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Which Has Best Sound Quality -- CD vs. Tidal vs. FLAC Uploaded From Burned CD

I will start the discussion noting my experience using Roon and Tidal, which enabled a direct A/B comparison between my FLAC library which I transferred from my CDs and Tidal.  It was easy to A/B compare because in many instances I uploaded the same album in FLAC that Tidal had in their general mainframe for our listening pleasure.

As an example, I listened to both versions of the Ratatat album LP3.  I found my FLAC version superior to the Tidal version based on being crisper, more refined and less bloated in the bass.  The Roon software clearly identified that I was playing the same album from the two different sources.

I have not compared the CD, as this would require adding a CD player.  What has been your experiences in this area?





 
hayw
arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 
CD player hooked up to preamp. 
    Stream, etc etc.  nowhere near as good.

 Cd, bass better, better guitar, overall CD is much better.

      No comparison, whatever these streamers say, a descent CD player sounds better. 
       
slainte
7 posts
 
There should be a distinction between streaming from a subscribed service v.s. streaming lossless from one's own locally ripped media.
At least I know my CDs are verified via AccurateRip. What guarantees do the streaming services offer?
Aside from that, one of my grievances with streaming services is that they offer a limited selection of masterings for a given recording. . .if they offer more than one at all.
That said, I personally subscribe to Deezer HiFi. Guess I should do some comparisons myself...
wweiss
28 posts
 
After playing drums for 40+ years they all sound the same.
hayw OP
13 posts
 
I started this thread back in April 2019.  I would like to say as of June 2, 2021 I have achieved more clarity, but that is not the case.  My recent reassessment follows:  The sound quality varied based on music content and based on comparing CD versus Tidal/Qobuz streamed through the DAC. I had mixed results as to whether the CD or my uploaded FLAC of the same individual tracks sounded better compared to the Tidal or Qobuz version. Entirely subjective. I cannot present a firm conclusion because I have multiple versions of the same exact track, e.g., original cd version versus remastered versions, and Tidal or Qobuz don't necessarily specify whether their version is original or remastered.  So I have opinions, but their validity is unclear.       
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