CD playback better than streaming ?

Tintinabulum

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As it started off with Darko, he has a couple of videos on the merits of CDs over other formats. I detect some anti CD sentiment here, weird.

Who on earth is going to listen to millions of tracks? I do both as most people probably do. CDs are a thing.

If there's an album you love, why not spend a tenner to own it? You can get pretty much anything on DISCOGS. There's plenty of specialist listening that'll probably never be streamed, historical recordings for instance.
 

rabski

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As I've said before, the issue with streaming is that you have no idea what you're getting. I have albums and tracks where the CD sounds notably better than the streamed version, but not all by any means. It is therefore not presumably a problem with the actual streaming as a source (or my setup), but a problem with the 'master' that is being streamed.

If I buy a CD or LP, it's possible to research and find the best pressing, or at least to know the provenance of the master. With streaming, the 'resolution' only refers to the streaming part. A poor master streamed in high-res is still a poor master.
 

StingRay

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As it started off with Darko, he has a couple of videos on the merits of CDs over other formats. I detect some anti CD sentiment here, weird.

Who on earth is going to listen to millions of tracks? I do both as most people probably do. CDs are a thing.

If there's an album you love, why not spend a tenner to own it? You can get pretty much anything on DISCOGS. There's plenty of specialist listening that'll probably never be streamed, historical recordings for instance.
Because some are a lot more than a tenner and import only. I bought one from the US once, only $20 but cost me about £34 in the end. Before the reissue the only ones available were used for over £400. Now I can buy the download for around £12.
Another cd was only available as import from NZ, no longer available, I bought that as a download.
Another Norwegian band, no new cds available, only used for around £14 plus shipping and import fees.
Another album, never released on cd.
Even Fink's Live album is quite rare now and expensive. Once out of print prices shoot up.
You don't need to listen to millions of tracks, it's about having the choice, same as going to the library, you dont read all the books. I do try out 1,000s of albums.
 
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Chumpchops

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Plugging a streamer into a CD player's digital input will quite often yield poorer results than playing a CD. I think it's more likely something to do with the signal path than the CD medium being superior however.

And you have to be absolutely sure you are comparing the same master. I've rolled my eyes many a time at audiophiles boasting that their CD player sounds better than Qobuz high res.
it makes far more sense to use the cdp as transport to dac rather than put streamer into CDP. standalone dac tech finesse has moved on at far greater pace than has cdp on board dac tech in recent years.
 
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StingRay

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As I've said before, the issue with streaming is that you have no idea what you're getting. I have albums and tracks where the CD sounds notably better than the streamed version, but not all by any means. It is therefore not presumably a problem with the actual streaming as a source (or my setup), but a problem with the 'master' that is being streamed.

If I buy a CD or LP, it's possible to research and find the best pressing, or at least to know the provenance of the master. With streaming, the 'resolution' only refers to the streaming part. A poor master streamed in high-res is still a poor master.
Fair point about not knowing what version it is, I think there should be more info.

Re cds, yes you can research but there is a lot of conflicting info. Some posts run into 1000s of posts on some albums, on Hoffman forum then when you have found it's some Black Triangle pressing from Japan, you can't find it for sale or its extremely expensive. For some cds there is very little information.
 
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rabski

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Fair point about not knowing what version it is, I think there should be more info.

Re cds, yes you can research but there is a lot of conflicting info. Some posts run into 1000s of posts on some albums, on Hoffman forum then when you have found it's some Black Triangle pressing from Japan, you can't find it for sale or its extremely expensive. For some cds there is very little information.
Absolutely. My post was just an 'in general' thing.
 

rabski

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But you are right, its a good idea to research which is the best version, sometimes it is quite straightforward, I have done it in the past.
And agreeing with you further.... with some older recordings, rare ones or ones with multiple pressings it's a minefield. Sometimes this hobby takes us too far down the rabbit hole :ROFLMAO:
 

Blacksabbath25

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I think CDs are better but not by much but depends on the recording quality of the CD itself compared to the streaming version of that same CD as there are so Meany version of one album so at least you know with CDs that you got the day of release version then a remastered version if you brought that CD on release day .

There are pros and cons to both formats but at the end of day i think CD is better and streaming is just a convenience that you have your library in one place and a vast library to try out and find new music and depending how much you want to pay for a subscription the better the quality is on some recordings .

Ones you brought a CD its not costing you anything a month and its the same quality and never a different quality like streaming can be and when you add you internet bill and the streaming service bill a month i could buy maybe 2 or 3 CDs a month and if i wanted to know what the album sounds like i use iTunes 30 seconds sample or YouTube .

I use streaming as well but my own CD library ripped into flac files on ROON but do not see Meany streaming separates out there only the very expensive separates which are no better then the cheaper streamers as your just paying for the DAC inside and what file formats it can play on the expensive models where my CD player plays what matters .
 
