Audioengine D1 upgrade to something that can handle a more complex setup?

[Ralf11]

a pair of powered LS50s will be the biggest upgrade

 

Welcome to CA (and ignore any advice from GUTB)

[Ralf11]

There are many good headphone amps/DACs made, and you certainly do not have to spend $5,000 on them.

 

I would first take a look & listen to the offerings by Schiit.

 

also, people that use Roon, love Roon - there are many posts about Roon on here

 

take some time and do some searches on this site; select a few items to audition, then try them out at a dealer's or - best - at home, with a return privilege.  Schiit wants 15% to return IIRC.  Not a bad deal considering the extra work on their end, and their reasonable pricing.

[Ralf11]

Schiit does direct sales with a return privilege - people say they take a long time to burn in, so set it up and let it play 24hr/day for a couple of days at least

 

people who have the Yggy routinely say it is as good as most $4,000 DACs and it is highly reviewed in the press

 

their Gumby is said to be nearly as good

 

BTW, you aren't gonna be a DSD type guy are you?  If so, no Schiit for you.

 

Several DACs for $500 to $1,000 are well regarded, Oppo Sonica, the one from Germany I can't recall the name of, Teac, etc.

 

You could try to dump AAC and get lossless of your favorite albums.  I have > 200 songs in AAC (vs. 22,000 in Apple Lossless) and am killing them off by re-ripping CDs as I excavate them from the archeological dig that is my house...