As duckworp pointed out one of the major problems with streamers is the quality of the app needed to control content. I bought a Cambridge Audio CXN which sports 2 awful apps. No search function for albums downloaded from Tidal makes it almost impossible to find classical albums you have saved. At least Tidal has a search function but you can't use the Tidal app with a CXN streamer. I'm surprised that more Audiogon forum contributors don't have a problem with streamer apps. Maybe not many classical music listeners on this site as A-Z listing works reasonably well for pop, rock, jazz etc. Anyway to get to the crux of this I am thinking of getting rid of the CXN and would welcome any info on streamers, with or without a DAC and preferably the latter, that either have a usable app for classical music or allows you to use the Tidal app.
CD Player vs. music streaming
Dear audiophiles:
I am in the cross road for the media choice. My CD player suffered from abnormal tray movement and consider to replace a new one (maybe the 2nd hand one). But on last Sunday, I paid a visit to the audio show and find out there are showing many streaming player of the famous brands with the price range of US$ 5000~20,000. I feel the sound is not bad with short listening.
I am thinking about my situation once more, if I buy a HI-Fi CD player, the price might equal to the audio streamer. Then, if I choose the CD player, I would keep on buying CD. But if I give up CD player and replace it with a audio streamer, my expense might be the monthly subscription expense which cost a CD or so. Besides,
my kids have no interest in classical music appreciation. There is no meaning for me to keep on buying CD. When I am passed away, the CD are useless...without not penny.
Under such kind of consideration, should I stay in CD player or should I switch to music streamer.
Any good opinion?
I am in the cross road for the media choice. My CD player suffered from abnormal tray movement and consider to replace a new one (maybe the 2nd hand one). But on last Sunday, I paid a visit to the audio show and find out there are showing many streaming player of the famous brands with the price range of US$ 5000~20,000. I feel the sound is not bad with short listening.
I am thinking about my situation once more, if I buy a HI-Fi CD player, the price might equal to the audio streamer. Then, if I choose the CD player, I would keep on buying CD. But if I give up CD player and replace it with a audio streamer, my expense might be the monthly subscription expense which cost a CD or so. Besides,
my kids have no interest in classical music appreciation. There is no meaning for me to keep on buying CD. When I am passed away, the CD are useless...without not penny.
Under such kind of consideration, should I stay in CD player or should I switch to music streamer.
Any good opinion?
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- 98 posts total
faust168 I’m a CD man with good cd transport and discrete MSB R2R Multibit ladder dac and passive volume control preamp. I’ve yet to hear a streamer that would make me change. Yes Faust has not heard so many of the streamers around, yet feels that is worthy of comment! |
I studied the same question for a couple of years ,once the quality all in one players started to show up. I had the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC ( bought used) and the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport. I wanted the convenience of not having to getup to change disc and maintain a 1800 cd collection, but not lose the quality of the playback. I purchased the Aurender N100 server with 2 TB storage HD and 120GB SSD for listening so no mechanical noise! The PS Audio DAC converts the files to DSD for Great sound quality. You will have to spend the time to rip all of your CDs to FLAC files, which in my case took me about a month and a half of 3-5 hour sessions every few days. Once it was done adding new files only takes a few minutes as you collection continues to grow. The Aurender servers are turning up used here on Audiogon now frequently for almost half price. The money you save could help you upgrade your DAC if you choose. The PS Audio DAC gets an FREE update to improve the sound about every 6 months. It is also been highly praised buy the stereo reviews since it was introduced. I love the sound and with quality cabling and speakers you would be hard pressed to improve the sound with out spending thousands of dollars more. Hope this helps to solve your dilemma. Happy listening!! |
- 98 posts total