Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming

gosta - I think kahlenz commented on GD and his recommendation is a good one.

There is nothing good about overly aggressive dynamic range compression. There is no benefit other than the level (loudness) can be made much higher. It doesn’t make it more detailed. It doesn’t make it smoother.  It’s a teeny bopper thang. Hel-loo! 

Having music free of any compression, gives you more space to listen to your music louder, and your brain likes it, and enjoys the building crescendo's, as then it's not so relentless and fatiguing that you have to turn it down if it were compressed.
  
Like I said above, the only time compression works for music, is when its not the main consideration to be listened to, when it's a silence filler, noise masker or earbud/ear-drum saver.  
1: dinner parties
2: background music
3: in lifts
4: when your on the phone
5: not to blow up ear buds or your ears
6: and to stop the wife from saying turn it down during crescendo’s
7: in the car so the road noise doesn’t mask the low level parts.
8: late at night when everyone else asleep.

Cheers George

Just get the steaming service and be done with it.  I have a "family plan" from Tidal with 5 users, so it comes to $6 month/user.  I am by no means wealthy, but that is a trivial expense for me.

I just recently subscribed to Idagio.  So far I have been very impressed.  Searching (classical) is much better than Tidal (Tidal is great for pop).  If you have enough information about the specific performance you want, you will either find it or they don't have it.

I still buy records and CDs.  But I am constantly amazed by what is available through my streaming services.

PS:  the streaming services I use stream up to 16/44.1.  I am perfectly content with that.  I used to use Classical Archives (excellent service) that streams 320 kbps.  Yes, I can tell the difference, but only if I really concentrate on sound quality and listen for specific sound signatures of compressed files.  That is exhausting, and I'll wager that if you tested me I would be less discerning than I think I am.  It's like the difference between having 22 vs. 23 marshmallows in you bowl of Lucky Charms.  But if you obsess on it, it could ruin your listening experience.  YMMV.

+1 marshmallows