Streaming vs Physical Media

@retiredfarmer 

Thank you very much.

@lalitk 

I do not disagree with a word you wrote. I do not stream  but I have no doubt that it is capable of excellent sound quality. It  just requires more work due to hunting and eliminating many noise entry points. CD transports are an older and now mature and sorted out medium. as @nonoise wrote above, engineers know how to get disc playback right if they are committed to putting forth the effort.

Much easier and simpler to get it right with CD transport relatively compared to digital streaming at this point in time. Routers/switches/ethernet/optical/optional LPS/ etc.  Lots to consider with streaming, but if done right the listener is rewarded for his painstaking effort.

Thus my firm belief that either chosen route can sound superb if using high quality components and a clearcut plan of approach.

Charles

The Audiolab 6000 CDT has interesting specs ensuring excellent CD playback:

• The master clock is controlled by a temperature-compensated crystal oscillator.
• the coaxial output is fed from a differential line driver to ensure a flawless digital signal reaches the accompanying DAC.
• The transport is housed in its own, electromagnetically shielded enclosure, and includes a dedicated power supply.

Not bad for the price ... but of course please note what Mojo Audio say about the Jay's Audio CDT. For any of you that have owned a Mojo Audio DAC you should know how reputable his equipment is so he should  know what he's talking about!

I understand that the Jay's Audio CDT impressed him so much he stopped making computer based audio transports. Also be aware that Audio Note in the UK firmly believe the CDT is far better than computer audio streaming.

How long is it going to take for the makers of streamers/servers to realize that all their hard work is being undone by a noisy signal and build a streamer/server that cleans up that signal?  It would be easier for them to do it once rather than have all the end users trying to reinvent the wheel by attaching all kinds of power supplies, cables, switches, etc.  Is any manufacturer working on this?

@tomcy6

Good point and I think this is precisely what all out efforts like Taiko Audio with their Extreme music server is an example of addressing the noise and power supply issues. By all accounts its sound quality is sublime.It seems to eliminate the need for multiple digital streaming component/parts signal path add ons.

https://taikoaudio.com/taiko-2020/

Charles

@retiredfarmer

It would be really interesting to see your systems. There is a place under your user ID to place photos and identify your components.

Up until recently vinyl ruled at all price categories… CDplayers have slowly gained ground (simply a transport + DAC). But in the last few years good quality streamers have made tremendous advancements and now can perform better than CD players (equal on red book CDs and better on high resolution files). This is possible at different price categories. So, I currently have a system where vinyl, CD player, files, and streaming have equally outstanding audiophile sound. Putting together such a system can be done at different cost levels… although I think it is still a bit more challenging at low investment levels.

Achieving truly high end sound quality remains challenging. But for those up to the challenge, the effort is most worthwhile by investing in streaming. CD players certainly can sound fantastic, but they do not categorically sound better and they limit you to the physical disks you have in hand. While streaming is available in equal or better sound quality with a nearly infinite library for nearly no cost $14.99 / month… like one CD per month or 1/2 vinyl album.