I know this is a contentious subject, and I've watched as members vehemently advocate for and defend their positions. Using Qobuz as an example...
Camp A: the "stream" is a continuous data stream, bits can be lost, which degrades the SQ. Not all the data has to make it to the transport to play music.
Camp B: the "stream" consists of error checked, bit perfect packets over HTTP. Packets are not guaranteed to be sent in order, which means the transport has to wait until if this occurs. In this case, network speed/quality effects buffering, as does the speed of the transport's processor.
I believe I have these opposing points of view are generally correct, but if not, I'm happy to be corrected.
I was originally in Camp B when I bought my first streamer, then switched to Camp A, because I believed certain members statements to be true, and these members told me I was WRONG.
The recent thread Ethernet Switch- what's the point? frustrated me. Surely there is a way to prove A or B?
So I asked Bluesound Support. After all, a manufacturer of streaming devices HAS to know how this works.
The answer was, error checked packets over HTTP.
I posted the email from Bluesound in the above mentioned thread but no comments. Maybe it was missed (because it was the last post on the page), or maybe it was just ignored.
In any case, I believe this reference is accurate.
