I've been doing the whole music server thing for about 2 years. If content is stored on my server and outputs via USB to my DAC, I'm trying to understand how a router can make a difference in SQ. Is my router just allowing my ipad to control Roon OS? Is the output from the server to the DAC affected by cheap routers (i.e Xfinity standard fiber router). This makes no intuitive sense but so do a lot of others things in audio that absolutely DO matter.
Thanks,
Long story short, I would spend my time/money elsewhere in the system. But if you would like to know why I think that continue reading below.
I think the answer here will be different depending on which Camp the person who answers it falls under.
The Subjectivist Camp will probably tell you the Router matters for sure; especially if it has some kind of outboard linear power supply attached to it. But, they may also tell you that even then, you will not hear a big difference until you also buy a fancy ETH cable to go with it.
On the other hand, the Objectivist Camp will probably tell you that as long as the network equipment/infrastructure/wiring...etc is functioning as designed/intended then the Router should make no difference in the SQ you hear.
I must say though, using the term Router kinda muddies the waters a bit here.
You have devices that are Firewalls/Routers & Switches in one box (your typical Linksys box), you have Layer 3 switches which handle Routing, you have Layer 2 switches which cant do Routing and you have pure Routers with a small handful of physical ports not suitable for use as a Layer 3 Switch.
So the point being, some may have a different recommendation/answer depending on the exact device being asked about.
So
@ihmeyers ...to clarify, are you really asking about a Router or were you asking about some other example device I mentioned above? Depending on how sophisticated your home network is, this device you are asking about could be sitting outside of the immediate communication path between your music server/music files and DAC and as a result is unlikely to effect SQ.
In any case, I'm in the Objectivist Camp on this one, assuming the device in question is properly configured of course. With that said though, a misconfigured device (causing packet errors..etc) could certainly result in bad SQ and a miserable User experience.