Rebadging of Streaming Platforms

Even if true, as with all things in audio implementation has a huge impact on the ultimate results.  

@soix +1 and then some. 

Low end streamers… probably. That is how much of low - mid-fi stuff is produced.

Maybe a little off topic, but last time I saw a Maserati their display/entertainment was mostly by Chrysler. A small, boutique audio company trying to do custom computers and software could easily drown as their resources get consumed in the digital streaming part of the work.

I mean, just how custom do we want the hardware to be? Are you going to insist they write their own coding language, real time OS and streaming services interfaces when, on the right platform, all this code is available on download?

Do they have to make their own CPU's and motherboards?  That is a hell of an organization that can get down to that level in the weeds.

I think we shouldn't focus too much on uniqueness so much as value.

Everybody jumps to conclusions about the original post, but nobody has actually answered the question.  I think the analogy that might best fit here is CD-Players.  Yeah there are all kinds of DACs, power supplies, and other things that go into the end product but most players contain a disc spinner from either Sony or Phillips (which hopefully your players manufacturer stocked up on to service their product as I have found out).

Yeah, the "magic" is in the implementation, but generally speaking the actual streaming board in any unit really is just delivering the signal to the parts that really impact the sound.  I absolutely don't believe this is a "low or mid-price" thing.  As two examples of brands that you can buy as stand alone DACs or with a streaming card added, it's unlikely that Weiss or Bricasti has developed their own proprietary streaming card.  I'm not saying that is a bad thing.

So back to the implementation question--what can you actually do to a streaming card to really improve what's being feed to the DAC?  And how much variation in units is possible?  Power supplies and isolation look like two positives.  It also appears that the only thing that really markedly improves the sound quality out of a streamer (not talking just 5% better) might be galvanic isolation, something akin to what Sonore does with the Opitical Rendu.  I'm sure there are others. 

So does anyone actually know who produces the platforms that many streamers use?  It seems hard to find (like they don't want you to know), much more difficult than finding out what CD drive mechanism is in your CD player.  

I've got a new DAC coming, just really trying to get down to brass tacks with a streamer that helps me get the most out of the DAC w/o paying for total BS.