Discerning a difference between streamers is difficult...only me or common for all?

I think one of your “issues” is that Bluesound Nodes/Nanos work very well when used as streamers that feed a high quality external DAC. I use a NODE 130 that I purchased from Fidelity Audio in the UK with FA’s PSU unit pre-installed and then added a Gustard X26 Pro DAC and then later a Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker. At this point, I think I would buy a better DAC before looking for a better streamer (though since I’m out of components to upgrade, Immopen to suggestions as to what streamer or DAC would make a noticeable difference in SQ

(the rest of my system consists of a Bryston 4B3, Primaluna Evo 400 pre bi-wired to Tannoy Cheviots with SR Foundation or better cabling and PCs throughout)(I suspect the best thing I could do would be to upgrade my speakers, but my wife hates tower speakers and would not go for anything that is physically bigger)

@mdalton 

but if it’s a decent streamer, your DAC dominates what you hear.

I'm generally in agreement with you here, at least in terms of what I'm capable of caring about, unless the streamer is glitching. All software can be glitchy. I know I can hear it. When it gets really bad my computer freezes up and I have to reboot. I just wonder if it sometimes gets just slightly bad, and I think I'm just not in the mood to listen that night when it's really my system sounding bad.

@dogearedaudio

MPD, Minimserver, BubbleUPnP, Squeezelite, etc. All of these offer somewhat different sonic presentations.

@audioman58

tip if you want your digital to sound better still Tubulus Audio cables ,they beat cables much more $$ and only true I2S -Audio cable the AQ dragon audio only exception ,and the less expensive Tubulus Concentus is much better. And Ethernet cables very good ,always put your best Ethernet cable at your end point- Streamer

If the server software or the cables are delivering the digital file information to the dac in a different enough way to make the DAC sound different, then some or all of them aren’t working correctly. Or the DAC isn’t working correctly. Or none of them are working correctly. Or there’s some incompatibility. Or they’re creating different sounds on purpose through processing.

Maybe that’s the point here, most of the stuff that’s available isn’t actually working correctly, or even intended to sound transparent? I could believe that but I’d like to see some evidence beyond people just noticing they like one better than the other. Maybe some people like it better when they are not working correctly, or at least not trying to be transparent. How can we tell? It’s odd that these same cables can deliver huge amounts of software at blistering speed, and all of it seems to be 100 percent glitch free. The error correction works for other things. Why not audio?

I’ve seen people do experiments where they run a digital signal through a dac, and then back into an adc, and then back in to the dac over and over until obvious audible differences are apparent. If the server is doing that, running a loop to serve the data, retrieve it, and then run what’s been retrieved back through the server (and cables) should have an amplifying effect over time. Of course we could just check the first time through to see if any bits had changed. If they haven’t, then there’s no point in continuing the loop.

If any one doubts these cable findings  on Tubulus Audio a cut above by a Lot 

just buy them, they have a 30 day return policy very little risk for nice potential results. I recommend the Argentus on up 

I have their Top Ximius and Concentus throughout my digital audio chain .

when there is less timing smear there  is less jitter or digital noise . I have been to over 8 audio clubs on the east coast and two down south  Tubulus is gaining a Sizable following throughout the 🌍 World. Can we all be wrong ,I don’t think so your ears are the most critical instruments  for 🎶 music, I have -0 financial gain the cables are sold Direct only !!

What timing smear? Is it correcting something that happened in the recording studio? Phase issues with the mic. and other processing done during the recording? That’s where the low hanging fruit would be. Orders of magnitude more time smear than anything happening electronically during playback - at least until your speaker and its crossover network get ahold of the signal. At that point, unless you’re fully active with FIR filters phase correcting the drivers, it’s time smear O-Rama! Better have your ears at just the right height for all the drivers to time align, or have a head tracker that adjusts the timing of the drivers as you move. Even with all that working as best it can, you'll still have vastly more time smear occurring in the speaker trying to get the sound to your ears than with the digital cables will cause. And the room, if it's not anechoic, is going to blow all of that out of the water. But we'll assume that it's only first arrival to the ear that counts for now.

With all that said, I'm not claiming the cables can't sound good. I just need further clarification on why time smear would normally be an issue, and what evidence is there for that as a typical cable issue.