Is optical mostly a waste of time versus Ethernet?

@theaudiomaniac  you are saying you don’t have any more knowledge on the topic  and therefore no one else does either. Good argument. like I have stated before, I know more about the topic that anyone on this forum, including yourself, until proven that it is not so.
 

one thing you certainly did not was to dispute any absolutes, in fact you, yourself said that the forum is anti Audioscience…
 

What you don’t call a reliability wrapper is up to you, UDP specifically states it leaves reliability to the higher level protocols. VoIP measures it for  quality, gaming and gamers are obsessed with their “ping” there are controls. Neither requires that every packet is received, but have reliability safeguards to ensure a minimum level of performance.
 

And you are wrong when you say it is a wrapper around UDP, it is on top of UDP. Also wrong when you say the purpose of a reliability wrapper is to manipulate the data, it is literally the opposite, to ensure data arrives intact. How much data? well that is up to each individual application accepted performance level. 
 

and finally, it is just flat out a lie that Roon did not support Tidal/Quboz before they switched to TCP. They most certainly did, and it is easily verifiable too. Which means they had to have a reliability wrapper on top of UDP to ensure DRM, proving you wrong again. 
 

in summary @theaudiomaniac , yes, you do have limited knowledge, and can’t even bother to do research. We can agree there.

@fredrik222

If I were the moderator I would remind you that certain standards of decorum and relevance should apply to posting here. I might even imply that your approach and apparent gloating was churlish or prickly at best. Since I am not the moderator, I will refrain.

You’ve made your point, most here could give a shyt how the data arrives, we accept it because we have few options to the contrary depending on cable providers. What we choose to do to the data once it arrives to our doorstep is where this conversation initiated. But again, I’m not the moderator so it isn’t my place to tell you any of the above.

@ghasley of course I could be nicer, but is that how you react when someone says you don’t know what you are talking about and then just makes stuff up?

but you are correct. I can of course be nicer, and you are also right that I should be nicer. 

@fredrik222 

I appreciate you AND @theaudiomaniac for sharing your knowledge. The chest bumping not so much. Unfortunately, there is a little more of that on Audiogon these days and I know I've done my part to perpetuate it from time to time. Have a terrific day.

There are networking 'experts', and those who've integrated that knowledge with an understanding of how it relates to and affects audio streaming sound quality. People like John Swenson of Uptone Audio, and some others who can be found at audiophilestyle forum, these are the 'experts' I rely on for guidance in streaming.

Add to this expertise, a knowledge base formed from those with practical experience, those with open minds who've tried a variety of audiophile focused streaming products.

Between these two cohorts of expertise, one finds guidance on how various products work and their efficacy. And then we have the final 'expert', if one trusts their sensory perceptions, they become the final arbiter of what is effective and not in their unique streaming setup.