Yes, digital only exists as a mathematical concept. All of reality is analog (at least the reality we deal with - at the scale of Planck time and Planck lengths things may be different). A stream of “digital” data is an analog signal that a computer has to interpret as a 1 or a 0 by deciding when the value has changed enough and at what time to be interpreted as a different bit.
One of the ways I know that what happens before the data buffer matters is the difference in sound quality between streaming and reading a local file. I have always thought the local file sounds better than streaming even though it’s the exact same data. Just recently, I was driving down the road with a friend when they plugged the phone into the car and the sound quality was much better than usual. I asked what they did, and I found out they were playing songs off the phone’s “hard drive,” whereas I am usually streaming from Tidal. Same data, way different sound.
One of the ways I know that what happens before the data buffer matters is the difference in sound quality between streaming and reading a local file. I have always thought the local file sounds better than streaming even though it’s the exact same data. Just recently, I was driving down the road with a friend when they plugged the phone into the car and the sound quality was much better than usual. I asked what they did, and I found out they were playing songs off the phone’s “hard drive,” whereas I am usually streaming from Tidal. Same data, way different sound.