Point of higher priced streamer?

My Lumin U1 sounds orders of magnitude better than my Node2 when streamed through the same DAC. This should be impossible according to many posters here. I had 60 days to return the Lumin U1 but of course I kept it. It also handily beat out an Auralic Aries G1 streamer...all using the same outputs. Look, I return gear that doesn’t make a difference in my system and keep the components that do. I don’t want to waste money and I have zero expectation bias. Many professional reviewers note the exact same thing. Line noise can absolutely get transferred through these devices if not designed correctly. It’s not all about 1’s and 0’s as people like to ignorantly reference all the time.

All the streamer does is deliver the packets to the DAC.

How do you think the packets get there?  Via electrical signal of course...so therein lies the opportunity for sonic degradation or improvement by better design

With this said, I do agree with @mapman that it's all about prioritizing your spend and where you get the most bang for your buck.  A streamer upgrade is not the first place I'd look to allocate funds towards improving sound, but when I finally started running out of areas to improve I finally went to the streamer.

@ironlung  I for one am enjoying your posts and learning quite a bit.  Thank you.

This is just recreational arguing at this point.  Both sides aren't without merit and nothing will get decided.  So what's the point?

@pc997  

You need to compare streamer vs streamer using the same DAC. You will see no difference.

I have done exactly this in my system.  A/B comparison streamed my Node2 and Lumin U1 to the same Lampizator DAC using same inputs.  Massive difference.  I can't explain why....perhaps better power supply, reduced line noise traveling from streamer to DAC?  I don't know...all I know is massive sonic difference. It has nothing to do with the 1's and 0's.

@thyname  

Hey @three easy payments, good post. Although I am afraid you are talking to the wall

Thanks.  It's hard to get the "bits are bits" camp to contemplate that the SQ differences likely (as in 100%) have nothing to do with the digital portion of the streamer/DAC interaction....yet they continue to drone on about packet data quality etc...even though I totally agree with them on that part.  They refuse to contemplate the non-digital aspects of the component interplay.

@thyname  I agree...there is firm entrenchment.  I'm just sharing what I've experienced through lots of A/B testing over the years.  I can hear a difference in some things and others I can't...or just barely.  In this example with the streamers I can hear it.  Speaker cables and power cords rarely make a difference to my ears (A23 speaker cables are the only ones to make a profound difference in my system likely due to their impedance and interaction with my particular speaker).  I can hear IC differences pretty clearly.  I've tried a SR fuse and it made no difference in my system.  I go in with no bias and no agenda...sometimes I can hear it and other times I can't.

@pc997  I don't believe the sonic differences have anything to do with the packet delivery...I mean honestly, how could it?  Because you're right....the information is either received or it's not.  My working theory relates to keeping noise off the line.  Those packets don't get delivered magically from the streamer to the DAC, they are delivered via electrical impulses which are interpreted as 1's and and 0's. The electrical signal doesn't just magically disappear once it hits the DAC - it has to go somewhere and that introduces the potential for the residual electrical signal to impact the analog components within your DAC.  Removing as much hash as possible from the electrical impulse may contribute to to better SQ within the DAC....again, nothing to do with packets or data quality.  I realize DAC's are designed to minimize this issue but the reality is some do it better than other.  

@thyname  Better yet, a 100 grams of apples and 100 grams of blueberries both have the same amount of carbs (12g) - hence they "measure" the same.  Should they taste the same? ;-)  As Nelson Pass likes to say..."we just aren't measuring the right things."