As many others have said, I enjoy streamed music as well as spinning CD's and music from my music server that I've loaded. While I have a good CD transport, I have found that listening to the same CD that I've loaded onto my music server, as well as the streamed version, the sound from the CD loaded into my music server sounds better than the streamed version and the CD played from my transport. All are fed digitally into the same DAC. The differences are subtle, but noticeable. I find myself listening more to streamed music. I appreciate the convenience of streaming and the seemingly endless array of music available from quality music services. With the digital state of the art improving, especially in the lower-end electronics, virtually anyone can enjoy quality digital reproduced music. When I'm into "splitting hairs", I'll critical listen to music I've loaded onto my music server. Otherwise, it all sounds pretty darn good.
Personality
I now find myself streaming most of the time. Although the SQ is really good, I realize there’s something missing. When I pull out a record or CD, each one seems to have a uniqueness or personality of its own which reflects when I first bought it or played it. Also each one seems to have a sound signature which I associate with it, making it more personal. I don’t get that with streaming
Does anyone else feel this way?
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- 103 posts total
Surely a CD ripped and loaded onto a server should not sound better. The content must be significantly changed and mixed about with. A second hand version of the first that sounds better to a listener must have been altered, or coloured to their own satisfaction. A question to answer that l leave to those more in the know. To me it sounds illogical by a large % |
@mylogic Hope I don’t start another controversy. I find ripped files to sound different. I perceive this difference as better than CD playback. We can all agree that, based on the Red Book Standard, transferred data files are bit perfect compared to each other. Therefore, any perceived difference is due to the playback technology. … back to the original premise, a playback system issue rather than a format issue from the perspective that the files compared to each other are bit perfect. My assumption, and it is only that, an assumption, is that the difference is related to the types of distortion inherent in CD playback (mechanical, electrical) vs file playback (electrical, RF computer noise) and how well the equipment minimized these distortions. My comparison in my system was with my now extinct Linn Unidisc 1.1 and my current Aurender N200. With different equipment, others may have an opposite preference. Note the 1.1 was 2X the price of the N200, so one would assume weighted to favor CD based on cost. All cords, cables, interconnects, and amplification identical. |
- 103 posts total