The law of diminishing returns strikes again. But, like “value proposition,” we all set our own comfort levels.
And continue to reset.
3 Likes
True that, for sure. I blame this forum. 
1 Like
It’s the 10 / 90 rule. 10% of the money gets you 90% there. Then you flip the numbers to get the rest of the way. Or most of the rest of the way. Or part of the rest of the way.
3 Likes
Then, when you get to the last 1% of the 10%, you reset the 10/90 rule.
2 Likes
'Zactly. Almost more fun than a person can take. 
5 Likes
Depending on how your Audirvana is setup, there could be a whole host of reasons, including Exclusive Access, the Volume control algorithm, CoreAudio buffer sizing, and probably a few more I’m not aware of in how Audirvana processes the audio streams, by default it’s not bit-perfect transport if I’m not mistaken.
2 Likes
I think software plays a major role.
Agreed. Core audio in macOS probably is the biggest offender. Resamples (and reclocks) everything. I know apple hardware is the most aesthetically pleasing. But sure does not beat a good Intel NUC running linux