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?
128x128faust168
Ketchup,

I did the comparisons in my system(s) using the same DAC - in my case, the DACs built into the NAD M12 DAC/preamp and in a PS Audio Stellar pre/DAC (a killer unit for the price).  So, I’d say mid level DACs as the comparison (not great, but not budget).  I haven’t tried it with a high end DAC but I have some anecdotal evidence (based on auditioning several other mid level DACs that the streamer and/or server is the more critical component than the DAC.  My suspicion is that a high end streamer/server with a mid level DAC will outperform a high end DAC w/ a mid level streamer/server.  I can’t support that theory as I haven’t done direct comparisons, but I heard greater differences in streamers than in DACs. 

The differences I noticed between streamers were also supported by my local dealer. I took my Aurender to their store (they’re not a dealer) and we directly compared it to the Lumin U1 mini and the Node 2i (for which they are a dealer).. All were run into the same DAC (Marantz’ top of the line reference SACD/DAC).  While tonally, all were the same, the Node 2 (and to a lessor extent, the Lumin mini) sounded “flat” or 2 dimensional in comparison while the Aurender offered more spatial information.  It just sounded more open.  This was confirmed by the dealer.  I also compared my Aurender N100H (admittedly, their low end) to my new Auralic Aries G2 (about 2x the price) and noted it offered a similar increase in performance over the Aurender.  Again, same tonality, but more open spatially, and better revealing of details. Hope this helps.

Audiotroy - a quick note - offered with charitable intent.  I’m a fan - I appreciate your contributions and knowledge and believe you operate an honest business.  Have  you noticed that many of the threads you contribute to also lead to you taking an argumentative or defensive position of some sort?  Perhaps you should check your inpulses before responding. Not everyone is challenging you.  It’s my belief that other participants in these forums are unlikely to change their mind when on the receiving end of a lengthy and/or argumentative post.  Please continue to post to these forums.  But, please also appreciate that others who have a different view should be allowed to state as much freely without getting into an argument.  Again - this is offered as constructive criticism.  We absolutely need good dealers who have knowledge to share.  However, more will be receptive to your offerings if is comes from a friendly place.  

Mgrif
Ketchup please don't take this the wrong way we were not attacking you, the point was being made that so many people here belive that bits are bits with digital and there is no way that a server can make a difference.  If we came accross harsh please accept the appology.

Mgrif, we don't have a Lumin U1 so we can't verify your findings, we do have the D2 and T2 which can function as a server,  also there are a lot of settings on the U1 which include upsampling and cross conversion which in some cases can make the Lumin and dac combo really perform. 

We almost never run straight 16/44k on the Lumin instead we run it at high data rate PCM or DSD and wow the Lumin products go way up in sound quality.

Also were you running USB on the Aurnder vs coax on the other two?

We have only tired the older Aries which was okay, our current favorite is the Innous which we feel are even more magical than the Aurender, however, the Aurender which we used to sell are also outstanding. 

One of the strongest advantages of the Lumin U1 and Innous servers is the ability to upconvert or cross convert to DSD  and again with a dac that can handle those signals the digital sounds way more analog  like.

Joshfin, yes the storred CD's do sound even better, however there are a few tricks you can use to up the sound quality on the Statement, please  PM so we can go over this with you.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Innous, NAD dealers


ajay555

Excellent advice and suggestions. Which upgraded Footing do you endorse?  Happy New Year!
Faust168 - I have been running a LUMIN D 1 for 5 years (this is a streamer and DAC in one box). My source is Tidal HiFi with MQA. Cost is $25 per month. The LUMIN has to be hardwired via Ethernet to preform. I am very happy with the sound quality. LUMIN sends me routine updates over the internet to keep me current. The DAC in the unit is a Wolfson. Some think the Saber DAC is better ( I would have to go with a LUMIN T2 to get the Saber DAC). The current model - D2 runs $2,200 and the T2 at $5000. My quality is so good I retired my turntable. I do have a Yamaha CD player - CD - S2100 - I consider the sound quality from both sources equal. 90% of my Listening now is thru the LUMIN.

i hope this helps - Happy Listening!
One of the servers by Fidata using hi res downloads and ripped cd’s would be a good choice imo. You could add a good, reasonably priced streamer at some point like a Lumin U1 Mini for example.