Jitter (slight timing errors resulting in a raised noise floor, think static or tape hiss) is the only thing that affects digital audio. However, that’s from source device to DAC. From the internet to your computer/phone/etc., data is sent in packets and it buffers, there is 0 jitter in this regard as it’s not technically a truly live signal (due to the buffer), it is no different than playing a song you download or ripped, except you don’t have the full file at once.
Does streaming defy the laws of physics?
I understand how a high quality power conditioning system can take the raw lower quality electricity in the residential power utility system delivers to a normal American house which delivers that same low quality electricity to our electric outlets and "purifies" it before it enters our source components and then each component (source, preamp, and amplifier) in turn adds its specific power conditioning to suppot production of beautiful music.
What i dont understand is the digital equivalent of this delivery transformation. Starting from my internet service provider over commercial grade wire from my cable company to my house then through whatever quality coax wire my home builder used 25 years ago to my router then the commercial Cat 5 wire in my ethernet LAN to the wall connector where I finally connect to my DAC. Is the digital signal at that wall ethernet outlet bit-perfect with all the subtleties and nuances sent out by the Tidal server I'm connected to or is it like my utility power that needs "a miracle occurs here" purification to restore anything that was lost during the bits long journey to that point? Is the role of my systems digital Hardware/firmware/software to perform that "miracle" of knowing what got lost in translation?
What i dont understand is the digital equivalent of this delivery transformation. Starting from my internet service provider over commercial grade wire from my cable company to my house then through whatever quality coax wire my home builder used 25 years ago to my router then the commercial Cat 5 wire in my ethernet LAN to the wall connector where I finally connect to my DAC. Is the digital signal at that wall ethernet outlet bit-perfect with all the subtleties and nuances sent out by the Tidal server I'm connected to or is it like my utility power that needs "a miracle occurs here" purification to restore anything that was lost during the bits long journey to that point? Is the role of my systems digital Hardware/firmware/software to perform that "miracle" of knowing what got lost in translation?