But here's the thing: The clock source that goes into your DAC isn't influenced by the pattern of packets arriving from your storage system, it's typically a st

But here's the thing: The clock source that goes into your DAC isn't influenced by the pattern of packets arriving from your storage system, it's typically a standalone oscillator sitting in the vincinity of the DAC and its controller in the shiny converter box... (for Pro-Audio it will be a rather dull 19" rackmount box, for audiophile stuff it will be brushed aluminum and have wooden knobs...). The only bad thing that can happen with the sound quality is that the computer isn't fast enough to keep up with supplying the controller next to the DAC (often in consumer hardware everything is integrated in one piece of silicon, though) with data, which is normally called a buffer-underrun. The ADC then doesn't know what to do and might produce clicks due to the sudden frames of silence inserted, some might just replay the last frame over and over again (stuttering or harsh noises). This is obviously audible to a huge extent. And yes, there are synchronization issues, and sometimes devices resample to bridge synchronization barrier., You'll be able to configure master/slave relationships, distribute word-clocks, ... but for the simple task of listening to a FLAC file of a Jazz Concert, those complications just don't apply.