why expensive streamers

@delmatae I felt the same as you give my technical background. Same exact data should be delivered to the DAC. I went from a Node to an N150 and it was easily noticeable and an improvement. Wife picked out in blind tests. I kept the N150. My expectations that it would be the same sound were wrong. It is true that you have to have a system resolving enough to present the differences and sufficient hearing to detect it - but I did and I don’t have golden ears. Based on what I know, it is my opinion that it reduces noise introduced into the DAC, perhaps due to the linear power supply or other factors. Again, small noise on a digital signal should not matter - but the improvement in sound is typical of what I have experienced with less electrical noise in the chain. I spent about 5% of my system cost on my streamer. I bought Aurender because my buddy goes to the audio shows and said he mostly sees Aurender’s being used. I figured those guys know best.

I am curious at what point a typical digital signal is subject to being processed, changed, or influenced by noise as it travels from a streaming service via modem/router through to the DAC? How about in the case of the following digital streaming set-up:

• Into and out of a server via Ethernet,
• Into and out of a switch via Ethernet
• Into a streamer via Ethernet (or fiberoptic) and out via USB
• Into a DDC via USB and out via S/PDIF or AES/EBU
• Into a DAC via S/PDIF or USB and out via analog cables to a preamp

Obviously the DAC converts the digital signal from digital to analog but which of the other preceding steps has a significant impact on the digital signal?

@jaytor 

yes, it’s the combined system, precisely.  We don’t care what a streamer sounds like without a dac or source, because it has no sound.  So if you say it adds noise to the system - i.e., it conveys noise that manifests thru the dac that can be heard - then you have to test it in the context of the system.  There is no alternative.  And that’s what the tests I’ve seen do.  The results of those tests demonstrate that noise from a streamer can carry thru to the dac, in certain cases, but even in those, it is a question as to whether any marginal increase in noise from a streamer was audible, relative to the noise that was coming from the dac.  In most cases that I’ve seen, with any decent streamer and dac, there is virtually no additional noise that comes from the streamer.  

Candidly, I find extraordinary the reluctance on the part of so many sophisticated audiophiles to follow this basic level of logic and analysis when contemplating spending thousands of dollars on what is really just an accessory (again, putting advanced processing like dsp, reclocking, and upsampling aside).  And as a result of this reluctance, a number of firms have dived into this niche market and, imho, are fleecing their customers.  Don’t get me wrong: their stuff can be beautiful and well-engineered, but without significant sonic benefit.  The only reason anybody should spend alot of $ on these niche players is if they think the UI is worth it (again, imho).  But I’m a Roon guy, so spending another dollar for somebody else’s UI is akin to pouring that dollar down the drain.

I am back to square 1. (I told you I was slow, thick and now also silly)

With bit-perfect data transfer music providers, what does an expensive streamer does better than a basic one? Is it the data that it sends to the DAC?

@12many 

Not sure what your dac is, but any differences you hear may have to do with different processing.  The N150 definitely reclocks, for example.  In addition, if the n150 is upsampling, but the Node isn’t, you’ll definitely hear a difference.  May not matter to you, since you like it better, but for purposes of lessons learned, it’s important to filter out (pun intended) any differences in processing going on.