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StingRay

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Problem is many of my cds are poor quality and subsequent remasters are much better, .Im quite annoyed that I have even bought 2 cds of a certain album yet there are much improved remasters available now. Good for the record company. Some rock albums have been well remixed/remastered by Steven Wilson, all these are available on streaming sites, I have no need to rebuy all the albums over again, some of Tull cds were awful.
Most of my cds I will never play these days, even if I did not have a streamer, so all that money I spent is tied up in worthless cds. For me renting music makes more sense. Even if I did buy cds I would want acstreming service, so really it does not cost me anymore.

Internet does not cost anymore, I would have it anyway.

If you have a large collection of cds and you are happy with the sound quality then thats fine.

For people new to music streaming is great.

You can buy a streamer for £89 now, Hires as well.

How much is Roon?

Its difficult to sell cdps now. Budget new CDPs are quite expensive now, so I would expect quite a big loss if you want to sell one.
 

hiesteem

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I started to research a streamer recently, and because I am interested in the convenience of streaming wanted to believe that just maybe streamers have caught up with everything else.
Then I started to read peoples experiences with poor apps and having to have it connected with cable to the router for better and more reliable performance. Then the kill shot was when they willingly admitted the sound quality wasn't as good as their physical medium and some wished they hadn't bothered.
Reminded me of the excitement and expectations of a first date and then realising, very pretty, but very high maintenance.
 

bigrod

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Streaming is certainly the future but I’ve still got my big toe in the past, mainly because of the sheer number of music hard copies on CD and Vinyl
If my Sony SCD 777ES packs up I won’t be spending anywhere near that sort of money for a new player .
 

hiesteem

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Streaming is certainly the future but I’ve still got my big toe in the past, mainly because of the sheer number of music hard copies on CD and Vinyl
If my Sony SCD 777ES packs up I won’t be spending anywhere near that sort of money for a new player .
Yes I believe there is a difference in investing money in a high quality player such as your Sony, than the more generic players, which seem to suffer from failure in certain areas.
I have had my Restek since the 90's and it has never failed. The sound quality is better than when I first purchased it, due to servicing and upgrading the dac inside and outside the machine. I really do rate high end German electronics, they just last a life time.
 
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DomT

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I started to research a streamer recently, and because I am interested in the convenience of streaming wanted to believe that just maybe streamers have caught up with everything else.
Then I started to read peoples experiences with poor apps and having to have it connected with cable to the router for better and more reliable performance. Then the kill shot was when they willingly admitted the sound quality wasn't as good as their physical medium and some wished they hadn't bothered.
Reminded me of the excitement and expectations of a first date and then realising, very pretty, but very high maintenance.
Naim and Auralic work well via wifi. Their Apps are very good. The Innuos app is a lot better for streaming ripped CDs but requires an Ethernet cable. But there are wifi products that have an Ethernet output.

I was a very late and reluctant adopter of streaming but it’s very good. In fact as a result of these products I have bought over 100 CDs to rip to their hard drives. Tidal and Spotify streaming is also good but the Spotify Connect apps drops signal a lot. Tidal is integrated into the Innuos and Auralic platforms and is stable.

I have nothing to complain about. The sound quality is very good and I don’t care if an expensive CDP sounds better.
 
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interspace455

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My experience is not good with streaming. I have a CA 851N with qobuz studio but the stream magic app is now not connecting, which renders the streamer useless. It is not a great piece of software. To answer the OP question when stream magic deicides to work OK, some things sound pretty good, but TBH CD sounds rather better to me.
 

lazycat

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How much is Roon?
You do make a good point. I did go back to LMS 18/12 but, TBH, I prefer Roon and it's worth paying for.
But only because I upscale everything to DSD 128.
TME it sounds better than PCM, at least in my system.

Naughty lazycat, not very 'audiophile' is it? 🤣 🤣
 
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Rockchild

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H
My experience is not good with streaming. I have a CA 851N with qobuz studio but the stream magic app is now not connecting, which renders the streamer useless. It is not a great piece of software. To answer the OP question when stream magic deicides to work OK, some things sound pretty good, but TBH CD sounds rather better to me.
How far away is your router from your phone and how is the streamer connected?
90% of the time, the fault lies with the router and internet service.
I have no issues at all with the Cambridge app or connection.
 

interspace455

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Thanks Rockchild - nothing to do with the connection or the 851N, which I think is actually quite elegant. That all works fine. The app on my mobile just cannot find the 851N. Just sits there wheeling saying "not connected". Getting to the point where I just don't want apps involved with my hifi... Have spent too much time re-installing etc, but I am on to CA - maybe they will come up with something (living in hope).
 

Rockchild

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Thanks Rockchild - nothing to do with the connection or the 851N, which I think is actually quite elegant. That all works fine. The app on my mobile just cannot find the 851N. Just sits there wheeling saying "not connected". Getting to the point where I just don't want apps involved with my hifi... Have spent too much time re-installing etc, but I am on to CA - maybe they will come up with something (living in hope).
It’s actually the app talking to your router. This is generally where the issue is.
The phone doesn’t directly talk to the streamer. Routers are always over hyped by the internet provider. I now use a TP-Link router. Leagues ahead on that stupid BT one.
 

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