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Going back to source comparisons. Did someone find a preferred source over the other? Like Aurender/Melco/MR/SotM initial impressions?
Mac Mini ----> Audioquest Diamond USB ---> Devialet Expert 250 ---> AudioQuest Meteor ---> Focal Scala Utopia
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I haven't listened to all of these, but I did listen to Aurender and all I can tell you from my experience is that a good quality source helps the music sound more 'musical' by being jitter free, lower noise and potentially better soundstage (room and speaker optimisation dependant) - music has a better rhythm and sound. It doesn't really give you masses of additional detail, as 16/44.1 file is still 16/44.1 resolution regardless (even with upsampling), but it does help.
For me a network streamer/bridge or player is more about the functionality offered, as the improvement isn't huge (certainly not as huge as buying a Devialet which is night and day compared to a mainstream analogue amplifier).
I am finding myself becoming more interested in room correction as the next stage - if a streamer/renderer was able to achieve this then I think it'd be great. Reading on the forum elsewhere other non-Devialet approaches such as Kii Three or Dutch&Dutch 8C speakers interest me hugely, as do the new Apple Homepods which have similar tech as per the Beolab 90 speakers. Not saying that the Apple Homepod can equal a Devialet, but they might be enough for some people looking to achieve good quality sound in a typical unoptimised home environment. We shall see.