Difference in digital sources

>My hypothesis is that there is no difference between any music server in this scenario.<

 There will be differences in the jitter on the S/PDIF even if you turn off any upsampling in the Linn.

By all accounts the Linn DS sounds best, and is also the most expensive.

Why would that be? 

 Don't they all just output the same digital signal to the DAC?

demartin_1:

Why would that be? 

 Don't they all just output the same digital signal to the DAC?

A large part of the DS's sound is its internal DAC, and interface which is designed for minimum jitter. Another reason perhaps is because it's a wired solution, unlike Sonos or Squeezebox.

manicm:

demartin_1:

Why would that be? 

 Don't they all just output the same digital signal to the DAC?

A large part of the DS's sound is its internal DAC, and interface which is designed for minimum jitter. Another reason perhaps is because it's a wired solution, unlike Sonos or Squeezebox.

Yes but that is not what is being asked.

I have never tried what the OP is sujesting but i can not see why it would sound any different.

nads:

manicm:

demartin_1:

Why would that be? 

 Don't they all just output the same digital signal to the DAC?

A large part of the DS's sound is its internal DAC, and interface which is designed for minimum jitter. Another reason perhaps is because it's a wired solution, unlike Sonos or Squeezebox.

 

Yes but that is not what is being asked.

 

I have never tried what the OP is sujesting but i can not see why it would sound any different.

Well actually I forgot one very, very important point - Linn DS is the only digital player that will natively play up to 24b/192k files, the Sonos and Squeezy simply don't handle this - even though their internal DACs might.

It's akin to DVD upsampling and full HD Blu-ray, or playing Blu-Ray on a 'HD Ready' TV instead of full HD.

That is a massive advantage of the Linn DS if one can afford it and willing to sit through the initial painful setup.

And a lot of tweaking is needed to get higher resolution files to play properly off a PC.

To answer your and the OP's question, I'll answer that with another question - why do some CD players sound better than others?

demartin_1:

My hypothesis is that there is no difference between any music server in this scenario.

Well, given that music can sound different when exactly the same file is stored on, and streamed from, different brands/types of USB keys...

I think your hippopotamus may be somewhat wide of the mark.

manicm:

Another reason perhaps is because it's a wired solution, unlike Sonos or Squeezebox.

Sonos is part wired, the first zone must be cabled to the router, Sonos don't support any other configuration. All zones can be cabled if you want.

Andrew Everard:

demartin_1:

My hypothesis is that there is no difference between any music server in this scenario.

Well, given that music can sound different when exactly the same file is stored on, and streamed from, different brands/types of USB keys...

I think your hippopotamus may be somewhat wide of the mark.

Never heard that before. Interesting.

al7478:

Andrew Everard:

demartin_1:

My hypothesis is that there is no difference between any music server in this scenario.

Well, given that music can sound different when exactly the same file is stored on, and streamed from, different brands/types of USB keys...

Never heard that before. Interesting.

I'm sorry, but this is nonsense and just one step too far. Andrew, if you can demonstrate audible differences (by blind testing) on identical source material stored and sourced from different brands of USB sticks I swear I will eat not only my socks but also the USB sticks that you were comparing.

In the meanwhile I will consider upgrading my keyboard cable so that I can ensure there is enough headroom to deliver this post to your web site without any loss of clarity, sharpness or definition of the characters I'm entering.

well storvante no respond from Andrew, perhaps if you also offered to eat that new keyboard of yours he would take up your challange.

storsvante, you could always try it.

Thank you all for your contributions. Although I am none the wiser I am now going to pay a lot more attention to my hippopotamus.

If it is true that different hard drives / usb sticks etc really do sound different then I can see this hard drive based music business getting really expensive.  I can also see my friends putting me in the nut house, they used to think I was crazy enough when I spent a weekend playing with a box of cables from my local hi fi shop.

dont worry they dont make a difference another myth

I was as surprised as some posters here seem to be, but it does make a difference. Best explanation seems to be that different sticks deliver data at different speeds.