That is true. Having to get off the couch to change the music over has been one of the blights of my life. I have no idea what the designers of physical media were thinking of.
Does a streamer sound better than a CD player?
- Thread starter Rushboy
- Start date
That is true. Having to get off the couch to change the music over has been one of the blights of my life. I have no idea what the designers of physical media were thinking of.
david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
I’m not a fan of streaming , it’s very convenient but is very expensive to get results that I find acceptable.
CD is mature technology and works, but suffers from a ceiling in performance and limitations in bit rate and depth.
Best of both worlds is a decent dac directly connected to a server.
CD is mature technology and works, but suffers from a ceiling in performance and limitations in bit rate and depth.
Best of both worlds is a decent dac directly connected to a server.
nostromo
pfm Member
When streaming, at the back of mind there is that faint fear/nag that the Internet connection will get interrupted or that the last part of the track may get cut off. Also sometimes there's a momentary lag in the track starting.
I need to be sure the file is local so I can fully relax. Streaming is OK for exploring. In general the DAC in the system is more crucial than where the bits are coming from.
I need to be sure the file is local so I can fully relax. Streaming is OK for exploring. In general the DAC in the system is more crucial than where the bits are coming from.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
I think the drop out fear is a fair point but I’ve ensured ours is rock solid so I think I’ve only had a couple of drop outs in the last couple of years. It’s similar to a click in the record, a skip in the cd, a knotted tape or a radio crackle so not a problem for me really.
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If you stream from Qobuz you can download a huge number of tracks to what it calls an offline library and play from there, so you needn’t rely on the internet at all for listening to music if you don’t want to.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
I always forget about this facility. I usually just remember when I’ve set off on holiday!
Cereal Killer
432
Streaming is much better than CD replay ..
Del monaco
Del Monaco
Discuss.
Minio
Kind of Sort of Not really...
CD replay is much better than streaming.
I bet you are grossly overweight due to the lack of exercise from just sitting in your armchair ratherthan having to get up to change the cd/flip the LP over?
hehe..
strangely, since giving all the physical media up I have lost 8 kilos and are now a trim 91kg on a six foot frame.
Actually moving your fingers around a touch screen and stabbing at album selections does consume lots of calories.
Pete
Cereal Killer
432
Del monaco
Del Monaco
Ah…don’t you have the vintage Rotel and Wharfedales?
I had a longish trial of Tidal and found that it did not sound as good as my own files from the Mac with external HDs. The current solution (SSDs in a NAS) is even better at serving my files but that's another story for another thread (perhaps).
That is the other reason why I don't rent my music
Tidal isnt a good choice for benchmarking streaming due to their MQA infestation.
Qobuz, which is what I use, is a better bet. The more interesting thing is to compare say a 44.1 stream to a 96k stream to a 192k stream on Qobuz.
BUT.... the whole issue with any streaming comparison is its basically impossible to have the same master for each resolution or when comparing a CD to a stream.
Basically the difference you hear is likely due to a mastering difference.
While its possible to compare a rip of your own CD to the original CD, both played locally, into the same DAC etc, as noted, a CD v stream comparison is rarely, if ever, valid.
Peter
I have a theory.... we are conditioned over the years to certain flavours of sound.
Ignoring formats, in my case I listen to lots of stereo Jazz from the last 50's to late 60's whose bass and drums have a certain weight/impact due to the recording chain being focused towards vinyl grooves (aka a AAA chain)
Come a modern DDD chain, which potentially better represents bass and drum weight/impact, I find it over blown...which I put down to being conditioned on Jazz reproduction using a AAA chain.
Doesnt mean DDD isnt closer to the truth but its a truth that grates with me.
So is vinyl, for you, really better or is it what you are conditioned to as a benchmark?
Peter
Del monaco
Del Monaco
I think there’s some truth in this. My FIL likes a clinical sound. I like a touch of warmth. I love the sound of some 50/60s jazz and 60s/70s Decca classical. Maybe this formed my preferred sound profile?
Del monaco
Del Monaco
One of my favourite recordings is Karajan’s Tosca with Price and Di Stefano. It would be an exemplar of the kind of sound that makes my ears prick.That’s the issue with using the word ‘better’. One person’s ‘better’ in another’s ‘worse’.
Minio
Kind of Sort of Not really...
Traded the Wharfedales for Tannoy M15's.
Similar in capabilities but with a tidier look imo and (expensive looking!.?imo) British stylee. Nicely balanced sound and excellent for late night listening and moderate levels.
I will confess to my Streamagic 6 getting more use these days despite emotional attachment to older formats.
BBC Sounds (via CA) and Spotify etc have seen to that.
Del monaco
Del Monaco
I love BBC Sounds through LMS as I can access the Archive etc. Must look at the Tannoys. We seem to have similar taste.
Mike Hughes
pfm Member
A mere three pages and remaining on the sane side of insane. Impressive. FWIW I think we prefer what we I prefer and largely find the justifications after the fact. If you’ve hit the point where you sit and listen to music as often as you can then mission accomplished. Format is irrelevant. Analogue or digital is irrelevant. If it works for you then brilliant. Just don’t then claim on the back of that it will work for everyone and is simply better in any kind of absolute terms. It is the best for you. No more and no less.
I once took a very famous audio (and absolutely pro vinyl) journalist to a show they’d not been to before. Insisted they didn’t get a programme and I walked them door to door effectively blind. The task was to guess the source before they entered the room. This was because they had asserted in print that the differences were clear cut and discernible in myriad circumstances. Apparently not. Around 45% accuracy. Funnily enough they’ve never written about the experience.
I once took a very famous audio (and absolutely pro vinyl) journalist to a show they’d not been to before. Insisted they didn’t get a programme and I walked them door to door effectively blind. The task was to guess the source before they entered the room. This was because they had asserted in print that the differences were clear cut and discernible in myriad circumstances. Apparently not. Around 45% accuracy. Funnily enough they’ve never written about the experience.