antcollinet
Grand Contributor
We hear from folks that bits are bits. Why does a CD redbook player sound better than a Streamer at 44.1/16, or even DSD.
For your science based answer a simple 3 possibilities (assuming amp/speakers/room are the same)
1 - The bits are different for reasons given above.
2 - The dacs used by the CD player and the streamer are different and one or both are doing a bad job, or the levels of the outputs are not matched
3 - There is no difference to be heard, and any percieved difference is down to one or more of the many cognitive biases.
Pick one. Or combine any, as you like.