It’s a rhetorical question, actually - in so far as I just discovered mine has been killing it for years. I hope readers with similar issues to mine might find this useful.
Without boring you with the componentry of my digital chain as of today, I’ll just say I exclusively stream files from a Melco unit and that it includes optical, i2s conversion and several LPS; yet still I didn’t eradicate a lingering degree of harshness in high frequencies and compressed soundstage.
Over the last 10 frustrating years I’ve been chasing the rabbit down a deep hole and gone through periopds of dark despair as well as ridiculous amounts of expense. Most of what I did to try to fix it, helped, incrementally - dedicated mains, optimum power cords and i/c’s including ethernet cables (AQ Vodka) GIK room panels, radically changing out a 252 for a tube pre, less analytical speakers (read less forward) EE switch, LPS on everything, optical chain breaker, converting to i2s away from USB. Over that time my sound has gone from varying degrees of painfuI to much improved. But still that halo of hard edges, compression and lack of air on some albums persisted at a certain level.
Last week I decided I’d need to to try a more current, high-end server and plaster my ceiling with GIK traps; but, beforehand, I thought I’d try a Melco ethernet cable between router and switch. (I didn’t find it to be as pleasing to my ears as a Vodka, btw…) But while I was on my knees messing with it, I considered the ethernet cable connecting the ghastly, electrically noisy nightmare that is the box for my internet TV service to my, likely, equally nasty, noisy router, from same company; and the fact that my EE switch also connects to that router. I unplugged the telly box ethernet from the router.
Now, I’ve only had two decent listening sessions (at either end of the day) since I disconnected the TV box from the router, so following may be premature, but, right now, the difference is staggering. My SQ has never sounded so relaxed and effortless, the soundstage so expansive, the bass so fervent, vocals so unstrained. It’s not expectation bias - I was quite convinced I’d hear nothing. I was flabberghasted; and waiting to discover I’ve imagined it or it disappears and the hard edges return…
Despite the optical ‘break’ in the chain allegedly preventing upstream pollution, this upstream component still had an (horrible) influence. I wish I’d tried what now seems like such an obvious, small thing, many tears ago. I wonder how many changes I made in the past, I wouldn’t have needed to make if I’d discovered this sooner. Thinking about, all the changes and upgrades are probably worthwhile, regardless; but possibly not the 252 and speaker swaps - the ones that cost me the most lost cash.
In any event, the moral of my story is, if you are not happy with your SQ (or even if you are) and you have other components plugged into the router to which you connect your hifi switch, try disconnecting them and listening - before doing anything more radical.