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Playing CDs sounds better than Qobuz — dammit

I’ve built a decent HeadFi rig over the past few months and am quite happy with it streaming Qobuz as a source via my iPad/iPhone.  I recently brought my CD player into the rig as there are some reference CDs I need that aren’t available on Qobuz.  Well, I made the mistake of playing some CDs and compared them to Qobuz, and in every case the CD sounds better — specifically a quieter background and more transparency overall.  I’ve got good cables from the dongle out of my iPad to the USB cable that runs to my DAC for streaming, so let’s leave cables out of the discussion for now because I think this goes deeper than that.  Needless to say I’m pretty disappointed right now because I’ve enjoyed not spinning discs over the past year or so and certainly don’t wanna go back to buying CDs again.  Ugh.

So, what I’m thinking is that streaming over WiFi through my iDevices may be the bottleneck.  IF that’s the case and I need to up my streaming game, what would be the cheapest way to go to overcome the bottleneck?  My thought is going hardwired (which I can do) to something like an iFi Stream or maybe a ProJect Streambox, but just wondering if that’d get it done?  Something else?  I need something pre-made and won’t wrestle with doing a Raspberry Pi with hats, etc. as I have no patience for configuring/troubleshooting tech.  Thanks for any advice/thoughts. 

soix
maynardewm
3 posts
 

Are you sure the difference isn't just the DAC inside of the CD player vs. whatever DAC you use for streaming? 

 

I have a Primare CD32 that I connect to a Topping D90SE DAC via toslink because I think the Topping DAC is better than whatever is in the CD32. I also connect my Laptop directly to the Topping D90SE via USB and output the sound to the same amp and headphones. 

 

This way, I'm really doing a direct comparison between what is essentially a CD transport, and Qobuz. And honestly, the difference is so small I can't tell if it's just placebo. I feel like CD is maybe slightly more dynamic and has more bass, but that could be just wishful thinking, because I'm talking a like 1-2% difference.

soix OP
9,456 posts
 

@maynardewm Your computer is significantly compromising your streaming performance due to noise, etc.  I’d highly recommend at some point you at least try a dedicated streamer to see how much better Qobuz can sound.  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

maynardewm
3 posts
 

@soix significantly? I have never heard or experienced any "noise" using a MacBook connected to a DAC to play music or in music production connected to audio interfaces when I operated a recording studio. Like I said, there’s maybe, MAYBE a difference in sound quality that is almost imperceptible between a high end CD player connected to the same DAC as a MacBook, but there certainly isn’t any "noise" that I can hear at least. The DAC is receiving data from the laptop, not audio. I’m not sure how 1s and 0s could be made noisy.

soix OP
9,456 posts
 

 

 

Like I said, there’s maybe, MAYBE a difference in sound quality that is almost imperceptible between a high end CD player connected to the same DAC as a MacBook, but there certainly isn’t any "noise" that I can hear at least. The DAC is receiving data from the laptop, not audio. I’m not sure how 1s and 0s could be made noisy.

@maynardewm The “noise” from your very noisy computer absolutely transfers to the digital signal through the USB cable. You won’t hear “noise” per se from your computer, but when the digital hash is removed by using a better streamer built specifically to minimize noise in a streaming signal you’ll immediately hear what you’ve been missing by using your MacBook as a source. If you doubt me, there’s virtually no one on this entire site who’d choose a laptop as a source over a dedicated audio streamer, and it’s not a close call. Likewise, nobody here who’s interested in better streaming performance uses a computer, and the only ones who do typically use a heavily-modified computer that’s used only for audio and not for running any other programs that contribute to adding noise to the digital signal. Like I said, just try a dedicated audio streamer and see what you think. You won’t go back.

Also, SPDIF and AES/EBU digital cables are generally preferred over Toslink.  If you want to try an excellent one that’ll very likely blow your Toslink cable outta the water buy this used cable (I own it BTW and it was a revelation), and if you’re not thrilled you can just return it as I think the very reputable seller has a 14-day return policy.

https://tmraudio.com/accessories/digital-cables/acoustic-zen-mc2-coaxial-cable-mc-2-1m-digital-interconnect/

 

 

ghdprentice
6,941 posts
 

@soix

 

+1

Noise in audio is something you have to learn to hear. Decades ago it ceased to be hiss or anything you point to, but it is the noise floor. It is obvious indirectly in not having a dead quiet background that you can fall into. It can be very bad and cause fatigue while listening. Your eardrums are bombarded by it, but without practice you will not hear it.

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