Streaming vs Physical Media

I am not an EE, but even I can see that Uptown audio white paper assumes incompetence on the part of designers, and ignorance on the part of readers.

1. They could easily show this with measurements if true
2. They are still sending data via USB, so this phase-noise overlay will still occur.
3. I have sat in enough PCB design reviews, and been involved in enough IC design to know their claims of ground plane noise can be effectively reduced, obviously based on product measurements, to a level where it is not a limiting factor. In terms of the impact on timing inside an IC or product it is a factor of transition time of the clock edge through metastable bounds. With fast edges, power supply / ground noise is going to have limited impact.

It is easy to type something on a keyboard and claim it is true as Uptown has done. But as Charles Hitchens said, that which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. On the other hand, you will find many a discussion on the web about clock integrity in noisy environments including impact on jitter.

@sandrajolin  - it's 2022. Many non compressed streaming options exist.

@hiend2 

Strange.  Love this hobby!  I found Tidal to sound like you experienced Qobuz. I find Qobuz more relaxed and richer with more natural tone and frequency balance top to bottom. 

I have top-notch streaming gear and no longer us a cd player or vinyl.  Tidal, Qobuz, reference DAC, Roon Plus, high end cabling, high end ethernet cables and switch.  Not to mention my wonderful, beautiful conductor of the music, the iPad.  Streaming sounds so wonderful in my rig that it made me totally forget about everything else.  

I stream Qobuz daily for roughly 3 - 4 hours depending upon how involved I become with what I’m doing on my desktop. I’m not looking for high fidelity there, it’s simply the easiest way to listen to any music. If I feel that a certain track or artist deserves better attention, sometimes I’ll connect my Peachtree Deep Blue via Bluetooth - somewhat higher fi, but definitely not audiophile quality. Sounds better than my Mac desktop’s speakers do by any measure. 
 

My physical desktop’s real estate is occupied with assorted art materials, and organized personal clutter; I have zero interest in adding outboard speakers or any other peripheral to the space. I know full well what I’m getting, and I’m okay with it given the context. 
 

I’m a dedicated two-channel guy. I do my “serious” listening in my downstairs living room where I have what I believe to be a pretty decent mid-fi collection of gear for that purpose. (Belles 250i Mosfet Integrated amplifier, a cheap-seats Pro Ject Carbon EVO turntable, Musical Fidelity Elektra A264 24 bit compact disc player, Aurender N100H 2 terabyte server, Magnepan MMG loudspeakers, and a REL T5i subwoofer. I’m awaiting the arrival of a Schiit DAC to complement the Aurender later this week.) I use decent cables from Transparent Audio, Anti-Cables, and a few others. Not too shabby. 
 

I stream Qobuz via a 9th Generation iPad through this, as well as my 700+ CD library through the Aurender. (I leave the CD player unconnected to a DAC. It sounds damn good on its own, and it’s fun sometimes to compare it with files from the Aurender.)  

I probably listen to vinyl the least only because I’m looking to relax down there. While there is much to be appreciated for vinyl’s aesthetic qualities, there is as much to be said for its drawbacks. Among the more obvious and less admitted drawbacks is how sensitive a turntable is to vibration of any kind - from the cheap-seats brands to the more esoteric brands - I’ve had both - they are prone to transmitting everything through your speakers. On the plus side is reading liner notes, viewing the album art, etc. Neither streaming or compact discs can impart that pleasure the same way. 
 

Having been introduced to music on vinyl only - yeah, I’m old - I never revered a turntable as the end-all component  I embraced all the other formats through the years, reel-to-reel, cassettes, eight track, compact discs, and I welcome streaming for what it offers  (Well, I didn’t welcome the right track all that much, but my first car had a deck in it)  

I’ve chased the audiophile dragon hard for the last ten years or so, (damn you, Audiogon!)  and while I can state that some of the more expensive components DO make a positive difference, the law of diminishing returns apply in hearing them. More importantly, in paying for them. The difference between a Pioneer SX1050 stereo receiver and a Ieap into separates - my journey way back when - is palpable, tangible, an “aha!” moment.

Now the setup that I have allows me to look for “aha!” moments in the music again, not the equipment I hear it through. A great tune hits you where you feel it on an am radio or a $50,000 collection of components.  When you suck at golf the first tried and true adage is that “it ain’t the clubs, laddie.”