SQ Comparison of 3 streamers

@machine7 

Right now I’m running everything through a tube pre known for its clinical character and into a Buckeye Hypex. It will be interesting to compare again once I connect an Orchard Audio Starkrimson as while I believe it’s still Hypex based the implementation with more caps lends itself to a warmer more lush and musical presentation.

My amplifier modules are completely my own proprietary design. Starkrimson is the name of the technology, and I also hold the Starkrimson trademark. Read more on that here:
https://orchardaudio.com/starkrimson-gan-technology-implementation/

and we know Volumio is bit perfect, so that’s why the OP’s experience is so interesting to me.

@mdalton I did not mean dsp in a sense of up or over sampling . I meant the processing path that the data stream takes before it is output to your streamer. Sorry for the confusion. 
And yes device settings matter for your streamer and or dac. 

I was not using the terms interchangeably.  DSP is a different form of digital processing than up or oversampling or volume control.  but they are all examples of digital processing and so, by definition, they cannot be characterized as bit perfect.

@mdalton no you were not. 
I’ll try to clarify what I was saying earlier, once again. Roon core has software that processes the incoming data stream and converts it to the data feed your streamer is able to ingest via network. It isn’t a direct throughput. It is done using firmware and software that runs on Roon core. 
It isn’t DSP unless you engage up or oversampling. But it is still a signal that is processed in a digital domain. There are no bits that are lost in the process. Which makes it bit perfect. 
Likewise, you have firnware and software that processes the incoming data stream in a streamer. That native software that processes that data stream has an effect on sound quality. If it did not, Roon and native software would sound absolutely identical. But that isn’t the case. 
As I said earlier, this is my theory for one of many factors why we hear the difference. 
I hope I clarified this.