SQ Comparison of 3 streamers

@designsfx Not only me, but others on the Volumio forum have also reported this from time to time. Through Qobuz Connect, I hear a bit more grit in the sound — subtle, but enough for me to switch back to the native Volumio app.

As I mentioned, I’ve tried hard to identify the rationale behind it but haven’t found anything truly convincing. Interestingly, with other brands — including Cambridge Audio, WiiM, and Eversolo — Qobuz Connect actually sounds slightly better than the native apps to my ears.  Qobuz Connect also sounds better than third-party UPnP players like mconnect when I use my iFi Zen Stream.

So this is just my experience — YMMV — since I can’t provide a scientific explanation. Perhaps others with more technical expertise can chime in.

@jrareform  Yes, I have tried several streamers before settling on the Rivo+, including the iFi Zen Stream (to begin with), WiiM (Pro+ and Ultra), and the Cambridge Audio MXN10. I upgraded the power supply on all of them, either with an LPS, an iFi iPower2/iPower X, or a quality power cable.

The WiiM Ultra is fine, but to my ears, the sound quality isn’t truly satisfying unless it’s paired with a DDC. The better the DDC (from PO100 Pro to Gustard U18), the better the sound quality. Nevertheless, none of these budget streamers can really compete with higher-end models such as the Rivo+, T8, Zen (Zenith) 3, or several more expensive but still affordable others.

I was very defensive previously until I tried those higher-end models — which are still considered “budget” gear by people who own truly high-end systems. I just wish I hadn’t had to spend so much time and money acquiring and testing them, only to discover that significantly better alternatives were available for just a few hundred dollars more.

@jrareform I have the Innuos Pulse and my sister has a WIIM ultra. One’s a Chevy Vega the other is a Corvette thinking it wants to be a Caddie. What whataboutism you may have leave them at the door. InnuOs is only manufactured to put a smile 😊 on your face! On a side note she had the mini and then I was able to get her to purchase an ultra. She couldn’t be happier with the new model. Yet when she hears my system, she agrees that mine is much more. Still could not get her to invest in a Innuos. And she makes five times more than me, go figure. Apparently she has her priorities completely skewed!

I think you want to be careful generalizing about the tonal characteristics of streamers, because anyone’s individual experience is likely to be different based upon their setup.  The reason that different streamers seem to exhibit slight tonal or sonic differences, even absent digital processing differences like up/oversampling, dsp, etc., is primarily due to electrical engineering factors like jitter, power supply noise, and electrical isolation (galvanic isolation) impacting the DAC's performance.

So while they pass the same digital bits, the quality of the transport (handling of timing/noise) differs as follows:

• Jitter (Timing Errors): High-precision clocks reduce jitter, which can affect the DAC's analog output, resulting in different perceived soundstaging or, rarely, tonal qualities.
• Electrical Noise & Isolation: Poorly designed streamers can introduce electrical noise (EMI/RFI) into the DAC via USB or SPDIF, affecting the analog stage.
• Power Supply: Better, cleaner power supplies (linear vs. switching) reduce noise floor, allowing for a cleaner signal, often perceived as a "blacker" background or more detail.
• The DAC's Sensitivity: If the DAC is well-designed with good jitter rejection and isolation, these differences become nearly inaudible. 

In sum, the interaction of these factors influence the extent to which one can hear fully the characteristics of one’s DAC.  So if one person has a warm DAC, and one person has an analytical DAC, moving from a higher noise streamer to a lower noise streamer could result in a “”warmer” or “leaner” sound, depending on the DAC.  Ascribing tonality to the streamer, imho, is inappropriate, even when the change in tonality occurred due to the change in streamers.

@mdalton  I in general agree with what you mentioned in your carefully thought-out post. For active components in a passive system, a digital transport such as a streamer has relatively limited engineering variables — mainly jitter and electrical noise — that could potentially affect perceived tonal balance.

Before returning the T8 yesterday, I tried to find any available test data that might explain why it exhibited noticeable hints of brightness compared to the Rivo+, such as the presence of sideband jitter or other artifacts that could increase perceived treble edge. However, other than factory general specifications, I couldn’t find anything conclusive.

"a custom 4N oxygen-free copper toroidal transformer and Teflon-insulated wiring achieve noise levels as low as 30μV. Further, Accusilicon AS318-B Femtosecond-accuracy clocks provide a low-jitter clock reference." To address noise, the USB, coaxial and AES/EBU digital outputs are isolated.

It is a well-engineered piece of gear that I believe is better than any other streamer around this price point, or even higher. So far, my only (positive) speculation is that it is very clean and has a darker background, which results in greater transient clarity and a sharper attack in the treble region. Ironically, however, I ended up liking it less and returned it.