I also own an Ayon CD5 tube Signature Player! Like a separate DAC and Transport. Have had Levinson 31.5 Transport and Blue Circle top DAC with separate power supply etc. There are differences in all the set ups in regards to warmth and detail and Soundstage etc. The Ayon is a wonderfully but expensive player with Streaming optional! I prefer like others to have the CD to look at the info etc. I also like the hands on experience! As we get older we get more lazy but I still like the sound better of CD compared to Streaming! Just as some prefer Vinyl to CD which I also use. It really boils down to Preference! I miss the 31.5 Transport that was built like a tank but progress marches on! There are so many other things that make a difference in the overall sound experience that are highly overlooked like the wiring in our homes! I had my Audio room rewired separate from the rest of the house and WOW what a difference that made! Speaker placement is also critical and I could go on and on but CD is the topic. I love my Ayon from Austria! Tubes all the way!