bits is bits

While you mention you can’t ever see the need to start streaming..just saying..there’s a BIG world out there.  I now listen to my old CD collection(via streaming) about 10% of the time. There is soooo much new music out there to discover and enjoy and streaming lays it at your feet for a very (very) modest fee. For less than the cost of one CD/month you have access to nearly any music from any age, and any genre you can imagine, and a few that you can’t. We’re not getting any younger..the journey in discovering new music, even if it’s 30-40 years old, for, basically, free..is a great ride. Just a thought..

@nogaps big +1 and that’s exactly been my experience as well.  My only regret is that I didn’t start streaming sooner.  While I’ve enjoyed being an audiophile for decades, streaming has brought a reawakening of my enthusiasm/enjoyment through discovering and listening to new music most of which I never would’ve otherwise found.  I’d highly recommend getting something cheap like a used Node (N130 or later so you have a USB out) and do a free trial of Qobuz or Tidal, because even though you think you don’t “need” it once you experience having worlds of new music at your fingertips it’s a revelation, and like nogaps I rarely listen to my own stuff anymore that frankly seems like going backwards and not nearly as enjoyable.  Hey, it’s cheap to try and it could change your world as it did ours so why not?!?  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

Assuming streams we receive from various streaming providers are identical I agree bits are bits. I very much doubt these services altering data packages they receive from record companies. By the way, Tidal no longer using MQA, now FLAC files. 

I don't use Tidal or Qobuz music players on my main system, both integrated into my Roon library, I can detect absolutely no difference between Tidal or Qobuz streams, and over 3k cd rips for that matter, any differences due to provenance of recording. I posit music player apps such as Roon, Audirvana or proprietary are where the variability in sound quality found, and this sound quality variability due to our streaming equipment. Generally you'll find Roon and Audirvana app more complex interfaces require greater processor resources vs the proprietary apps. 

@jeffbij thank you for all the details.

I admit, this is what I thought: the streamer sends "data" to the DAC. Its job is to receive data and pass it to the DAC. It's not changing stuff, validating stuff other than 01101 is 01101. Are you saying it varies? 

I understand music files vary but that won't give the streamer extra tasks.

I can go down the list that happened here 100s of time: a word, a word doc, an image, are all the same at the sender and receiver, there is no noise.  How is data for music different? Maybe I should learn about music files.

I understand the CD has "data" and sends it to the DAC, that data is always the same, is streaming data not the same unless the transmission fails? 

This is a great discussion. Same reasons many computers are faster and have better processing of the 1 and 0. It must be in the hardware and software combined. Enjoy the experiments and the music.

I have both Tidal and Qobuz and in my experience there is not a consistent SQ advantage of one or the other.  For the same indicated resolution, some tracks sound better on Tidal and others better on Qobuz.  In some cases, CD quality sounds better that "hi res" versions.  This might point to earlier comments that the master quality/version for the uploads may be cause of any difference that exists?  Clearly the streamer/DAC quality and the downstream system make a difference but that was not the OP's question.