Point of higher priced streamer?

Yes, It’s called expectation bias. The same phenomenon that largely drives the high end cable market. That and listeners neglecting to level-match when conducting comparisons.

That's is an extremely wide brush to use to simply dismiss differences that many folks hear, myself included.   

I've been using a RaspPi (running Roon) with a Digi+ SPDIF interface and iFi power supply as my primary streamer for years.  I recently spent less on a new DAC than I was expecting (because the most expensive one and it also has the most brand cachet didn't sound as good as I was expecting); I settled on an an R2R NOS DAC that costs considerably less but to me sounds better.

I then decided to spend the extra $$ on a better streamer to see if I could hear a difference, knowing I could flip the streamer (a Bricasti M5) easily if it wasn't worth it.  It made a significant difference in my system that I'm now disappointed I didn't try a better streamer years ago.   And yes, I have a sound meter (my trusty old analog Radio Shack meter).   So no, I don't buy your expectation bias or level-matching argument for my scenario.  I choose what sounds best to me and gives me the most musical enjoyment, working within my budget.

There is no doubt in my mind the Pi with a good quality SPDIF board is an excellent audio value relatively speaking, but in absolute terms in my system and using my ears, the M5 takes my listening enjoyment to another level and the difference in cost is more than worth it to me.   If the Pi sounds the same or better than the M5 to some folks in their system, then they should be happy they are saving some money, but that doesn't change the fact I prefer its sound quality more and am willing to pay for it...

@yyzsantabarbara, I introduced fiber into my streaming solution a few weeks back.   I skipped on using the Optical Rendu as I didn't want to limit my DAC input to USB.   My NAS and Roon server (Intel NUC running ROCK) are two stories away from my listening room; I connect two switches using MoCA to bridge that distance and then run fiber from an equipment closet in the basement into my listening room that connects into an Uptone EtherREGEN.   Then a short CAT8 cable connects to my streamer a Bricasti M5 and another short SPDIF and USB cable connects to my DAC.

I heard a small improvement switching to fiber from copper on the A side of the EtherREGEN, but relatively speaking it wasn't near as large as what I heard by replacing my Pi with Digi+ SPDIF out to the Bricasti M5 SPDIF out.

If you really want to debate 1s vs 0s, checkout the forums on audiophilestyle where some folks already running fiber mention the differences they hear by switching SFPs :)

Maybe the differences I hear between my Pi/Digi+ SPDIF and M5 are related to the quality of the power supply used in the M5 vs the iFi switching power supply I use with the Pi; I don't know...   Using a Pi with the Allo DigiOne Signature SPDIF board and a good quality linear power supply to feed the clean side of the output would be a great comparison with my M5 or any more expensive streamer.

I've read various posts here and on audiophile style about reported improvements by replacing the internal Lumin U1 Mini power supply with an external SBooster.    The Hans Beekhuyzen Channel on YouTube has a lot of interesting videos/reviews about streamers and power supplies.

Once I recharge my audio funds I would like to try a linear power supply with the EtherREGEN.   When I had the RME ADI 2 FS DAC I was shopping external linear power supplies and Teddy Pardo, Paul Hynes, SBooster, Uptone UltraCap, and Farad were all on my radar.  I ended up selling the RME before I purchased one for comparison.   RME's opinion on replacing their stock supply with an upgraded linear supply can be read here: https://forum.rme-audio.de/viewtopic.php?id=28734 ; it's about what you would expect, similar to this thread...