Help settle a streaming argument!

I am shopping for a streamer. Does anyone have any links to article or reviews that show the differences in steamer output that results in these night and day differences? Numerous of reviews measure distortion numbers for amps, DACs, and plots/curves for speakers. Like in the reviews for amps, DACs, and speakers, it would be great to see the output variations between these different streamers (digital or after the DAC). I have seen test results for streamers with a DAC, but not for only the streamer. For people like me who are shopping, it might help in the process. It is not always possible to have 3 or 4 at home to compare them.

OP. I myself is new to streaming. I’m mostly and analog guy. Yes streamers do make a big difference when hooking up to an external dac. Rather than speculating and asking everyone here why not go and listen yourself and form your own conclusions? And Yes bits are bits and they “SHOULD” sound the same in an ideal situation but in reality the situation serving the data is never ideal hence there is a difference in sound. 

@niodari At the same time, I think the better is your system, in general, the less you will note the differences, although this may sound contradictory for some guys.

 

Yes this is contradictory to me.  The more resolving the system the easier it is to hear the effects of different components. I easily appreciated the upgrade path from Macbook > Node (great entry level streamer) > internal Bridges in PS Audio Direct Stream , Auralic Vega and MM Tambaqui > Auralic Aries G2 > now my Grimm MU1. (feeding MM Tambaqui DAC).

@fastfreight , yes your argument is of course clear. But curiously, based on my personal practice and  observation, the better are your amplifier and speakers, the better they do their job and these differences somehow diminish. 

based on my personal practice and  observation, the better are your amplifier and speakers, the better they do their job and these differences somehow diminish. 

Or one can interpret your observation a little bit differently. In that, upgrading your speakers AND amps yield much better, impactful, unmistakably audible, results than upgrading your streamer alone. Interpretation which I fully agree.