I don’t think you guys understand my position and intention. I’m not saying that sources don’t matter. It’s the opposite. That’s why I have a Jitterbug for when I need my iMac as a source for watching stuff or casual music. I have a BDP-1 for an optimized player and is preferable to the MacBook Pro and iMac’s USB. Hell, I used to have a separate uncompressed WAV library at one time for MPD use with the BDP-1!
My question is for only the top DAC manufacturers that DO understand and recognize these things and hear what we hear. My question is what’s stopping them for perfecting it, as in to make no difference at all? Is it money? Yes, they sound great and measure well but still have that 2pF, which does somehow still end up making a difference audibly. What can they do to totally eliminate it? Has Rob or any other DAC designer commented on that?
I don’t have the latest DACs or the newest streamers/players, but I still hear the same thing in the past. While both the newest DACs and streamers have gotten better, they still remain sensitive as to the source (hardware and inputs/outputs) and what is happening inside the source player (RAAT/DLNA/MPD). Both the optimized streamer/player AND the DAC should be rejecting these changes from going downstream, yet it’s still not perfect. Do they have any plans in mind to completely fix that last bit?