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CD or Streaming... am I missing out?

I listen to CD in my headphone office system. Use a Theta Compli transport and a very nice and pricey tube 16/44 DAC. Have thought about a streaming capability and all its benefits but am both limited by SPDF and by 16/44 only. I also love the analog sound of my tube DAC. Does streaming sound far surpass CD? Am I missing out?
mglik
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,222 posts
 
You are missing out if not streaming.  Sound quality is not an issue.
rvpiano's avatar
rvpiano
2,659 posts
 
Although I do stream with Qobuz, and the sound is very good,
 on my system, streaming sonically comes in last place to (in order):
 LP’s, SACDs and red book CDs.
The difference in SQ amazes me every time I play a record.
Of course streaming is much easier, and it has a limitless variety of selections.
moguls
19 posts
 
In my experiences from a long upgrade path with cd players and streaming, hi-res streaming beats the cd for sq.
All the other reasons to go to streaming suggest to me that the cd is on the way out and unlike vinyl, will disappear in time as a choice. Streaming looks both forward into new music discovery and back into the history of music. Cd's are all about looking backward into music you already discovered.
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,682 posts
 
No- streaming does not surpass the CD.

Happy Listening!
headphonedreams
527 posts
 
Are you comparing Spotify Premium and Amazon HD with Tidal Standard?

I have both Spotify Premium and Tidal Hifi/Master and the latter is clearly much better. I have not tried Tidal Standard so I can't say how it compares.

Regarding the original question if you are missing out I think you are missing a lot of good music if you stick to cd. The sq is probably the same or very close (when you use 16/44 or better).
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