Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming

@georgehifi

+1 re Linn CD12 cd player. I had the CD12 in the past and it was excellent and was probably one of the most musical sounding CD player back then and even by today standard the Linn CD12 is still considered a reference CD player but limited to CD resolution or CD quality.

If you compare the Linn CD12 to Linn Klimax DS, especially the latest generation of the Klimax DS with Katalyst DAC architecture, the Linn Klimax DS, with the latest Katalyst DAC architecture, outperforms the CD12 by large margin. Not to mention that with the Klimax DS you can access to high resolution downloads. Even when playing cd quality (16/44.1) download files the Klimax DS outperforms the CD12 by large margin. Even the previous or older gen Klimax DS with non Katalyst DAC architecture still outperforms the CD12 player.

@jafant,

“Streaming...etc., still has a long way to go”

Would you mind sharing your streaming setup? 

Streaming services such as Spotify and Apple have huge catalogs.  I listen to Classical exclusively and generally am able between the 2 to find any recording, provided it is in print.
  Several caveats apply.  Both services have search engines optimized for non classical.  There are many times that the Verdi scenario you described happens, even if you type in the names of the Conductor, performers, etc.  with repeated search attempts you will hit paydirt, but it can be frustrating.  And don’t even think of having Siri find the correct recording; Apple voice recognition is god awful.  Amazon might be better with Alexa, but somehow I doubt that it will be attuned to the subtleties of navigating a Classical catalog, and I have found Amazon Music to have less depth of catalog for Classical compared to Spotify or Apple Music.
  The next caveat is sound quality, as all the services mentioned are essentially MP3 quality. They can still sound pretty darn good, but pale in comparison to High Rez Streaming.  If you live in the U. s., High Rez Streaming means eithe Primephonic, which has a very limited catalog, or Tidal, which is poorly organized for Classical and doesn’t begin to approach the breadth of catalog of Apple or Spotify 

Mahler123,

Have you tried IDAGIO?  It’s exclusively for classical.  Wonderful search engines designed for the music lover.  Only $10 per month.

lalitknot at all...