Explain to me dsd

I was following this thread with interest but I'm now a little lost. So all this technical stuff aside and monthly fees notwithstanding, why wouldn't most people just subscribe to some lossless streaming service like Tidal and forego all this file format type concerns. Bluesound Node 2 was mentioned earlier but I'm sure there are fancier components out there. I have yet to look for an artist title or music title and not see it listed in Tidal and my CD player (and 2000+ CD collection) are just collecting dust. Just wondering...

@kalali

I think most people use a variety of ways to get music. The biggest reason for buying in addition to subscribing, which I do, is to have the highest quality possible.

Most streaming services provide heavy compression. Tidal's best resolution is only CD quality.  So if you want better than that, you have to buy. Also, if you are a firm believer in DSD there's no streaming service I'm aware of.  MQA was going to solve this, but it's so far proven snake oil, and Tidal doesn't seem to be supporting it anymore.

By the way, I've ripped all my CD's and never play directly.

There are of course issues with what do you do if your streaming service goes belly up, or if you've "purchased" Amazon or iTunes music and that disappears or you are no longer a subscriber. And of course, there's what do you do when the Internet is down. The whole streaming industry has yet to figure itself out really, which is why Tidal is still struggling to make money.

Make yourself happy, but the highest resolution formats are not streamed.

Best,


Erik

@erik_squires,  I realize a late reply to this thread. Just wanted to say that I have been waiting for DSD streaming service. I am sure there are quite a few out there with deep pockets to pay for downloads plus streaming services. 

I am very excited about MQA streaming, I think the format is ready to go mainstream. From what I hear, MQA streaming was the talk of the town at CES 2017. 

At a press conference, the Digital Entertainment Group announced that several other streaming services would offer “hi-res” streaming (including Pandora, HDtracks, Napster/Rhapsody). High-level executives from major record labels also stated their support for hi-res streaming, all these services will offer MQA streaming later this year. 

@joey_v ....Personally, I wouldn't delve into DSD playback at this point. Let's wait and compare the sound bits once Tidal brings MQA to mobile or embedded apps. I can hardly wait :-)