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Streaming vs ripped music

So I have a Node 2 going into an RME dac and stream Amazon HD. Yesterday I ripped 5 or 6 of my faves that I stream from the CDs. Put this onto a thumb drive and into the back of the Node. I think this definitely sound better than streaming these same songs. Anyone tried this and what was your findings? 
mofojo
mofojo OP
2,307 posts
 
Hmm I will look into that. Price is not too bad. I also do not have direct plug into router. I have a google mesh thingy and plug the Ethernet cable from there into the node. Wondering if that’s not a good way to go? 
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,636 posts
 
What antigrunge2 said

Amazon has been widely criticized for being "not as good." Of my 5 streamers, 4 sound as good on Qobuz as local rips. The only laggard is my BluSound. I use it mostly for web radio.
ENO CU and ViaBlue RJ-45’S make a big difference.
mike_in_nc
1,162 posts
 
Using Qobuz, I find similar quality to local network streaming, playing from a thumb drive, or playing a CD.
I've not tried Amazon HD, as it has no way of connecting to my system. Last time I checked, Qobuz was not much more per month.
mofojo OP
2,307 posts
 
@fuzztone, 
what are your other streamers if you don’t mind me asking? 
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,483 posts
 
You think?
Is it that close really?
It could be nothing then of course. Or something.


Make sure sure you are comparing the same release with both. Sometimes it’s not clear exactly which one a streaming service is providing. Or if even something completely different. So hard to say if it’s a fair comparison. If it always sounds better one way or the other or even most of the time then that might be an indicator one source is better than the other for some reason in your case.
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