Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming

You can buy music form studios as well these days. But I will give you some tips to find your own music you like.

I use an Audioquest Dragonfly Red with an Sony Inear of 900 dollar. I listen to new music for about 3-4 hours each single week.

I always try to buy the best quality avaliable.

What is the most effective way to find new music?

You go to Youtube and you fill in above the artist or song you love. Youtube will show on the right side similar music you filled in. This way I did find many new artists and songs I love and bought.

Qobuz has by far the biggest demand in music you can buy. All other websites together have even less music for sale. They are also by far the cheapest in buying music in the world. When you buy a streaming subscription from them the music you can buy from them is a lot cheaper.

After I find the new artist I go to Qobuz to see if they have this music for sale.

Each week I also take a look at new music what came out that week. I always listen to many different genres.

I mentioned it before, ProStudioMasters has many albums in hi-res no other company has for sale. So I always look overhere if Qobuz does not have it in Hi-res for sale.

DSD is by far the best quality you can buy on the internet. I own different DSD 512 recordings and they are from another planet. But there is not that much titles for sale.

* Always try to buy most music you really like, Music you buy to impress friends based on the recordings quality which are stunning will not make you happy after a longer period of time. So be aware of that!

So where to buy DSD?

- Acoustic Sounds
- Native DSD.com
- Highresaudio.com

Overhere you also find titles in different genres which they only have in hi-res.

-HDtracks, I sometimes look overhere. But the same music you buy from Qobuz is better in quality and always cheaper. Sometimes they have titles in hi-res no other has. Then I buy it overhere.

- 7digital.com also sometimes has music no other one has for sale.

Where to find titles the above websites do not own?

- Bandcamp
- junodownload

* You can go to google; fill in the name of the artist and the word flac/wav download. And this way I also could find music what was difficult to find.

Is Hi Res PCM/DSD/MQA always better than a good 16 bit-44.1 khz recording?

The answer is no, I have a lot of stunning recordings in 16 bit 44.1khz which are even better than good Hi Res recordings and DSD recordings.

Is each recording you buy in Hi-Res a good quality?

The answer is no again. Most new hi-Res recordings are often limited and poor. In the world of the loudness war many recordings are screwed.

There are a lot of improvements needed in the world of recording as well. We have also ideas to improve this and we will share this in 2019 as well.

Enjoy your chirstmas and time with those you love.

I want to make clear that streaming quality of Qobuz and Tidal is not bad. I think for most it is more than acceptable. I have many clients who use it.

I only use it when new clients want to listen to a particular artist or song I do not own.

But the Modified Lumin L1 drive with the modified SBooster is about 80% better in result. When you compare the same music between streaming by Tidal and Qobuz and the modified Lumin L1 (with modified SBooster) the level in excitement and emotion is far superior.

When I showed the difference between it at our clients their house the reactions where priceless. It are the smiles you see on their faces and becoming a kid again.

Audio at a superior level is so addictive. And this is what we want to share with as many people as possible all over the world!!

Still most recordings are still poor and limited. So if you play them by CD, streaming or a recordplayer. It all will not help you. Here is still the weakest point.

Does it have to do with money?

For the biggest part I would say: No.

There are many small studios who can make really good recordings. And they do not own the best equipment. It depends more about the skills and knowledge of the people who are responsible for the recordings.

We are a lot more than a retailer. I have worked in audio shops as well. I have even run a shop. But the limitations of it made me aware that this is not the way to go.

I wanted to bring both sound&vision to a superior level. This needs a totally different approach. So I started to spend a lot more time in research and tests. Consulting in sound&vision is also so much more fun than working in an audioshop.

I have seen in over 20 years how limited audioshops are in result. So I wanted to create something what could bring a superior level than the poor level people get by trial and error.

I met hundreds of people with trial and error systems. And they all own lmited systems with too many faults in it. Over 95% owned very little music. This proofs that trial and error is very ineffective. With those people I had a good conversation admitted they never had been happy with their system.

I think it is difficult to become very happy with any trial and error system with faults. I always say: each fault is one too many. It will always limit them in a high level in intensity and emotion.

Statement Audio Pro-measurement is the biggest step to a world of freedom without the limitations of the acoustic problems of a room. But also the research in smog, magnetisme and highfrequent noise made us solve many more faults in each system.

When I see and hear where we are now. 10 years ago I could not even think or imagine that it all would be possible. I created so many huge steps and improvements. What makes the world in sound&vision so much nicer.

Has anyone else noticed that quite a few hi res downloads are aggressively compressed? It seems inescapable, even SACDs, and Japanese SHD CDs and Blu Ray. I mean, what’s the point?

Dear geoffkait,

you are 100% right and I have the same experiences. That is why Hi-res does not garantee you anything. There are also many poor DSD and MQA recordings as well.

No format can ever garantee you anything. It costs me a lot of time to find good new music and in a good quality. That is why I spend 3-4 hours each single week. There is no other way to find it.