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Vote Your Ranking -If you have an opinion on this digital subject

There have been many statements made about this question here and on other forums stating differing opinions as which SQ is better :

 

1.-Red book CD

2.-Streamed High resolution files- i.e. Tidal/Qobuz

3.-Downloaded files purchased in Super Hi Res-Acoustic Sounds

4.-Red Book CDs ripped and stored for playback as files

 

Everyone may have an opinion on their preference

but is there any actual evidence of this? I suppose the only

way to produce evidence would be via blind testing and

survey results.

 

So please list in your preferred order the numbers

1,2,3,4  with the 1st being the best/ 4 the worst SQ 

 

Audiophiles may have an idea of their preference

but is there any actual evidence? I suppose the only

way to produce evidence would be via blind testing and

survey results. 

 

Does anyone have some hard facts as it relates to this query? 

 

Thank You.

 

chorus
antigrunge2
1,403 posts
 

Errors from Cd direct can be corrected by ripping. So after that the question becomes whether a streamer streams better from Qobus/Tidal rather than from a linked hard disc. That in turn is a function of the cables and spinner used in ripping vs. the quality of the cabling, routing and clean-up of ethernet. There simply is no universal answer to this, however, I‘d challenge anybody to better a well set up streaming system on high resolution. I would therefore posit that CD and DSD players are now becoming redundant.

edcyn
1,876 posts
 

I'll stick my neck (or ears) out and put Streaming as best, followed by SACD, CD,and then by stuff on my computer and various storage devices...most of which unfortunately are mp3. It's not that the mp3's sound out-and-out bad, however. They're just not as good.

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,384 posts
 

@fuzztone ,

were you referring to me?

soix
9,456 posts
 

Too many variables to make this an apples-to-apples comparison.  Any weak link in any of those chains could negate their inherent advantages.  As with anything in high-end audio, EVERYTHING matters, so if something is off it takes your sound — whatever the source — to a lower and possibly substandard level.  So, as much as I’d like an answer to this as much as anyone else, it’s impossible due to the myriad od variables that could significantly impact the results.  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

ghdprentice
6,963 posts
 

The point here is that we are talking about computer files. Are those files located on a silver disk, a bunch of disk drives, a USB thumb drive, or streamer from a central server through a service like  Qobuz it is all the same… but every part has to be done well. A good streamer (there is on in each of these scenarios… as well as a DAC) will buffer the incoming file, provide absolutely quiet power to the circuitry that streams it to the DAC. So, given the current state of technology it only makes sense to put your efforts into choosing a streaming solution… unless you get a real kick out of fiddling with a disk. 
 

My streamer sounds as good as my vinyl… my vinyl rig is very good (see my user ID for my systems). There are many price points that streaming can equal other methods. 

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