Hmmmm.....
Bits are just bits... as long as they are the SAME bits... and depending on the circumstances, and sometimes on the handling along the way.
For example.... you may have Amazon HD (it's what I use)... and you may select a "high-res" album...
But the actual bits you get may be quite different depending on what PLAYER you're using...
The Windows computer client for Amazon HD Music does NOT support WASAPi mode...
So, while it is perfectly capable of delivering sample rates up to 24/192k, it may resample content.
(Specifically it will re-sample whatever you play to whatever default sample rate you have set in Windows.)
But I've been told that the Amazon HD Music client in the BlueSound streaming devices WILL deliver hi-res content bit-perfect (without resampling it).
And the clients in some other streaming devices may or may not deliver it in hi-res and may or may not resample it.
There are also some streaming devices that handle hi-res internally, and feed it to their own DACs, but still down-sample on their digital outputs.
Similar differences exist between the streaming clients in different devices for different services.
(So the client for a given streaming service in your TV may or may not deliver the same bits as the client for that service in a different device.)
(So your guess is as good as mine about what bits the WIIM delivers.)
And some USB inputs, especially older ones, are not asynchronous... so how much jitter there is on the signal coming from the source matters.
But most modern USB inputs are asynchronous... so they clock the USB signal at the DAC... and are pretty much immune to jitter from the source device.
Coax and Toslink connections are subject to jitter... which can occur in the source, or the receiver, or even be affected by the cable you use.
And some devices reclock this signal when they receive it... making them immune to this... while other do not.
And some devices, like our XDA-2 and DC-1, have switchable re-clocking which you can enable and disable.
(So they're almost totally immune to jitter coming from the source - but only if their ASRC is enabled.)
And all of this is assuming the same bits.
The differences are usually quite small...
But this is why some devices can sound slightly different than others with the same bits.
And we ARE looking into a streamer...
But streamers are a huge project because they require multiple software clients...
Many of which come from different places...
And many of which are constantly being updated...
This is ridiculous for the money: $85. Hi-Rez streamer, DAC 24 bit/192khz, All-in-one, multiroom playback, gapless, Bluetooth, found my music server, all controlled with one app that even has playlist. Prime Music HD & Qobuz.
Wish it had one USB input for pen drives
So are bits just bits or is there a difference? Roku-Vizio TV was the hub before, WIIM is toslink into recently bought Cambridge AXR-100 receiver for the Partio.
Since Emotiva wants their Pre/Pro as quiet & clean as possible, I kind of expected some type of streamer from them.
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edit, Will do an A/B comparison between the two DACs, WIIM has analogue out. The AXR DAC has been acceptable so far, but can't hear much difference between streaming CD 44.1 and Hi-Rez Amazon HD.
