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CD Player vs. music streaming

Dear audiophiles:

I am in the cross road for the media choice.  My CD player suffered from abnormal tray movement and consider to replace a new one (maybe the 2nd hand one).  But on last Sunday, I paid a visit to the audio show and find out there are showing many streaming player of the famous brands with  the price range of US$ 5000~20,000.  I feel the sound is not bad with short listening. 

I am thinking about my situation once more, if I buy a HI-Fi CD player, the price might equal to the audio streamer.  Then, if I choose the CD player, I would keep on buying CD. But if I give up CD player and replace it with a audio streamer, my expense might be the monthly subscription expense which cost a CD or so.  Besides,
my kids have no interest in classical music appreciation. There is no meaning for me to keep on buying CD. When I  am passed away, the CD are useless...without not penny. 

Under such kind of   consideration, should I stay in CD player or should I switch to music streamer. 
Any good opinion?
faust168
hickamore
597 posts
 
Given your particular situation, why not have your cake and eat it too with https://www.audioadvice.com/cambridge-audio-851c-dac-cd-player-digital-preamp+color-Silver. CD, Dac, Streamer in one box. Forget the preamp section and run it through your main system. Buy no more CDs but keep those you have for times alone at leisure.
rbstehno
1,407 posts
 
Don’t be fooled, the Bluesound Node 2i is an entry level piece, decent to get started with or for background music. If you decide you want a very good setup, be prepared to sink some $$$ into it. You don’t need a dedicated streamer and I prefer not to put a streamer/computer in my audio room. Also, I will never use USB to hook up to my external dac. USB has too many flaws and there are way too many tweaks to try to get it sounding good. Also, you need a good GUI application to run your streaming/ripped setup, and you can’t get better than Roon. Keep it simple: Roon, external computer in another room running Roon, iPad/iPhone running Roon, Ethernet connection/no WiFi, good Ethernet cable (cat7/cat8), and the best dac with a network connection you can afford.
dseltz
151 posts
 
+1 for 
oldschool1948

I was going to recommend the same
dernst
5 posts
 
This may create some controversy, but I was at the same vinyl/ CD crossroads a year or two ago. Love the warm feel of vinyl and detail of CD. The issue is convenience. The only reason vinyl has mad a comeback is warm sound and nostalgia and CD has stayed around is it is a recent enough technology to be still in vogue. Streaming is the future.
The technology is there now to equal both options but the price point on DACs and file conversion is not quite there. We all love certain albums, but lets face it, 3 cuts are really why and the pain of plopping on the album or disc for those 3 will be overcome by the ability to click on the 50 songs you really want to hear and be able to sit back and hear them all while doing nothing.
There will always be those of us who relish the experience of putting the needle down, but it is a dying bread that will pass with our generation.
Having said all that pontification, get a 32 bit Bluetooth receiver 5.0 and a good DAC and enjoy.
faust168 OP
74 posts
 
Dear Audiophiles, 

Thank you very much for your kind opinion and suggestions regarding the subject. 

Though, we are all authentic music lovers, but put age into consideration, we have to think before we leap.   If  we stick to buy a mid price CD (around US$4000), we have to keep on spending on CD purchase. But the problem is my family members have no interest in music listening, esp. classical music just like the ordinary people do.  So, it is not good investment on my point of view for stick on CD.  

But if I select streaming machine, a moderate one also need to cost around US$4000, all I have to bear is one pc. of CD price for a month.  The only thing I need to worry is the update of the music stream machine spec. are rather fast and wide. A high cost investment can't avoid the advancement of the stream machine and software update...... Both kinds of selections have pros and cons. 

Faust 

 




 

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