I found the hi end network streaming journey to be more complex than either CD or analog. Streaming is becoming more plug and play than it was a few years ago when I started researching and planning for a streaming source. I spent several months studying hi end streaming and visiting a hifi shop to hear DACs and network players. The choices of configurations, capabilities and brands is bewildering. I was like a novice all over again stepping into the world of hifi. I had been using a hi end CD player for the last 15 years.
I made a plan. After some starts and redo's I decided that I first wanted to be able to play my CD collection so I wanted a DAC that had expandability, ie. it had to have multiple digital inputs. I knew then that I wouldn't get a network player because I didn't want redundant DACs. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought a network player and skipped the CD transport. The reason is that after I got my music server and ripped my CD collection to FLAC files. I find the FLAC file sounds just as good as the CD- with my current USB cable. And that is compared to my hi end CD Transport into my hi end DAC. I say that but I also find letting go of my CD player is just as hard as letting go of my land line telephone. Change is hard. Plus I would have never known if the FLAC files matched my CD playback without trying it for myself.
Once I got my music server I began studying how best to bring in the ethernet signal. In the end I found the most effective upgrade was simply putting an optical link between my router and my server. It was a step change in the sound. I also played around with different FMC's and found the kind with separate SFP's sound better. That's it. (Added LPS's to the FMC's of course). Then just last week I added a very expensive network bridge. Compared to the cost of my system it is not much of an add. After listening for a few days I find this network bridge makes an incremental change for the better. The bass sounds a bit better and the background in the music is quieter when streaming Qobuz. How or why, don't know, don't care. I'm enjoying it. The optical link is one of the biggest bangs for the buck I have found in streaming. A couple of hundred dollars in FMC's and Linear Power Supplies goes a long way.
Ok, I throw in one last thought. Many on these forums demand to understand how cables can sound different, why or how digital data can sound different and so on. Most of the time discoveries happen by trial and error and then people analyze and research to understand the mechanisms behind the discovery. The audio industry grew out of these types of pioneers who with almost child like curiosity experimented with their ideas. Many things we accept today as good audiophile practice were hotly debated topics decades ago. You won't see gold plated connectors on hi end stereo gear until the late 1980's but by the late 1990's mid fi gear had gold plated connectors too. Technology advances through innovations and evolution but it has a cost. The top tier usually leads the way and then the technology trickles down to the lower cost gear. The first CD players were expensive. None of us would want to listen to them today.