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Streaming vs CD transport direct comparison


Yesterday we had a day at a friends comparing the title to this thread.
System consisted of:
  • Speakers — Wilson Alexia series 2
  • Amplifier — Gryphon Audio Antileon EVO
  • Preamplifier — Supratek Cortese or Lightspeed Attenuator LDR passive or source direct (we used the Supratek for instant a/b ability)
  • Sources — Digital: 432Evo Music Server Roon Core (owner has found Roon to be the best)
  • Yamaha CD-S2100 as transport,
  • Totaldac d1-core DAC.

We A/B both (levels matched) CD to 432Evo (streamed, saved and/or to H/D) with a number of albums same versions, classical, jazz, soft rock, hard rock.
The overwhelming consensus of all 5 listeners (some that "were" originally very pro streaming) was that the CD was firstly clearly more dynamic, had better separation and was blacker background between notes and it was also clearer through the vocals that were hard to hear what was being said, than what came out of the 432Evo.
This is the third time I’ve sat in on this kind of A/B on different systems all were similar on how the differences came out.
I can say the streamer would be a slightly better late night low volume level system to play, as it’s dynamics wouldn’t wake other people in the same building. Where the CD you’d be running for the volume every time there was a big dynamic passage.

Cheers George
128x128georgehifi
melm
1,084 posts
 
FWIW, I found that ripping CDs to a USB hard disk and playing them through a lap-top running JRiver and out by USB to a DAC definitely improved the SQ over playing the same disks on an Oppo 105 and out through coax into the DAC.  And ripping SACDs, of course. 

All of this was improved further by going to a NAS (with ethernet performing better than wi-fi) and eventually avoiding sending music through the laptop by using DLNA function of JRiver and a digital bridge.  First the Oppo as the bridge, which was actually pretty good, and later an SOtM.

As a committed vinylphyle, I am more than impressed by what these 1s and 0s can actually do.  It reminded me of what some old vinyl grooves actually could reveal as playback equipment improved, mostly after the golden age of vinyl.
karmapolice's avatar
karmapolice
258 posts
 
The streaming crowd do not like to hear  the conclusion of the OP and his friends...

Sure its subjective and not a rigorous clinical study but it's a cautionary tale the convenience of streaming MAY have some sonic disadvantages that might need to be overcome or lessened....
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 

@georgehif, I understand that there was a unanimous consensus as to a preference. But, was there a consensus as to just how much difference there was between the formats, and if so by how much?
It was enough for all (even the 2 streamer dedicated there) to all say in the first 20sec comparison of the same track "yes that’s more dynamic" Then after 1min came the comments "better separation and was blacker background between notes" after were the comments "you can hear the singer diction is better to understand during complex passages"

BTW the system was super high res, my feeling were the whole time if the Supratek was taken, out and we went direct dac to amp the difference would have been even larger. And then also on a much lower res system things may have evened out more.


@georgehifi Did you compare the CD to a ripped but local version of the CD, say on a local server?
Just the same cd streamed, then copied to the servers HD and then played on the CDT


Cheers George
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi OP
10,312 posts
 
The streaming crowd do not like to hear the conclusion of the OP and his friends...

Sure its subjective and not a rigorous clinical study but it's a cautionary tale the convenience of streaming MAY have some sonic disadvantages that might need to be overcome or lessened....
You got that right, the two that were there, ended up not very elated at the end, probably because both had sold the 1k+ CD collection they spent decades getting.

Cheers George 
mike_in_nc
1,162 posts
 
What conclusion can one reach? A group of audiophiles in a sighted test with a specific system in a specific room unanimously preferred a specific CD source to a specific Tidal source? That tells me very little, other than they probably were influencing one another (or it wouldn't be unanimous).

One obvious question is, were both sources using the same input to the DAC? It's been reported often that DACs perform differently from different inputs (and that varies by DAC).

And if "top tier Tidal" include MQA, all bets are off.
I have no problem believing that this group preferred one source over another. What I cannot take from the anecdote is any generalizable conclusion.

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