I’ll throw my $.02 in here. First - I agree w/ Duckworp in that Classical music streaming leaves something to be desired from a search standpoint. However, this is easily enough overcome. I listen to a lot of classical music and the ability to listen to many different recordings is really nice via streaming. I’m discovering lots of recordings I wouldn’t have otherwise purchased. You can easily search by composer or orchestra (artist). And, you can rip your library to a hard drive to make it easily accessible (and searchable via the software).
I would also suggest that streaming can be as good as CD/SACD played on a good player - if you have that goal. I have a good streamer (Auralic Aries G2 - not the best, but well above the mid range) going into a good (but not great) DAC and it’s better than my CD/SACD player (also mid range). I also have an Aurender server/streamer in another system - It’s also very, very good and better than my CD player. Both are significant upgrades sound wise over the Bluesound Node 2 (a killer streamer for the price which I have in yet another system) from a streaming sound quality standpoint. I actually like the Bluesound app the best out of all interestingly enough. In any case, convenience, a nearly unlimited library and no physical media to store or search through are pretty compelling.
To the OP, you can get a very good player/DAC if you want. T+A, Simaudio, Esoteric, Marantz, etc. all make such units which are very good.
For me, I no longer play discs (despite a decent library of SACDs). I have subscriptions to Qobuz (better sounding than Tidal at full resolution, but no MQA - hopefully soon), Tidal and Spotify premium. Yes, I spend a fair amount monthly, but if it’s been recorded, I probably have access to it. And, those services all have curated playlists for casual listening as well. Spotify is much, much better than the other two in this regard. Tidal is frustratingly oriented toward hip hop/R&B in this regard - a reflection of the owners).
So, for me - I spent up on streamer/servers and really have no need/desire to search through my disc collection again. And, I’m discovering a lot of new music. My adult children all enjoy sharing new music with me too. It’s been a wonderful development.
Best,
I would also suggest that streaming can be as good as CD/SACD played on a good player - if you have that goal. I have a good streamer (Auralic Aries G2 - not the best, but well above the mid range) going into a good (but not great) DAC and it’s better than my CD/SACD player (also mid range). I also have an Aurender server/streamer in another system - It’s also very, very good and better than my CD player. Both are significant upgrades sound wise over the Bluesound Node 2 (a killer streamer for the price which I have in yet another system) from a streaming sound quality standpoint. I actually like the Bluesound app the best out of all interestingly enough. In any case, convenience, a nearly unlimited library and no physical media to store or search through are pretty compelling.
To the OP, you can get a very good player/DAC if you want. T+A, Simaudio, Esoteric, Marantz, etc. all make such units which are very good.
For me, I no longer play discs (despite a decent library of SACDs). I have subscriptions to Qobuz (better sounding than Tidal at full resolution, but no MQA - hopefully soon), Tidal and Spotify premium. Yes, I spend a fair amount monthly, but if it’s been recorded, I probably have access to it. And, those services all have curated playlists for casual listening as well. Spotify is much, much better than the other two in this regard. Tidal is frustratingly oriented toward hip hop/R&B in this regard - a reflection of the owners).
So, for me - I spent up on streamer/servers and really have no need/desire to search through my disc collection again. And, I’m discovering a lot of new music. My adult children all enjoy sharing new music with me too. It’s been a wonderful development.
Best,