Discerning a difference between streamers is difficult...only me or common for all?

Only last week, at a friend’s house we did a comparison between the streamer of a Hegel H590 vs a WiiM Pro Plus streamer. The WiiM was fed into to the Hegel via Optical and Coax at different points. The DAC used for all three instances was the Hegel’s. 
We also requested his wife- who likes to listen to music but is not fussed about the equipment at all- to give her opinion as to what sounded “better” to her. She couldn’t see which component was being used- not in her line of sight.

All three of us voted the WiiM as easily besting the Hegel’s streamer. We were very surprised. On coming back home (to Dubai, from NY where this took place), I bought a WiiM Pro Plus.

In my experience it’s all about system dependency. Personally I have found a significant positive difference with Aurender N20 and Grimm. Several others didn’t make an impact to justify the additional price vs my NUC i7. Even if the Aurender and Grimm made a significant difference, I didn’t feel that being big enough and decided to stay with NUC and rather add a Farad 3 with Shunyata power cable. I’m happy this way and I don’t feel the need to add another expensive box. 

You’re not crazy.  The sonic differences in upgrades become more subtle once you have high quality components in my experience.  I have moved from integrated components to separates over the years.  The biggest differences were in the speakers, DACs, streamers, and CD players.  The source and end point components.  Less with amps and preamps in my experience.  I moved from a Blusound Node N130 as a streamer to an Innuos Zen Mk3.  I noticed a difference.  Beyond a quieter background I found it stayed connected to my wi-fi better.  I use a cable from my router directly into the unit.  I have my equipment setup in such a way that I can A/B test when I try new components.  If I don’t hear a noticeable difference I return the new and more expensive gear as you did.  Trust your ears.  

I think one should just be happy with whatever sounds good. It doesn’t matter if one has a $500 streamer or $5000 streamer. And that applies to speakers and other equipment. Enjoy the music and you are not crazy.

You have a broad spectrum of replies that reflects the following homilies

”Price is what you psy,…Value is what you get”….. and … “One-size does not fit all…”

MT EXPERIENCE

Visit your fave bricks and mortar audio dealer and do a bake-off audition between a budget unit ( say BLUESOUND); and a high-end build streamer/dac.

Assuming you have the requisite resolution capabilities with a full high-end audio system, the step-up unit audio performance will not be insignificant.

Ethernet cables also matter..Direst Ethernet cable from router to your streamer/dac connection is always a step-up from wireless. Upgrades to premium cables with silver over copper construction and properly insulated sheathing with Telegartner connectors do matter .

Quality build linear power supplies (internal or external) are another big-time performance uptick.

You do get what you pay for. The DAC and the Streamer sections both need premium design and build quality … and that is a function of price too. Many believe that the secret to a good DAC lies in just choosing a “high-end” converter chip. But,,,,we know that the essence of the musicality also resides in the line signal processing stages, the power supplies (transformers, filtering, regulation,… ), the digital signal processing before conversion, the quality of the key components: clocks, transistors, capacitors, op amp upgrades etc.

TAKEAWAY

Starting out in the digital ,streaming world , it’s frequently a fork in the road pathway between an option that is “ good” versus “ good enough” . There is a marked-difference.

Just buying blindly and hoping is poor…. Hoping is not a strategy for a better option. Budgets are usually in tension with best wish lists that may invoke compromises.