CD v Streamed

Great topic georgehifi, im interested to see what comes out. Im not sure where you get your 10.6 megabits/min figure, but with Internet Providers offering 100mbps speeds, 10.6 mbpm is no problem. Please correct me if I am wrong, but here is my 2 cents worth.

I think duckworp hit the nail on the head. My RME ADI-2 FS DAC displays the bit rate of the stream it is processing from Qobuz. As duckworp pointed out, the bit rate tells us how much data is being streamed per second. When my DAC tells me it is processing 24bit at 192 kHz, I believe it. So 2 x 24 x 192000 = 9,216,000 bits/sec. My internet service provides 100Mbps, so streaming 24bit 192kHz is a piece of cake.

So the question becomes, why would Qobuz transmit to me 9 megabits/sec (24bit 192kHz) from a crappy highly compressed audio source file when it could send me 24bit 192kHz from the finest source available? Sounds like bad business to me. Remember, a CD is only 16bit 44.1kHz, which is 2 x 16 x 44,100 = 1,411,200 bits/sec.

From what I have read, Qobuz transmits FLAC files to me. I really don’t care what other people say, it is a FACT FACT FACT, that when a FLAC file is uncompressed, it is identical to the original WAV file it was created from (except for a few bytes of metadata ID). So unless the act of uncompressing the FLAC file is causing interference, the FLAC should sound identical to the original WAV file.

Looking forward to reading more reply, thank you.

Dale

I am using Innuos ZEN to stream Qobuz music and also as a file transport/server. The stream quality is great, but when I really like something, I still buy a CD to rip it to the ZEN hard drive. Why? Because a ripped CD sounds better than a streamed FLAC file. 
And I don't think it is about the quality of the file, it is about what happens to it on the way to my DAC. I don't subscribe to the simplistic theory that a digital signal is just 0 and 1. If a USB cable makes such a difference, surely a router and the whole ethernet structure with its ground voltage etc. should affect the SQ. 

I both stream and play CDs. CDs are played through a Sony XA 5400 ES which was a Stereophile A+ Component for four years and is excellent on Red Book. I stream through a Cambridge CXNv2 to a Benchmark DAC 3b. I can also play CVDs using the digital out of the Sony to the Benchmark.
By far most of the time using the Sony through the Benchmark is noticeably better than the Sony alone. I like the sound of Tidal streamed through the gear listed better than the CD and I find Qobuzz also better, although sometimes Qobuzz sounds too digital vs. a more liquid sounding Tidal. Tube Audio Research pre-amp and everything is on Audioquest Niagara power conditioning and cords.
Just sayin......  & BTW, with digital everything starts at the wall and/or router.  Hospital Grade at the wall and clean noise reduced power to all gear. Router to streamer via Ethernet, not below Grade 6 and 7 or 8 preferred.  Isolate digital gear from analogue with sheet copper.  Streaming is a serious medium, treat it that way just as you would every other piece of gear you would try an achieve optimum performance from.

I decided a while ago that ripping a CD to a music server sounded better than the CD.  I do not have an uber CD player- maybe that's the issue.  There is no question in my system that music played from the server is much better than Tidal or Qobuz ( and I agree Qobuz is easily better than Tidal).  The Hi-Rez streaming is better than 16/44 and I am undecided on MQA as my DAC doesn't unfold it and I am not convinced Roon is helping with what it does.
I have 3 switches Etherregen, SOtM with clock, English Electric 8Switch and a Mutec clock on the ER and SOtM and that has greatly improved the streaming but it doesn't bring it to the level of the server files.  I have an Antipodes Core server and Innuos Statement.  I use Roon in Experimental (squeezelite) mode.
There was a time I thought Roon was better with the Core on the Antipodes and Endpoint on the Innuos but after adding the Mutec I went back to Experimental mode.  I still don't understand why, it doesn't make sense to me.  Maybe it unmasked some nasties from the network traffic or the Antipodes.

@daleberlin - yeah FLAC sounds no different than a WAV ripped from a CD. At least on my system, I find your claim to be the case for me too.

@relaks - I don’t stream my FLAC files, they are local on a purpose built fanless PC music server. The SSD the file is on had it’s own linear power supply.
And as I said to daleberlin, for whatever reason, my system resolves the information in such a way that I cannot distinguish a difference in quality between FLAC and WAV.
My DAC is not one you will know of, it sits somewhere between a PS Audio DirectStream and Denefrips Terminator in SQ, well at least in the system the meeting where it was reviewed.
This is just my experience, of which I can only account.

@sns - "I’m also agnostic about superiority of high res vs 16/44, quality of studio mastering is the biggie!" - I agree on that for certain.