Streaming an aid to enjoyment

cd or lp may sound a tiny bit better, but streamed music on my system sounds truly excellent

to me all sources are well well above the bar for being able to portray the music beautifully and vividly, i am be totally immersed in enjoying it

the miniscule sound quality differential is immaterial

I have the opposite experience from the OP.  Most of my “streamed” music is my CD collection burned to Melco, and the difference in SQ is negligible.  When I listen to Qobuz, I find myself fretting over the slight decrement in SQ, when it is a familiar piece of music.  I enjoy the service most when I am investigating unfamiliar music and not in comparison mode

My experience meanwhile is 180 degrees opposed to the OP. Anyone claiming that ripped CD sounds better than a Qobus HD stream most likely hasn‘t spent sufficient effort in tweaking their streaming setup. There are numerous threads here on improving streaming quality and inserting filters in the ethernet connection, using short high quality cables between filter and streamer, tweaking the router and obviously ascertaining you got enough bandwidth will result in streaming beating ripping by a coutry mile

Mahler123,

i, too, find streaming very enjoyable for investigating new music.

Love streaming to find new music and simplicity but LPS sound excellent