Dedicated NUC/Nucleaus vs shared PC (w Fiber Media Converter connected to Endpoint)

Each component within streaming system has to be considered as entrance way for noise, jitter. This can be either self generated or passed from previous component in chain. Now you can isolate this noise via FMC from entering next component in chain, timing is another issue, can't restore timing lost in previous component or components.

Issue is each component in chain liable to this self generated noise and jitter. Lets say one has poor quality modem (just taking this as example as first component in chain from ISP) produces much self noise and jitter, signal integrity impacted,  heard as loss of resolution and some measure of digititus or fatigue. The problem is you CANNOT GAIN back what was lost from that first component, or any previous component in chain. The best you can do beyond the previous component is eliminate ANY MORE noise and jitter entering chain. This is why every component in chain is critical for optimized streaming.

“But is there a big difference of sound quality if we have optical isolation between the shared PC and an endpoint ?”

This would squarely depends on your rest of the system. You may hear the difference by upgrading to NUC or you may not. I doubt you would get any consensus to your dilemma. For me, both NUC or PC is a non-starter. A dedicated streamer like Innuos or Lumin along with a decent DAC is a must if you’re serious about getting the best out of cloud based streaming services like Qobuz or Tidal.

Once you accomplish above, then you can tweak your way into optimizing the Ethernet signal before it reaches your streamer. 

@lalitk If you use a streamer like Lumin, you still need a PC or NUC to run roon core, right?

@sns totally agree with you. But what I meant is the noise from a shared PC can be eliminated by an FMC and buffer of DAC