I think you may be overthinking this. The needs of pro and home audio can be quite different and what works for one doesn’t always translate to the other. But, most importantly, if the guys making the the better streamers, etc. found that incorporating a certain protocol, etc. sounded meaningfully better you can bet they’d be using it. Get a good separate streamer and DAC and just get started. Streaming is like audiophile crack — once you start experiencing worlds of new music from the comfort of your chair, listening to the same stuff over and over seems a bit boring. Just my $0.02 FWIW.
Digital/Etherent Connectivity in the Audiophile World
For many years now, the pro audio world (radio, TV and PA) has been using digital standards for routing audio - this includes IP protocols like Dante, AES67, Wheatnet-IP, Livewire+ and probably a few others I haven’t mentioned.
Early digital in the home environment was introduced to us via Toslink and S/PDIF formats. As we’re all getting on board with streaming, which is maybe the 2nd big leap that home audio encounters with digital hookup (the 1st being DAC’s), does anyone know of any home based amplifiers or pre-amps that have now incorporated digital inter-connectivity using the above mentioned IP protocols? If anyone is using these methods (Dante, AES67, etc.), what is your opinion on them when it comes to sound quality vs analog connectivity? Will the audiophile world ever accept or gravitate towards an IP protocol method of inter-connectivity?
I will admit, my home environment is still based on an extremely (balanced) analog driven routing scheme, and I’m not sure I’ll ever sway from it. I realize one can still live in that world while using ethernet or optical cables to deliver balanced and unbalanced analog audio on, but I haven’t even felt it necessary to make that switch yet.
What are the benefits of AES67?
Stereo RCA Audio Balun Extender Over Cat5 Cat5E Cat6 Cable Max 250FT
Whirlwind Catdusa 4-Channel Analog over Single CAT5 Snake Box