Point of higher priced streamer?

@pc997  I don't believe the sonic differences have anything to do with the packet delivery...I mean honestly, how could it?  Because you're right....the information is either received or it's not.  My working theory relates to keeping noise off the line.  Those packets don't get delivered magically from the streamer to the DAC, they are delivered via electrical impulses which are interpreted as 1's and and 0's. The electrical signal doesn't just magically disappear once it hits the DAC - it has to go somewhere and that introduces the potential for the residual electrical signal to impact the analog components within your DAC.  Removing as much hash as possible from the electrical impulse may contribute to to better SQ within the DAC....again, nothing to do with packets or data quality.  I realize DAC's are designed to minimize this issue but the reality is some do it better than other.  

There is no point to argue this in the Internets. Two groups firmly entrenched in their bunkers:

1) People who only try cheap stuff, maybe because the rest of their system is just a cheap and crap: there is no difference in streamers. They don’t even need to try. They just know 

2) People who are open minded enough to venture and try different streamers: there is a difference, and an easy one to discern.

One thing I can tell you for sure: it’s extremely hard to convince the first group. They also tend to have the same opinion on everything, DACs, power, cables, you name it. Also, I am OK with whatever pleases them. I just don’t understand their inner urge to go online non-stop and proclaim their “knowledge” with no experience and experimentation whatsoever. I guess this phenomenon is a hobby too 🙄

Hey @three easy payments, good post. Although I am afraid you are talking to the wall

@thyname  I agree...there is firm entrenchment.  I'm just sharing what I've experienced through lots of A/B testing over the years.  I can hear a difference in some things and others I can't...or just barely.  In this example with the streamers I can hear it.  Speaker cables and power cords rarely make a difference to my ears (A23 speaker cables are the only ones to make a profound difference in my system likely due to their impedance and interaction with my particular speaker).  I can hear IC differences pretty clearly.  I've tried a SR fuse and it made no difference in my system.  I go in with no bias and no agenda...sometimes I can hear it and other times I can't.

@thyname  

Hey @three easy payments, good post. Although I am afraid you are talking to the wall

Thanks.  It's hard to get the "bits are bits" camp to contemplate that the SQ differences likely (as in 100%) have nothing to do with the digital portion of the streamer/DAC interaction....yet they continue to drone on about packet data quality etc...even though I totally agree with them on that part.  They refuse to contemplate the non-digital aspects of the component interplay.