Is a USB stick directly into ones streamer (renderer) better than streaming from a PC/NAS?

OP:
 

I can see you are going to be one of those difficult one's.  OK, fine I'm in the mood.

 

@erik_squires - I'm not looking to 'invest' in anything. I'm simply putting the question out there, as there seems very little discussions going on around my question.

Did I say you?  Did I say you should invest?  Could you not infer a bridge between my answer and your question, that it's really not a good investment, and therefore not really requiring much discussion?

OP: “ …. There’s so so much written about LOTS of noise produced by a NAS/Switch/PC/Cableing, and how much one needs to spend to alleviate it, which is what prompted my original question.…”

This recent percolating narrative is way overdone and a pathway down a rabbit hole to avoidable frustration IMO. You don’t have to have to worry about expensive digital logistics loom FOMO other than a basic respect for common very basic build quality…., and just pause…use your own ears instead of a lot of the printed biased narrative, and focus more on the digital equipment AND less on the selected portion of the digital cable loom logistics and the loom nodes before you get to the DAC.

@erik_squires … already alluded to a key point: Let’s not forget that until the digital signal gets to the DAC to be decoded into analogue, you have no music or the “noises” yet.

IN BRIEF:

As I moved up the digital play system quality premium build and performance ladder (…and incremental ka-Ching $$$$ …) for my digital player/streamer and my stablemate DAC (emphasis added,,,,) , the less and less I even thought about this narrative and it’s obvious warts.

IN DETAIL

Buying crazy priced “Audiophile” Network Switches

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/ ... i%20router.
" ... No, I have not, nor will I ever. Having been a network technician for over 30 years I know that a network switch’s job is to faithfully receive packets and transmit them to their intended target. If it doesn’t do that it will be replaced as defective. Implying that these devices can color audio signals is patently ridiculous, but I knew at some point some one would try it and some one would buy it...."

Buying Crazy price “Audiophile” Ethernet source

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/ ... t=ethernet
" ...Well, I just tried using a wifi repeater and noticed no improvement (or degradation) of sound quality. ... "

BUYING UPGRADED NETWORK CABLES : REVIEW: What causes audible differences in network cables
https://alpha-audio.net/review/wat-zorg ... erkkabels/

Intro
We round off our little investigation into network cables with a listening test and a clear conclusion. As promised we subjected the network plugs to a listening test and listened to three different configurations: shielding fixed on one side, shielding fixed on two sides and double shielded (and both sides connected). Do we hear differences? Well…. yes…!

Let’s clear up one myth: there is NO audible difference in network plugs. There is a difference in build quality, price and ease of installation. In short: it does make sense to invest in a good plug.

But let’s continue with the sound reproduction: as you know, we have installed everything from standard plugs to expensive Telegärtners. We tried all cables on the same switch (with an IFI power supply) and listened to the same system:
We did not notice any difference between the connectors. Sometimes we thought we heard something (think of a louder or sharper S-sound), but when we went back to the other connector, there was no difference. It is sometimes very complex to listen to this properly and to judge it honestly. But after hours of switching back and forth, we dare say that there is no difference in reproduction. In any case, we do not dare to take a bet in a blind test…
But where we do hear immediate differences – and continue to hear differences even when going back and forth – is the method of shielding.

We made three cables for this purpose: one cable with DeLock plugs and shielding fixed at one end. One cable with Delock plugs with the shielding fixed at both ends and finally the double shielded version with the nice sleeve. Also with the shielding on both sides (and Delock plugs).

What we observe almost immediately is that the version with the shielding fixed on both sides focuses better. The version with shielding on one side seems to play a bit larger, but that is not true: the effects in the song Perfect Life by Steven wilson are placed at the same spot in the room, but are more tightly framed with the cable where the shielding is fixed on both sides.

With voices, the same is true: it’s tighter in focus and also more stable between the speakers (if we move our heads back and forth, the voice stays in place better very odd).

Going to the double shielding we make another step. Again a bit more tightly focused, again a bit better framed. And with that a bit more calmness in the reproduction allowing details to surface a bit easier.

Clearly F us it is clear where the differences come from: shielding, shielding, shielding.

(1) REVIEW:What causes audible differences in network cables
https://alpha-audio.net/review/wat-zorg ... erkkabels/

Intro
We round off our little investigation into network cables with a listening test and a clear conclusion. As promised we subjected the network plugs to a listening test and listened to three different configurations: shielding fixed on one side, shielding fixed on two sides and double shielded (and both sides connected). Do we hear differences? Well…. yes…!

Let’s clear up one myth: there is NO audible difference in network plugs. There is a difference in build quality, price and ease of installation. In short: it does make sense to invest in a good plug.

But let’s continue with the sound reproduction: as you know, we have installed everything from standard plugs to expensive Telegärtners. We tried all cables on the same switch (with an IFI power supply) and listened to the same system:
We did not notice any difference between the connectors. Sometimes we thought we heard something (think of a louder or sharper S-sound), but when we went back to the other connector, there was no difference. It is sometimes very complex to listen to this properly and to judge it honestly. But after hours of switching back and forth, we dare say that there is no difference in reproduction. In any case, we do not dare to take a bet in a blind test…
But where we do hear immediate differences – and continue to hear differences even when going back and forth – is the method of shielding.

