Has Digital Audio Tech Plateaued - Is It Safe To Come Out Now?

I’ve been thinking like the OP, except I haven’t even put my toe in the water. Finally see what it’s all about? I’ve seen my friend go thru upgrade after upgrade over a few years, nothing recently however.

Are things ’essentially’ up there ’enough’ to finally add a ’decent’ streamer?

Nothing expensive, just obviously better than what I am getting now thru computer card (Pandora) and cable box (live/recorded tv, youTube).

I’m referring to Streaming Music in my Office and Music Videos thru my Cable Box. I do have a PC into my Smart TV, if that route is better than Cable Box. I would not stream into my primary music system.
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Camera Analogy:

42 mp is needed for large prints (high end audio system), and allows a great deal of cropping (no no for music)

5 or 10 mp enough? for: If not printing large i.e. medium quality office system, bookshelf speakers; i.e. medium quality Home Theater (5.1, darn good front and center, ok surround, single sub for extension).

Elliott

Hi Rooze!  The big deal is that Class D amps have finally come to fulfill the promise of the concept. It's really a lot more like an AM radio transmitter than a conventional audio amp. Once some fellows who understood UHF and radar gear turned their attention to audio, amazing things began to happen. Purifi Audio (Denmark) now produces an output module that is wining acclaim in other people's products. Starke Sound (USA) offers a complete, ready to go, four channel amp (perfect for two way speakers used with electronic crossovers) that is not tiny and cute, no chrome, no sculptured casework, uses a conventional power supply, is big and heavy, and sings like a bird. To me, the Purifi and the Starke sound nearly identical, and as good or better than anything I ever heard. If anything, the Starke may be very slightly sweeter on the top end. Very.

To paraphrase Meredith Wilson, either amp will, "Grab your woofers, grab your tweeters, in the arms of a dominating irresistible grip and deliver the clearest, cleanest music you have heard in your home." I admit that's a pretty outrageous paraphrase, but it gets the point across, without resorting to "techie" talk. It is the music we want to hear, isn't it?

What amazes me the most is how whatever speaker I drive with either amp, they sound very similar. I have about 12 sets of speakers in the house to play with (and a very tolerant wife), DIY and commercial (Shahanian, Wharfdale, Golden Ear, Spika, a couple more, bookshelf & floorstanders, There is not a wide difference in "flavor" between them. The amps CONTROL the speaker. These amps are switching tiny bits of 100+ volt "juice" into the voice coils. No speaker can fail to respond to that!  And the amps, through the use of large amounts of feedback (the Purifi module has only 13 db of gain), can detect and correct any errors the speaker makes almost instantaneously. The result is extremely low noise, extremely low distortion sound from whatever speakers you are using. Of course, quality matters; but these new Class D designs will get the most from any speaker connected to them. Read the reviews. Best of all, the Starke AD4.320 (four channels, bridgeable at the flip of a switch, phono & balanced inputs, sells for under $1400. It's worth a try. The NAD M33 is about $5000.Easy choice? I am interested in the best sound for the money.

As far as sources go, I've never heard a streaming service that could beat a well recorded CD. It does offer a huge library of music, and that's a good thing. But compare Nina Simone's album "Baltimore" with any streamed version. I know some dealers are demoing with streamed music. How sad! How unfair to folks who have never heard what a good system can do!  Ah well, that;s all for now. Happy Listening.

@antigrunge2
  "Properly implemented digital is far beyond vinyl"
While I have not gone down the vinyl path yet (no plans too either), I know what you mean about properly implemented. Often we focus on a particular DAC IC, or topology: R2R, Delta Sigma, Ultra precise femto second clocks, etc - yes these are very important, but the analog section of a DAC, IME, carries at least as much weight in the final sound of a DAC or CDP; After having owned some nice DACs, from Meitner, PS Audio, Chord, Bricasti, Ayre, and MSB Discrete, I have experienced this with a Luxman D08u; It's an incredible digital front end; Never thought digital could sound this way; If we piece-wise dissect this machine we find a relatively inexpensive IC as part of the DAC chipset; The entire "digital system", however sounds like a million bucks; So, yes I agree 100% that implementation is key;

   

We hit the plateau around 2010.  Sometime around here something happened, and the quality of CD quality files (44.1 kHz/16 bit) got radically better and shortened the gap between it and high resolution files.  I know this isn't my ears because I still hear the wide gap with older DACs.

My guess is that this was a result of consistently better and cheaper clock and jitter elimination circuits.  To my ears, this finally proves taht 44.1/16 is a very good format, but that DAC's were lacking. 

High resolution files and upsampling sound only slightly better than they would have a decade ago.  The DAC's which do not do internal upsampling still do a smidge better, but we can attribute that all to the better high frequency performance, which is measurable.

R2R and zero upsampling DAC's are fun, but probably no more than colorful in their own ways.  Enjoy them if you like them.

@rooze I think you answered your own question at the outset..."Yeah, I think I’ll just buy another tonearm.."
Perhaps you can tell me, do you think analog audio has plateaued yet? If so why are people still "upgrading"? Why are there so many turntable designs, cartridges, isolation feet, mats, tonearms, do-dads?

Seriously, all audio is now digital unless perhaps there is still a recording studio that uses reel to reel tape, I don't know. The real frontier is provenance of the recording. How was it made, how many times has it been re-mixed or remastered, etc. No matter what the delivery mechanism its the quality of the recording that dominates and yet which we usually have so little information.