Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming


I’ve found that the SQ of my red book CDs exceeds that of streaming using the identical recordings for comparison. (I’m not including hi res technology here.)
I would like to stop buying CDs, save money, and just stream, but I really find I enjoy the CDs more because of the better overall sonic performance.
 I stream with Chromecast Audio using  the same DAC (Schiit Gumby) as I play CDs through.
I’m wondering if others have had the same experience
128x128rvpiano
@bo1972 
Thanks for your insights, could you clarify one thing, you say above you prefer player/dac rather than separates yet you recommend Lumen L1. So do you recommend Lumen D2 player or L1 plus dac? 
Thanks! 
We created the AudioFacts Pro modification for the Lumin D1/D2/T1.

The D1/D2 and T1 own the same dac as the Lumin A1. But the A1 uses better capacitors and other parts. So we created a modification with superior capacitors and parts what now outperforms the Lumin A1 on all the different aspects/properties of sound.

The D1/D2/T1 with AudioFacts Pro modification comes very close to the level of the Lumin S1. We compared it with many expensive dacs and other streamers. And it was no match.

The thing I love most of audio is shootout and comparing. A born perfectionist always wants to win and ouperfrom each individual competitor. This is how I was born. It is my goal to proof that I can outperform each person in the world in stereo, surround and in vision.

I think and work by Tru-Fi. This means that we create both sound&vision on all the aspects/properties it owns. Because this brings us so much closer to how sound and vision sounds and looks like in real.

A bron perfectionist has only one goal. To create the best result and quality possible. There is no other option. Streaming is just for hun and using and creating modified drives and powersupplies is the holy grail.

Music is all about emotion. And we are only interested in creating emotion in everything we create and sell.
The best will always win, and this is what we create. The sound will always tell the truth. And people will always choose what is superior to the rest. That is how simple it is!
I owned the best and most expensive cd-players in the world. And when I wanted to start with streaming in 2012 I was stunned that over 99% of all streaming products were all useless.

Now in 2018 in our world over 99% of all streaming products are still useless. We understand that many people still use turntables and cd-players. Because most digital sources and dacs are all very limited in quality.

The whole world in audio sells products. We create sound and vision. And that is a totally different world what is the opposite of the trial and error world.

We work with all our dedication, drive, effort, insight and knowledge to create sound. That brings people so much closer or how music and instruments sounds.

We are a Lumin specialsit and go into details further than any other Lumin dealer. Each single human being can sell a Lumin out of a box. We know the full DNA of each single Lumin product.

This makes us able to reach and use the full potential of each Lumin product. We often send new clients to shops to make them understand that how different the same Lumin sounds in our Tru-Fi world vs the limited trial and error world.


My question is do the streaming companies buy the tracks from the record companies directly, and if they do is it via hard drive transfer or software?
Or is there a distributor (middle man?)

It probably depends on the company, but I would bet that 99% of them just get the same tracks that we can buy by downloading them.  These are generally not masters because masters are 24/96 or 24/192, almost never 44.1.  These are down-sampled for the streaming track.

This is why I almost never stream.  I have my library of tracks on a RAID 1 and these are specifically selected for good SQ and tracks that I like.  All are .wav files, uncompressed.  This delivers the best SQ.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio