Do I need an expensive digital cable?

@audio-b-dog 

So now we have

I don’t have an HDMI choice, so I have no idea about it being better. I have, however, been experimenting with DSD MQA vs PCM by playing the same album on Qobuz and Tidal. I think I mostly prefer PCM for its better delineation of instruments. It also handles attacks better. However, every now and then DSD MQA seems more airy and I prefer that on a few albums. My accountant wife says one has to go. I think I’ll keep Qobuz.

MQA is delivered via PCM, but is essentially a lossy format.

As of July 24, 2024, Tidal has officially dropped support for MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) and 360 Reality Audio formats, replacing them with HiRes FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) for high-resolution streaming

In Australia, Pure Audio Blu-ray disks (mainly rock music) were sold by just about every record store until on-line sales took over.  I have shown you where to buy some several times now.

You say

money will always be my biggest constraint

but you also say 

I'm not interested enough in the science to totally retain it. I am much more interested in the sound

In my opinion, your biggest constraint is not money, it is your disinterest in scientific explanations which seems to prevent you from spending wisely.

Sounds like in this case streaming is for background music and vinyl and cd (also questionable) for serious listening.

overall stubbornness reappears and shuts the gateway of brain. 

@soix 

I thought it shouldn't matter but it did. The $249 is better than the $14 one. I think that has to do with shielding and other types of interference than jitter.

@richardbrand 

In response, I would say that my ear has caused me to buy very wisely. I can hear things that people at audio stores can't. I don't know why or how, but I have developed a very good ear and I think that beats science any day. What's the point of science if not to point you to good sounding gear?

I happen to be writing about this now and it's a much bigger topic than you might think. At the turn of the 20th century scientists thought they had it all sussed. At the turn of the 21st century scientists are willing to admit that there is more they don't know than they do know. I'd say trust your ear over anything else when it comes to audio.

@audphile1 

You're kind of half right. When I write I have to do a lot of thinking about things that come from both my conscious and unconscious. So I often stop,  waiting for something from my unconscious. Then music lubricates the gears or fires up the synapses or however you want to think about it. Also, if I am listening to something i know well, then I don't need to give it my full attention.

In the afternoon when my brain is too tired to write, I often explore new music. Tomorrow when my wife will be gone, I will stream Robyn's new album very loud to feel my three woofers shaking the room. But I've also been exploring recordings of the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and the pianist Fazil Say. I found a recording of them playing together. New recordings are almost all digital so I'll never hear them from an analogue source and my Moon 280D reproduces them quite well.