Streaming an aid to enjoyment

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

My streamer sounds the same as a red book CD, but much of the time my streamer sounds better because it is being fed higher Resolution files from Qubuz... Tidal is good also, just not as many high Rez titles.

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In this day and age, if your CDs sound better than your streamer... time to look for a better streamer . You don’t have to go as far as I have to get there. Then you have nearly infinite music and suddenly all those discs are just collecting dust. Totally worth the time, effort, and cost. For the price of one CD per month you get nearly infinite music... the streamer starts paying for it. I have tried a few... I recommend looking to Aurender.