CD vs.same CD ripped to HD


Hi all,

So I hope this seemingly simple question doesn't star a war.  

The background is that I have a ton of CDs and am considering getting a Bluesound Vault 2i so that I can rip them to the Vault's HD, and play them from there. 

The simple question is: how does the SQ compare between the two?  The CD player is a Marantz SA-8004 digital out to a Denefrips Ares II DAC.  I would also use the digital out of the Vault 2i through that DAC.  

FWIW, I prefer vinyl (though it is getting closer and closer).  But more than anything I'm a music fan, with a whole lot of great music on silver discs.

Opinions??

Richard


rnm4
Your heart is telling you please get up off your butt and exercise me , walk the few feet back and forth and change the disks
I’ve gone back and forth between a Node 2i and my Cambridge CXC. Very, very hard to hear a difference. For me. YMMV.

With a CD player, I commit more to listening to several tracks on a disks. It’s nice to have that focus. Yet, on a streamer/HD, I can free associate, jumping from one cut to the next one it inspires. Nothing wrong with that.

Consider how you eat from dinner plate with multiple things on it; do you just eat the steak, then the potatoes, then the green beans, or do you rotate between them as you follow your feelings? Why would it be inherently better to stick with one thing any longer than you desired? It wouldn’t, for me.
Oh I have a streamer -- Node 2i -.  I get to skip around all I like and more.  The questions is about whether to rip my CDs so I can play them without having to move a muscle.
@rnm4 I see better. I was ripping a lot of my cds, too. Now, I'm not sure I need to since I can find them all on the web. 
Good discussion.
George makes ’very key points ’ in his argument that "ripped" CDs sound quality is not superior to the playing of the original CD directly.

@hilde45 makes the case of being able to flip through multiple recordings without having to rise from your listening seat (Or hardly move a muscle😊).
Charles