Many CDs, no CD player (a question about ripping CDs)

I think that my CDs ripped to FLAC files on a NAS drive sound better than streaming Tidal or Qobuz, and also better than through my CD player.  But the differences are very, very subtle.  I spend most of my time streaming for the convenience and for exploring new artists and music. 

I ripped all my CDs just as Tidal was coming out.  Would I rip them all today, knowing that I do most of my listening via streaming?  Probably not for the sound quality difference, but perhaps just to have access to music for those times when the internet is down.

Thanks, dinosore. That's exactly what I was wondering about. I appreciate that you took the time to respond.

Ripped CDs in WAV sound better than streaming and FLAC. If you have a highly resolving system you will hear it in the texture and timbre. Also streaming brings in a whole other mess of issues such as internet noise etc.

Ripped CDs onto an internal SSD or USB plugged into a streamer/renderer will give the best results except for actual CD spinning but that difference IMHO is just a fraction of difference, the difference between ripped CDs and streaming is much bigger. Most people won’t have a problem with ripped CDs because the convenience is immense.

Of course if you don’t have an extensive CD collection there’s downloads which are expensive or you have to use streaming.

Bit perfect rip of CD to NAIM Unitiserve beat any one of ten CD olayers….of course, that was 8 years ago……maybe somebody ( besides memory player ) has invented something better…..

I am a CD ripping robot

Outstanding. Thanks to all of you. This is *exactly* what I was asking about. Much appreciated.