+1 to what
@worldwidewholesales said. I have only started to scratch the surface with streamers and have found that various forms of electromagnetic noise affect sound quality of digital. Benefits that I heard from a cleaner sound are:
- More presence to voices and instruments which sound more forward and distinct in presentation
- Richer tonality
- Less grain to the sound
- Better resolution due to a lower noise floor (This is audible when comparing a cleaner signal to one that is less clean)
- Easier to follow bass lines
- Pace seems faster due to more clarity and better definition to the leading edge of notes.
When experimenting with my Pro-ject Stream Box streamer, these changes made a clearly noticeable difference to my ears at least. (NOTE: Your perceptions may likely vary as with anything audio):
- Turning off the WiFi and HDMI outputs and using an Ethernet cable connected to a WiFi access point created with a TP-Link RE230 WiFi extender - This cheap fix made the biggest improvement of everything I tried.
- Going from an AmazonBasics Cat 6 cable to a Supra Cat 8 cable - This provided about 50% of the improvement as #1
- Adding a Audioquest Jitterbug on the output of the Pro-ject Streamer - Makes the sound more transparent. Adds more air and presence to music
So based on these experiences, I’m sure that there are ways that a more expensive streamer CAN sound better. But, as with anything in audio, I would focus on listening and seeing what differences you hear IF there is a difference. I will suggest that listening in the context of your system can be an important factor. Some of these sonic differences might not be as evident in systems with lower resolution of sound and details.
