Michael d ,
I totally get not liking the tech. I was not into at first. I don’t need to extol the virtues of streaming music too you because it’s awesome. I’ve found so many great songs and artists and new genres too.
So my current setup isn’t “ hi if” per se. I’m running Spotify and Tidal on an Apple TV with the apps in Apple TV not AirPlay. Apple TV plugged HDMI into tv. Then I’ve got a simple 3.5mm to rca into my receiver from the tv. It’s sounds ok. Anyway , the point of me telling you this is after doing this setup I really want a dedicated streaming component and DAC. And one feature I really like is having it all displayed on my tv. ( which is centered between the speakers. ). I control via my Apple TV remote or the remote in my Apple iPhone.
I can mirror my phone to the Apple TV and do it that way but things are more reliable when plugged in via Ethernet. I like turning it on and hit play and come and go doing things around the house. Walk in and look at tv to see what’s playing. Or sitting down and the display is huge a readable and adds an element of ambiance with the art work.
I guess I’m saying it’s easier than I thought and a nice big display to interact with is really nice.
I’m very likely going to spring for an axiom transformer as you said it does tick a lot of boxes and use it in a similar way. I’m hoping it mirrors off my phone nicely to my tv for a similar setup to what I currently use.
I’m still trying to figure out if I can use transformer without the app and just as DAC. I’d give the Transformer another look perhaps.
There’s a lot of options out there. I’m still in the hunt so I’ll let you know if I come across anything else that looks good.
