Are all streamers the same?

I got to hear/witness this argument first hand in the last two weeks. Was using a Brinkmann Nyquist 2 streaming DAC for the last year. Last week I bolstered the set up (that I was extremely happy with) by adding a Grimm MU-1 streamer and the difference in SQ was noticeable right out of the box. Everything was instantly more cohesive and musical…absolutely love the sound and it’s not even broken in yet.

I also have been using Nordost Valhalla 2 cables and interconnects and a Nordost Switch so maybe I’m just a sucker drinking the snake oil, but I couldn’t be happier!

Ears > Charts for me!

Thanks to all posters here. There are some great examples of the reasons for differences as well as variations in experience in different use cases. There are few generalizations beyond case specific, and of course, the audio signal coming out of a streamer including or excluding noise varies.

I have a room correction device from shm . In addition to the basic Dirac RC I bought a unit that for an extra $109 threw in a streamer. I’ve since compared it to the Node, Bryston BDP-3, Melco N 100, and Cambridge CXN 60.

The Dirac is fine but the enclosed streamer is awful.

In general I have found that as one ascends the price ladder in streaming the better things get. For me the sweet spot are the CA and the Melco in terms of performance and price. The Bryston as a tad better but cost several times more and the software package was unusable

The only thing that sounds the same in the audiophile world is the sound of a tree falling in the forest when there's no one there to hear it.