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

Showing 2 responses by jazzman7

soulgoober, can you tell us anything about your current system and budget.  The Bluesound piece in my opinion is very good entry level kit, very good value for the money, and comes with an excellent and easy to use operating system (i.e. your user interface).  And if you want to up your game and are willing to spend more, it can easily be paired with a quality outboard DAC.  There are other options out there, but in your position would not ignore Bluesound kit. (full disclosure, I currently have 4 pieces of Bluesound kit in the house, been Blu OS user since 2014, and have used them with and without external DACS, and used to have Node 2i in my main rig in combination with Chord Qutest.  You can check out a couple of my rigs here https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8156 and here https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9168)


In my view, subscription streaming services such as Tidal or Qobuz that stream at CD or better resolution would be part of your solution set. 
Once subscribed, a PC, tablet or phone would provide access to a whole world of music, not everything, but most of what is out there.
A good entry point in my opinion in terms of hardware would be to invest in something like a Bluesound Node 2i (retails for $550) and plug it into your system, much like you would a CD player, and then use your PC, phone or tablet to select what you want to listen to on your system via the Bluesound kit or some such.