Sound quality differences in streamers


Can there be sonic differences between moderate and high priced streamers when used for streaming only. I will not use or engage an onboard DAC or any other feature, just stream from Tidal or Amazon to DAC. If the unit is just transferring zeros and ones to a DAC can there be differences in say a $300 WiiM and a $3000 dSC streamer? Thanks

kckrs

Showing 1 response by ervikingo

I'll add my thoughts.  I have a Wiim pro, a Zenith Mk3 and a Denon something or other.

Objectivist data seems to indicate they all should sound the same.  To my ears they don't.  Now, is my perceived difference worth the $?  for me it is.  Have not checked the specs but perhaps this relates to the size of the buffers?

In the end, IMHO, the biggest factors when choosing a streamer are which sources are handled (natively or through work arounds) and how friendly and useful are the apps.

I like the Innuos app and I also like the Wiim app.  Innuos does not stream Amazon HD thus I keep a Wiim for that on my main system.