Sound quality differences between NAS units

[winxi]

(19-08-2016 23:16)simoncn Wrote:  There was some discussion about possible scientific reasons for this on the Linn forum last year. See this post, this post and this post.

The argumentation that analogue noise from the NAS or other components makes it over the digital transmission channel into the renderer and in further consequence to the speakers and the ear seems not very convincing to me. It is even less convincing when it comes from an official of a company which wants to sell its products to an audiophile clientele along with a quite basic and abstract explanation about how the digital transmission works. If this argumentation was correct,
1) I'd consider this rather to be a problem of the renderer than of other components like the NAS or the used HDD
2) the problem would be solved by a single audiophile highend switch just in front of the renderer.

Quote:I have consistently heard sonic differences between music streamed from a Melco N1 and music streamed from other NAS devices, with all other components identical. I cannot "prove" this but I am as certain of this as I am about hearing sonic differences when listening to different renderers

I do not doubt that some people may perceive a difference in sound quality when using a different NAS. But how can you be sure that this difference is not caused by the human brain and in particular by the expectation that more expensive and higher quality equipment must sound better? How can you be sure that this is not a variant of the placebo effect?

Quote: (which for some reason seems to be generally accepted without demanding scientific proof).

I think the reason is that renderers typically have a DAC which undoubted affects the quality of sound.