPad as a streamer. This is one of the most cost effective yet simple solution to get bit perfect hi-res music. All services like spotify/tidal/qobuz/apple music etc etc are all available natively.

After trying various streamers & DACs in the last 3 years I feel if you have an external DAC - what you are mostly listening to is the DAC, so any transport adds very little - in terms of SQ - specially if your consumption is straight from the app streaming. Getting more technical (roon, cores, servers, reclocking etc etc) changes the game (not saying wins the game), but that is perhaps something you are not keen on.

What I look for in a streamer - as a transport - is the protocols it supports and how stable is the device & app. Bluesound is a very stable platform, Wiim is another one where everything just works, iPAD is my preferred streamer.
 
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