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Any way to listen to wav or high bit files with anything approaching audiophile sound?

Forgive the question, but this is my first time posting on Audiogon in a few years and I'm not up on some of the latest technology.  I'm doing a project where I'm going through as much music as possible for a blog I'll be creating where I find my 1,000 favorite albums of all time and ranking them.  I'm most of the way through my thousands of CD's (don't do LP's), and I have decent audiophile equipment, though nothing top of the line.

For other music, I'm going to have to listen to it online or purchase a digital version of the music, as there's no way I can afford to buy thousands more cd's, or they're out of print on cd's (as much of the music I love that I don't have is somewhat obscure), or they never existed on cd.  Some albums I know I won't be able to find. 

First off, is there a way to legally find more obscure albums online other than illegal downloading? 

Secondly, is there ANY way to listen to said music in anything remotely approaching audiophile sound quality?  Does it have to be a certain file type or bit rate?  I've always stayed away from digital files in the past, but now I kind of need them.  Is there some kind of audiophile digital storage device where I can download music to and play it on my stereo system?  I'm pretty ignorant about these things, so again forgive me, and any help would be appreciated.  I don't expect the music to sound quite as high fidelity as using cd's on audiophile equipment, but what are my options to get as close as possible?
soulgoober
geof3
1,124 posts
 
You didn’t mention your system, you simply said it was “decent audiophile equipment” that’s pretty broad around here. If you could be more specific, it might be easier to know if a Bluesound Node is a good bet, or something else. I do agree however, that streaming is a good bet for music collecting. It doesn’t sound as though you will be critically listening, however enjoying what you hear to establish your favorites. Something like the Bluesound Node 2i is an easy add that gets you there.
geof3
1,124 posts
 
@wolfie62... maybe? Not so much. Depends. 
https://youtu.be/YgEjI5PZa78
nakam
38 posts
 
Some sites offer FLAC songs for about 25 to 30 cents a track.  You could burn these onto a CD and play them on a SACD player.  Kind of cheap but it works.
graphicalone
4 posts
 
What a funny thread. Being tech heads, we're debating the quality of the streamer/DAC when we all know the source quality is most likely the limiting factor. For context, I'm listening to Bria Skonberg's COVID concert from Louis Armstrong's garden on Cal Performances' concerts at home series. I have no idea what the bitrate is or even what transport Cal Performances is using, but boy am I enjoying this concert.

For the OP, here's a possible decision tree:
  • Where are you finding the majority of your music? I'm a Qobuz guy and it's very good, but a lot of obscure stuff is not on Qobuz (or Tidal or Amazon HD). If you find what you want here, then by all means, spend some money on a decent streamer.

But, if you find most of it:
  •   On YouTube (highly likely), then the quality is going to be all right. Turn on your computer and get a $99 DAC like the EarStudio and plug it in to your preamp or get some nice headphones. Enjoy the music!
  •   On Spotify or Hoopla, same thing.

These sources are all going to give you compressed music. It's adequate to stir old memories and warm feelings. But if you're looking for more obscure than YouTube (Good luck!)

  • On CD's you find on eBay or at the Salvation Army, use your CD player. An upgraded DAC will make you happier with all your CDs if you can hear the difference, but I wouldn't spend $500 on the DAC unless you have a system that magnifies the bad stuff. A lot of (not all - check audiosciencereview.com if you want graphs) the $100-$300 DACs are quite good.
  • On HDTracks for sale, you can buy some really nice recordings, but the selection is limited. Most of the older stuff is in CD quality. There are other places where I've found really beautiful recordings, but you're not likely to find an obscure album from 1977. Same hardware rule applies, because you're limited by source quality. A better DAC than your CD transport (we don't know what it is) is probably going to help.
  • There will be a lot more music for sale on Amazon than will be available for streaming. The quality will probably be CD.
I think your project sounds like great fun and I have a friend who is doing the same thing during Covid. He's posting alphabetically so we can follow him. He really,really enjoyed "B" and all his old Bob Dylan and Beatles records. Most of the things we're blowing the dust off of won't be pristine and that's part of the joy of rediscovering it.
PS: it's very tempting to plug a Chromecast Audio into your new DAC and sit in your chair with your laptop and cast the music to your stereo. Unfortunately, Google's implementation of Chrome browser -> Chromecast Audio is remarkably bad. Same thing's somewhat true of Apple's airplay and bluetooth. I use my Android phone or my iPad and Chromecast audio and I've been much happier.  But most of all, enjoy the journey!
richtruss
163 posts
 
I think the Bricasti M5 offers terrific value for money, I use it with BubbleUPNP.

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