Ripping CDs,…


Is it worth ripping CDs sound wise vs. downloading tracks from HD Tracks,…?

brenn

Depends whether or not you have a lot of CD's you already paid for..I have over 400 cd's ripped in FLAC so that they can be stored on my phone and computer for super easy access to my collection..
 Still have my Pioneer Elite multi disc player set up & running via coaxial digital out to my Pontus 15th.DAC for replay of the SACD's & DVD-A's in that collection,along with a smattering of HD Tracks downloads that were not in my collection,mostly in DSD...It took a long time & some work to get my system to the point where I can actually hear the subtle differences between formats..

Downloads are expensive.  If you already own the CDs, there are obviously savings to be had there.

 

What does the OP mean by “worth” ?

From a sound quality perspective, a high resolution download will usually sound better than a standard red book CD.  

  

@freediver +1 ... and there is the issue which version you get from downloads. "Remastered" does not equate with "better".

I use DBpoweramp and rip in full wav, the recordings are as good as Qobuz really they are. The only other option is to rip them in Ogg Vorbis at 500k .. this makes a good example. I never did like Flac it seemed to be a little like LDAC whiny ... LHDC is far better. Only thing is 1tb stores only 1200 albums but as the man said if you have the CD do it. Then you are ripe for a Bluesound Streamer etc. Make a couple of backup copies then move the CD to another or swap them.