Believe it or not there is a review out on the interwebs claiming that "'bit-identical' computer audio may well be just as inexplicably inconsistent as analogue."  In other words some hard drives and SSDs will produce better quality audio than others using the exact same audio file.  Two different QNAP NAS devices apparently produced differing audio signals which the writer claims to be able to discern.  Not only that but apparently different HDDs or SSDs inside the NAS also has an effect on the audio flavinoids and topology.  If that is not enough for you then keep reading the link from The Register as they also propose the theory that different types of RAID will change the cromulence of the audio signal as well and while they stop short of describing the audio cables which were used they did stoop so low as to use Belkin CAT6 instead of a product from Monster.  If you believe this and own a mains conditioner for your audio you should definitely let The Register know you are interested in their proposed AudioNAS kickstarter.

"Is it April already? I really cannot tell from this post, which poses the question: "Is it really possible that the sound quality of bit-identical audio files is influenced by their storage medium before being delivered to the hi-fi system's DAC?"

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