Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming


I’ve found that the SQ of my red book CDs exceeds that of streaming using the identical recordings for comparison. (I’m not including hi res technology here.)
I would like to stop buying CDs, save money, and just stream, but I really find I enjoy the CDs more because of the better overall sonic performance.
 I stream with Chromecast Audio using  the same DAC (Schiit Gumby) as I play CDs through.
I’m wondering if others have had the same experience
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Showing 3 responses by nycjlee

Those of you guys using Tidal as a reference to compare streaming to CDs, there is hope.  Spent last night comparing Qobuz to Tidal and Qobuz gets you so much closer to CD sound than Tidal ever did.  In my system, I use to think it was the streamer or cables that wasn’t up to par but it’s looks like it was always the music data source. At else in my system Qobuz via an Aurender N100h sounds better than CDs playing through my CDP transport.  I will be switching over to Qobuz. 
I was able to stream in full 24bit/192kHz. That’s what what was showing on my DAC. :)
@ron17, I’m based in the US. My subscription is showing as Qobuz Studio in the Aurender. I’m on the 30 free trial, but it did say that if I don’t cancel, the subscription will continue after 30 days. I’m currently listening to John Coltrane’s Blue Train in it’s full 24/192 glory. I double checked the DAC to make sure :). Beautiful sounding. I’m sure as Qobuz gets closer and closer to the full launch, features will be released in advance. I'm a happy camper!  One thing to note is that since I'm using an Aurender to stream, the streaming options maybe different from the desktop beta released Qobuz app for windows/mac.  In my Aurender, I see an option choice for HiRes - 24bits / up to 192kHz and that's what I have selected.