Did you notice....

I happened to visit a large headphone store (I was wondering what favorites had appeared lately) ... I couldn't listen to anything - all the amplifiers were digital - Class D ... (only the Sennheiser Orpheus HE 90 was missing under the crystal display case) ... Vendors they try to use mobile phones as a source - it’s more convenient for them ... Well, it’s logical to expect that a cyborg will come to this store to buy)))

Sergio: What class D amplifiers were being used?  With my NAD33 (including full Dirac Live room correction),  Monitor Audio Gold 100 bookshelfs, and SVS subwoofer, I have found my sound quality clearly better than my friend’s slightly less expensive CD setup without room correction.  Clearly not an exhaustive comparison, but dollar for dollar it’s certainly better, and without having to purchase any CDs, less expensive in the long run.

I have the Naim Uniti Atom streaming from Apple Music and on what’s in my iPad. Driving a Benchmark AHB2 or an Anthem MCA 225 GEN 2 or a Carver Black Magic 20 alternately. Great.

Guy must have a crappy streamer!    He already said he has a cheap CD player?   What’s he comparing it to ?

In some cases people have their systems tuned to deal with all the issues associated with analog so when pure clean accurate digital comes into the picture it is a problem that requires more changes.

In other cases the reverse is true.

In others, nothing is really all that good so there is no source for reference

Still yet in others the stars are aligned and everything sounds similarly excellent. But this usually happens by design, not by chance.

Just do it well no matter what and it will all work out.  Otherwise probably not.