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I Sold my CD Player!!! Streaming sounds so incredible!!!

Several years ago, was the very first time I had the opportunity to hear a very high end, high quality, streaming audio system.  Once I heard it, I was smitten, and I knew right then and there that this was me all the way!!!  I was absolutely blown away by the handy convenience of the little iPad (or cell phone) used as remotes to control the otherworldly access to a virtual ocean of music via Tidal, Qobuz or downloads.  I immediately recognized this new technology as the future of my own audio system, especially with all the new hi rez stuff out there that was now made available. I gave up vinyl when CD came on the scene (yes, I'm an old guy), and, now, perhaps, it would be finally time to retire my beloved CD player.  Long story short:  What put my streaming audio system over the top, as far as sound quality is concerned, was the assemblage of these core streaming devices-----( #1) A superb DAC, by Ayre Acoustics QX-5 Twenty streaming DAC  (#2)  An outstanding music server, by Roon Nucleus Plus  (#3) An outstanding Audio Switch, by Pakedge Devices   (#4) Excellent Ethernet Cables, by Shunyata Sigma.  I also utilize numerous other tweaks and filters that further purify the streaming audio signal within my room and audio system.  At this juncture in life, I am just mesmerized by the combination of sound quality and convenience that I get through my streaming audio system.  I'm also happy and pleased to report that, I don't miss my old beloved CD player one bit.  Happy listening.              

kennymacc
theo's avatar
theo
2,674 posts
 

I had an Ayre C5xe-mp for years and finally traded it in on a Chord Hugo TT 2. I had spent some time looking for a DAC with AES-EBU digital input, and couldn’t find one I could afford or suited me. So I now use my Oppo BVD105d as a transport thru the Chord. Although the Ayre was better on SACD, I don’t own enough SACDs to warrant keeping it just for that. And with streaming being my main method of music, I just don’t listen to CDs as much as I used to. Someday I want to set a storage drive with my CD collection and at that time I will box up the CDs and store them. Also I find that I don’t listen to vinyl as much as I used to either, a couple years ago I broke my arm and playing records became a challenge and I just got into streaming and have become lazy and find sitting in my chair with my iPad is better than hopping up every 15 minutes to cue a record. Even though I still think vinyl still sounds more natural. 

laoman's avatar
laoman
434 posts
 

I am happy for you OP. I would never get rid of my CD player as I have collections of various performances that I like. I also like the convenience of putting on a CD. Each to his own.

sns
3,094 posts
 

Never need to play those cd's again, and if you want to play them rip them to hard drive, play over streaming setup. I have well over 3K cd's that I ripped to NAS. And I'd bet on those rips played over your local network will sound better than played via your cd transport. I had Mark Levinson ML37 transport, much proprietary engineering with Phillips Pro drive. so no slouch and I preferred rips long ago with a previous far inferior streaming setup to what I have now. Also, cd rips are sometimes superior sound quality vs streams of same music, another plus.

baylinor's avatar
baylinor
1,375 posts
 

@kennymacc 

"Au contraire" would have been the proper way to use that French word. Au contraire mon frère would have been classier. Très heureux que vous avez trouvé votre système favori. Native from Genève, Suisse. Living in the USA since 1975. Very happy for you.

mahler123
3,253 posts
 

I find that engaging in the ‘Which is better? Streaming vs CDP? ‘has gotten rather pointless. Both technologies are mature. They are both capable of excellent sound. It comes down to features. Does the convenience of streaming outweigh some of its disadvantages? Do you still have an attachment to Physical Media.

I primarily listen to Classical Music. I thought that I would burn my collection of thousands of CDs to my server and free up tons of space. I was happy with the SQ of my ripped discs and enjoyed the convenience of auditioning new releases from streaming services.

It turns out that there isn’t a single software program that I’ve encountered-and I’ve tried many, including Roon-that can organize Classical Music. I can find CDs faster on my shelf than in the media libraries. Also many of these recordings were not big sellers-perhaps 20,000 units- and some are recordings dating back decades. The availability of these recordings in the services such as Qobuz is spotty as their availability ebbs and recedes.

So for me CDs will be part of the equation until I croak and unfortunately my heirs will be stuck disposing of them. Sometimes I just feel like parking in the recliner and using my server to access the ones that it can find

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