That very question was put to the test recently during a get together at a acquaintance home where he quickly demonstrated playback comparisons through a home baked Jcat ? server / streamer and a very expensive net work switch along with a selection of wires , modem , service and a hideously expensive dac to the rest of his system. We listened to a verity of known well recorded music.
He then bypassed his server streamer and Uber up stream components switch and all to a basic components and wire and kept his 30 grand dac in place , playback wasn’t nearly as enjoyable.
Actually there was a shocking difference.
I certainly do not own anything that remotely comes close to this fellows system however I know what actual music being played should sound like and this illusion was a tiny bit closer to the real thing with everything in place including a 5 grand network switch thrown in the mix.
I don’t stream music yet my library of music is ripped to a dedicated server and I have a fairly decent dac however today good performing dacs are a dime a dozen ,
I’ve always considered the source especially the quality of recordings to be all important and still think so , actually it’s all important.
He then bypassed his server streamer and Uber up stream components switch and all to a basic components and wire and kept his 30 grand dac in place , playback wasn’t nearly as enjoyable.
Actually there was a shocking difference.
I certainly do not own anything that remotely comes close to this fellows system however I know what actual music being played should sound like and this illusion was a tiny bit closer to the real thing with everything in place including a 5 grand network switch thrown in the mix.
I don’t stream music yet my library of music is ripped to a dedicated server and I have a fairly decent dac however today good performing dacs are a dime a dozen ,
I’ve always considered the source especially the quality of recordings to be all important and still think so , actually it’s all important.