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What am I missing?

When discussing streaming we often hear the quality achieved by streaming compared to "cd quality". "Cd quality" seems often to be the standard by which streaming is favorably compared while cds have at the same widely fallen into disfavor as a medium. If "cd quality" continues to be a quality standard by which we judge streaming services -which it appears to be- why exactly do we hold cds in such disfavor? More sophisticated dacs can always be employed with cd transports as they are with streaming. I understand the convenience and storage issues with cds but I also understand that with streaming you will never own the music which you do with cds. This becomes even more unclear to me when considering the resurgence of vinyl and the storage and convenience issues involved with this medium. I don't believe the music industry ever wanted us to own the music we listen to but rather preferred we only rent and pay for that music each time.

128x128pmiller115
vinylzone
288 posts
 

Wow, rent the music?  Ok, so for 8.99 a month, I get instant access to almost anything I'd care to listen to and a bunch of stuff I don't.  I mean, it's less than buying a new release LP or CD a month, and I get so much more.

I work from home, and lately, about half my day (8+ hours) I listen to digital, the rest of the time I listen from my 3000+ LP collection.  Most of the time, when I listen to streaming it's for background music, or in the car.  I'll be going back to the office in January, and I'll be listening to streaming closer to 8 hours a day.

To me, streaming is the best deal ever (except maybe OTA radio 😜).

mirolab
208 posts
 

Quality vs. Variety:  

I have a Node 2i for streaming, and I love its alarm feature.  My living room system has a timer (thanks Anthem) and it turns on at 5:50am. The Node 2i alarm is set for 5:55 and I've set it to play a New Wave internet station (from Norway i think). I'm not sure of the bitrate, likely 128k, and I can definitely hear the data compression, but I love more than anything getting to hear several songs every morning that i've never heard before, in a genre that I like.  Some of the songs are really awful, but that's ok.  It's part of the charm.  I'd rather hear something new and fun, than songs I've already heard a million times. It's a great way to start each day.   

soix
9,772 posts
 

Some of the songs are really awful, but that's ok.  It's part of the charm.  I'd rather hear something new and fun, than songs I've already heard a million times.

@mirolab Heh heh, and totally agree the ability to hear worlds of new music has been a reawakening for me as a music-loving audiophile.  I’ve also had success using the Shazam app on my iPhone to identify new music when I hear something interesting in my car.  What a great time to be an audiophile, eh?

calvinandhobbes
309 posts
 

Digital music files stored locally are easier to use than CD. Streamed files (from Qobuz, Spotify, etc) are even easier to use, but may not sound as good as local digital files.

The only advantage that CDs have is potentially better sound quality than locally stored digital files.

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