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CD Quality Versus Streaming Quality

I realize this will be a contentious subject, and far be it from me to challenge any of the many expert opinions on this forum, but if I may offer my feedback vis-a-vis what I am hearing, and gain some knowledge in the process.

i will begin saying that my digital front end setup is not state of the art, but i have had the good fortune to listen to a number of really high-end systems. I guess the number one deficit in my digital front end is a streamer server, and no question about it that will improve the sound.

My CD player is a universal player; Pioneer BDP-09fd. It uses Wolfson DACs. It has been modified to a degree. I have bought and sold other players, but kept this one, because it has a beautiful sound that serves the music well.

Recently, i ventured over to my son’s place and we hooked up my player (he doesn’t have one and rely’s on streaming only) We compared tracks / albums of CD quality and master quality streamed on Tidal with ‘redbook’ CDs I have. For example, some Lee Ritenaur CDs and some Indian classical and the wonderful Mozart and Chopin.
His system is highly resolving.

we were both very surprised to find the CDs played on the player to be the better sound. And not just by a little. The sound was clearly superior, with higher resolution and definition, spatial ques, much better and clearer imaging. Very surprising indeed. Shouldn’t there be no difference? This would suggest the streaming service is throttling the bandwidth or compressing the signal?

i am most interested to hear others’ observations, and suggestions as to why this might be? I do love the convenience aspect of streaming, but it IS expensive for a chap like me of fairly modest means. The Tidal HiFi topline service is $30 per month I believe, something the good lady is not too thrilled about. God forbid I should suggest Roon on top of that I may likely get my walking papers. I jest, but only partially LoL. My point is, if I pay this sort of money, isn’t it fair to expect sound to equal the digital stream from the CD player and silver disc?
Thoughts?

AK





4afsanakhan
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 


riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
Thanks for the Link George. That is indeed DISTURBING. Especially the QOBUZ one.

Bruce Springsteen Born To Run
Earliest CD v Qobuz Stream/Download

Yes here it is for others to compare, I opened up those two Dynamic Range Data Base comparisons to see the dynamic range details. (WOW! big difference)
For those that don’t know.

Red (bad) means highly compressed
Green (good) means uncompressed and original usually from the master.

The first 1982 release CD
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/98918

And here is the 2014 compressed (squashed) Qobuz one
https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/view/58448

Cheers George

grannyring's avatar
grannyring
6,543 posts
 
Yes, if you listen to Classic Rock, then streaming may not be your best choice. Most classic rock recordings I have heard only sound good in my car. Shame.  I don’t listen to classic rock on my home rig and find many great Qobuz recordings with the music I listen to. Sometimes Qobuz sounds better than the same CD I have ripped onto my Innuos Zenith 3 server. Qobuz and streaming have been wonderful for me. I am listening to new music all the time because of it. A dream come true really.
4afsanakhan OP
134 posts
 
Hi Folks,

i hope you are all enjoying a restful Sunday.

I must apologize because, my son informed me yesterday morning of a setting that effects sound quality from Tidal streaming and that did call into question the validity of the results of the test we performed. Under settings, there is a loudness normalization option, and this impacts dynamic range. Also my son had used his iPad, which has an option to set quality according to available bandwidth, which was also active. We neglected to check these and they had been selected to active during all our listening, without us knowing. We did some listening tests again. This time the differences in quality were not quite so dramatic, but were apparent all the same.
I really need to try the dedicated streamer / server as that may be the answer. The question of EMI / RFI is top of mind too.
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riaa_award_collectors_on_facebook
981 posts
 
I find it amusing that Mr Prentice gives a thumbs up to somebody that doesnt even list what CD Player or DAC is being used for the comparison. As long as somebody agrees with you WHO CARES right?? :)

Given the components offered Im pretty sure that a High End CD Player (Esoteric/MSB/DCS/Luxman/Gryphon etc) isnt being used for the comparison. Probably an OPPO or some other mediocre piece of gear in the chain.
If your gonna do a fair shootout one way or the other by all means use high end products that are at the top of the spectrum for BOTH types.
Mike at Suncoast for example has a VERY diverse group of High End Brands at his disposal. MSB, Esoteric, Aurender, TAIKO, T+A and 40-50 other brands

He will be more than happy to tell you that with his TOTL Gear he prefers CD’s over streaming services. He has mentioned it on several occasions on the Audio Shark Forums. Again just one mans opinion BUT at least he has the best of the best gear on hand to make his call. If he went the other way and preferred streaming I wouldnt question him at all....and maybe that will happen in the future somehow. Just dont see how those services are ever going to be able to offer the best possible recordings given their limitations of being fed whatever the Record labels CURRENTLY have at their disposal.
Grannyring....Completely agree that having all that "unknown" music at your disposal is a Godsend.  I currently use YOUTUBE to discover stuff from the 70's I never heard of (Mostly Progressive Rock from European countries that flew under the radar back in the day).  Not sure how much of that is in Qobuz/Tidal but Yep it sure would save a bundle of cash vs Buying the Scarce CD's that in many cases are only available from Europe/Japan Sellers. The postage itself is a KILLER anymore buying Overseas only CD's.
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