"usage: 1 Between is used in speaking of two things, people, etc.: we must choose between two equally unattractive alternatives. Among is used for collective and undefined relations of usually three or more: agreement on landscaping was reached among all the neighbors. But where there are more than two parties involved, between may be used to express one-to-one relationships of pairs within the group or the sense 'shared by': there is close friendship between the members of the club; diplomatic relations between the US, Canada, and Mexico. 2 Between you and I, between you and he, etc., are incorrect; between should be followed only by the objective case: between you and me, between you and him, etc."
lol, any more?
My argument, if you want to re-read, has been it's data until it hits the sound card.
I would also argue that most of the past discussions are based on source syncronous products (USB DACs and streaming products) where it's a tweaker's and manufacturer's dream solution. If you remotely agree with that, then past discussions are pretty tainted.
The entire digital design flow is based on validation toolkits that guarantee the highest reliable products work, for example: avionics, pacemakers, and HPC multi-core processors. Not to mention those same flows are used for media SOCs, Graphics and set-top boxes. You can be sure that anyone writing a codec has the goal of a perfect encode/decode every time, but they do understand there are bugs to crush.