We made three cables for this purpose: one cable with DeLock plugs and shielding fixed at one end. One cable with Delock plugs with the shielding fixed at both ends and finally the double shielded version with the nice sleeve. Also with the shielding on both sides (and Delock plugs).

What we observe almost immediately is that the version with the shielding fixed on both sides focuses better. The version with shielding on one side seems to play a bit larger, but that is not true: the effects in the song Perfect Life by Steven wilson are placed at the same spot in the room, but are more tightly framed with the cable where the shielding is fixed on both sides.

With voices, the same is true: it’s tighter in focus and also more stable between the speakers (if we move our heads back and forth, the voice stays in place better very odd).

Going to the double shielding we make another step. Again a bit more tightly focused, again a bit better framed. And with that a bit more calmness in the reproduction allowing details to surface a bit easier.

Clearly for us it is clear where the differences come from: shielding, shielding, shielding.

And that is quite logical if you consider that a network cable is included in a digital chain. A chain that relies on clean energy to keep everything clocked tight. A chain that works with noise-levels of -140dB. A chain where small deviations are immediately audible in staging, focus and smoothness.

This also explains why fiber networks work so well as a first upgrade: you immediately shut out a lot of misery by creating a barrier through which electrical energy cannot pass. And thus no electrical noise (common mode in particular).

To conclude…
Can you hear differences between network cables? Yes… definitely. Our samples have shown that. And about the real cables you can buy at the store… pay particular attention to what the manufacturer has done in terms of shielding. We would still leave the unshielded versions. Especially after this experience. But anyway: try it yourself at home!

And that is quite logical if you consider that a network cable is included in a digital chain. A chain that relies on clean energy to keep everything clocked tight. A chain that works with noise-levels of -140dB. A chain where small deviations are immediately audible in staging, focus and smoothness.

This also explains why fiber networks work so well as a first upgrade: you immediately shut out a lot of misery by creating a barrier through which electrical energy cannot pass. And thus no electrical noise (common mode in particular).

To conclude…
Can you hear differences between network cables? Yes… definitely. Our samples have shown that. And about the real cables you can buy at the store… pay particular attention to what the manufacturer has done in terms of shielding. We would still leave the unshielded versions. Especially after this experience. But anyway: try it yourself at home!

And that is quite logical if you consider that a network cable is included in a digital chain. A chain that relies on clean energy to keep everything clocked tight. A chain that works with noise-levels of -140dB. A chain where small deviations are immediately audible in staging, focus and smoothness.

No DACs can do -140db noise floor, and if they could there is not a person who could hear it .

What we observe almost immediately is that the version with the shielding fixed on both sides focuses better. The version with shielding on one side seems to play a bit larger, but that is not true: the effects in the song Perfect Life by Steven wilson are placed at the same spot in the room, but are more tightly framed with the cable where the shielding is fixed on both sides.

So shockingly low levels of noise caused things to "play a bit larger", or are "more tightly framed" ... and better when both ends are connected to shield. If this person had the first clue how our hearing works, or the electronics they are working with, they would realize how silly this is. Grounding the shield at both end is to reduce EMI susceptibility primarily in noisy commercial environments with high speed transfer. However, if you are doing analog electronics, it is  great way to create a ground loop. BRILLIANT!  Let's take the fully isolated nature of Ethernet and introduce the potential for a ground loop then call it better?

p.s. The indicated pretty clearly I thought that every test was sighted. Given their lack of knowledge of how things work, they had already prepped themselves for the answer.

@akg_ca - I agree this can force one 'down the rabbit hole', but that is the reason for my original post, to get people to go down it, and explain their reasoning. Also, your idea that there's no 'noise' before the DAC, is wrong. We're not talking of musical noise here, but noise genereated by the device itself, the switch eg.

The link you've supplied from the network engineer, is, basically, irrelevant, as he's talking of data transmission and it's integrity along the way, which is not the issue here. He also doesn't seem to understand the issue we're talking about. He says that it's ridiculous to suggest that this can colour the audio signals - THAT statement proves he's not on the same page as most on here, as no-one is talking of audio signals being coloured in a switch or ethernaet cable. nIt's the JITTER that's produced which is the issue, I believe.

Do you realise that your post has several duplications within it?

I agree with what cindyment is saying, I'm afraid akg, although we're not talking of analogue electronics here. Everything in this post is iin the digital domaine

Whether the digital Data is sourced from USB or ethernet the clock for the DAC is the couple from the data source. There is no evidence that the incoming data connection causes jitter on the output. That would be very very difficult to occur on ethernet and while theoretically possible due to electrical noise on USB there is little evidence that actually happens. For USB isolators are relatively inexpensive. The noise generated internally in the DAC is going to exceed external noise generally by a significant amount. The edge speeds in modern logic are quick meaning that small amounts of noise generate insignificant amounts of jitter.