Why are so many people spending so much money to build “perfect” streaming system?

@jssmith

The sound quality of streamers only depends upon the analog conversion, which at this point is standardized and audibly perfected. And as a former software engineer, I understand that the rest of the hype is just marketing nonsense sold to the uninformed or those suffering from what psychologists call "belief perseverance." So save your money

I am a software engineer myself and having spent a good chunk of my career working at the operating system and hardware level, have a good understanding of the error correction built into computing systems to ensure all bits arrive intact. They generally do, but that is not the whole story. I also worked with a lot of electrical engineers along the way, debugging their hardware as it integrated with my software. A key trait for success in this space is learning to know what you don't know. So many times, after everyone saying, "That can't be happening", or, "That can't be the problem", we found solutions that surprised us and increased our understanding of the many factors that influence hardware and software at the lowest level. 

I am on my third streamer, each one has been a step up in resolution and soundstage. This one I built custom from available components (Pi, Allo, LPS), with a focus on isolation and shielding of the streamer board. The results are amazing in comparison to the Node 2i that I had. The two factors that are frequently ignored in the streamer space, beyond the 1's and 0's, are noise and jitter. These are real factors in hardware design and in the end audio quality. Especially jitter. It is undeniable that the clocking of the signal is critical to delivering good, focused sound. 

Of course, not everyone can hear these differences. Whether it is the lack of resolution of the their system or their ears just aren't tuned that way, it is easy to think there is no difference. Try the Pi/Allo DigiOne, it's a cheap test, and I think you would hear the difference. Trust me there is one.

@jssmith If you understand that then you should also understand that the product of noise and jitter is distortion. And the levels of distortion that are audible can be measured and have been known for many decades. And almost all digital devices are below those distortion levels. No one disputes that humans can't hear 50kHz. Why do people dispute that they can hear inaudible distortion?

Possibly correct when it comes to the effects of RFI/EMI, not sure. Not correct in the case of jitter. Jitter is measurable and the effect is measurable, but jitter is not about additional noise, audible or not, but rather distortion of the sound itself by smearing the timing. If measurements are your thing, we can look to the ever controversial ASR team and their review of the Allo DigiOne that I am using:

Amir gives this device a high rating based on jitter measurements. Jitter, or lack thereof, is audible, if you have the system and the ears to hear it.