Are there any more good multi format disc players out there?

Streaming is quickly replacing discs. There are still high quality players being manufactured… but if I had money to invest in digital… I would invest in streaming (DAC and Streamer). My streamer sounds better in most cases except when only red book CD quality is available and I have access to millions of albums for $14.99 a month via Qobuz. I am giving away all my CDs. They just take up space. The future is streaming.

OP,

Sounds to me like you made a good case for streaming to be better sound quality soon, if it is not now. (today, it simply depends which one you are comparing to which).

Consider a player is an optical computer file storage device, a streamer, and a DAC. It is reading computer files.

A streamer receives computer files from internal storage, external storage, or from a streaming service. Protocols in various places make sure the bits are identical. After this the player and DAC for a streamer do the same thing.

You can take those files and put them on a hard drive and read them from there… or put the files on a local network drive and read them from there. Or put the files on a set of drives owned by Qobuz and stream them through the internet.

However, where the real problem comes with players… they only deal with one file type of relatively low resolution… red book. So, for instance, Qobuz has over half a million albums in high resolution. A trend that will continue… leaving red book behind.

OP,

Ok, you were posting on multi format players. My point was when you buy a player, it is set for the resolution of the player. Then as higher resolutions are available and become available you will not be getting them.

Buying an inexpensive streamer is simply going to confirm that players sound better than streamers. Which sounds better is completely about the overall quality of the components. If you want I am sure you can easily find player that is better sounding than a streamer + DAC at many cost levels…. And visa versa. The real point is that for those of us that have done a lot of research, owned a lot of really good equipment realize that for close to the same money you can get streaming that sounds the same or better than a player and that the addition benefits are nearly infinite access to music, and higher quality formats, now and in the future.

I am not in an argument with you, I am trying to be really helpful. Point out a dead end versus an open ended future. My streaming sounds better than my CDs. If there are exceptions (we can have long discussions on specific formats… but honestly the equipment you own mostly determines the sound quality… the digital format less), they are always exceptions. But put your money on today and the future not BetaMax.

My point is that if you have X dollars to spend on digital… then investing in streaming is the way to go, now and in the future.

OP,

Thanks for your comments. Ok, I guess I did misunderstand your post. Streaming does not do more than two channels. Nor is there such a thing as audiophile more than 2 channel sound. I have a very high end home theater system and as great as it is, it is not capable of real high end music audio.

So, I guess my comments only apply to two channel.