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Many CDs, no CD player (a question about ripping CDs)

Quick and basic and general question: why would someone rip a CD for storage as a digital file if they have access to the same album on Qobuz? 

In some ways I'm asking: in general, is there any difference in sound quality between a digital file (ripped from a CD) that is played through a streamer and the same album (same release) on Qobuz, played through the same streamer?

Obviously there are all kinds of variations and exceptions; I mean this as a general question. Of course we all have CDs that aren't on Qobuz and we may want digital files for times when we're away from our main systems or don't have access to the internet. I'm simply trying to understand if I want to rip a CD if I can play the same album on Qobuz.

Thank you all, as always!

northman

Showing 1 response by lordmelton

lordmelton's avatar
lordmelton
877 posts
 

Ripped CDs in WAV sound better than streaming and FLAC. If you have a highly resolving system you will hear it in the texture and timbre. Also streaming brings in a whole other mess of issues such as internet noise etc.

Ripped CDs onto an internal SSD or USB plugged into a streamer/renderer will give the best results except for actual CD spinning but that difference IMHO is just a fraction of difference, the difference between ripped CDs and streaming is much bigger. Most people won’t have a problem with ripped CDs because the convenience is immense.

Of course if you don’t have an extensive CD collection there’s downloads which are expensive or you have to use streaming.

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