Start with Upgrade to DAC?

It seems the continuation of this personal disagreement would be more appropriately held, well, personally between the interested parties in DM or what have you - unless you guys feel like steering it back to OP’s inquiry.

It’s very simple - anything in a signal path will affect sound quality. There are no exceptions to this rule. These components that are in a signal path…CD transports, Streamers, DACs., tubes, speaker cables, interconnects, digital cables .,all make a difference.
I believe we’ve established this in multiple discussions that people hear differences between streamers. There are a few who don’t believe it’s possible and they will fight tooth and nail to protect their point of view. So why bother arguing with them? Let them say their piece and move on. Just ignore. When you get into a pissing contest with someone like that you’re teaching a pig how to sing. And we all know how that ends. 

Presumably not with a chorus of beautiful hog harmony.

@audphile1 

So let’s recap:

-some dude comes onto thread and tells OP he’s getting bad advice from everyone else, needs to up his game to streamer this dude has

-turns out streamer this dude has had same electronics “in the signal path” as Op’s streamer has, but costs $900 more

- i point out that something is amiss with this dude’s advice

- dude responds by pointing to electronics that are not in signal path as reason for superiority of his recommended streamer

- i point out obvious problem with this logic

- some other dude - with whom i do have a history - piles on with ad hominem attacks on me, presumably for making logic-based points?

bottom line: i feel confident in my views, my logic, and my behavior.  Recall, btw, that my first post on the thread was to link to a prior thread for the OP’s benefit so he could see both sides of the “streamer wars”.  (btw, I believe I deserve special credit for linking to a thread where an OP, against my recommendation, spent a ton of money on a streamer, and seems very happy with his decision, which is fine by me)  

- last point: i have not referred to anybody on other side of “streamer wars” as “deaf”, “useless”, “pointless”, or a “pig”.

@mdalton I didn’t call you a pig. It’s the impossible process of trying to convince you that you’re wrong that I was referring to. You know…the saying…never try to teach a pig to sing; it will waste your time and annoy the pig…

Not the same as calling you a pig rather telling others that they’re embarking on a never ending journey.