How to find the good CD recordings?

@shadorne 

A really nice thread here.  I can't say that I really like the Zep stuff on Tidal. A great example would be something like the MQA of Led Zeppelin's "Down by the Seaside" A great song, with endless possibilities if it would have been recorded like Dylan's 1989 release of "the Man in the long black coat."   The Dylan song is full, rich and presents a wide and detailed separation of the instruments and is on their normal hifi quality. The Zeppelin track is right at you and tinny. IMO no amount of money spent on fancy equipment or so called hi-res tracks can change the original recording. You can put perfume on a pig but it's still a pig.  And as has already been said here, I am referring to the actual process that took place in the studio by the engineers, and producer and later the mixer and mastering.

I have pretty much given up on trying to make my beloved classic rock sound better. That's mainly why I was in the midst of a system overhaul, and now, because of some tweaking and all the new recordings I have discovered in different genres, I am really enjoying instrumental music or acoustic and live stuff.

@n80
 In order to get Tidal, you need 20 bucks a month and a streamer of some sort.  You can get one for as cheap as Google Chromecast and a couple add ons and it will work from your phone to control Tidal.  There are lots of tutorials how to do it if you don't want to spend the cash, or run it right out of your computer or phone plugged into a $25 cable in the back of your amp. The DACs on the phones and computer are not the worst things out there.  

Or you could spend $500 on Amazon and in half an hour you could be listening to quality tunes on Tidal if you buy the Bluesound Node2.  I got one this weekend and love it.  Plug it into your router and then to your amp and you are done.  It comes with all the cables as well. Download their app, get signed up for three months of free Tidal and voila.  And, the sound quality is at least as good as my CD player, and you have thousands of them to choose from instead of the 250 I have. You also get internet radio for kicks as well.  You can even have the app open on lots of devices in the same house and play rotating Dj.  Great fun. Now my wife is finally into a bit of hifi.

@n80,
For the Node, you plug your the ethernet cable to the Node into the router.  Then your RCA out from the Node into the preamp. Both cables are included. I think I use AV the port, but that part is not important you just need an open channel.  The Node initially will do a firmware update and blink red to green for a few minutes (that's not in the instructions) After that, download the app for free to computer, tablet or phone or all.  Use the app to sign in to Tidal and you are done.

For direct to computer/phone to Preamp you need something like this:    https://www.audioquest.com/cables/analog-interconnects/bridges-falls-series/evergreen
If you want to get a cheap DAC they sell that Dragonfly and it is a MQA renderer and plugs into your USB port. (same cord to Pre)   I personally think the sound quality out of the Dragonfly Black is not worth the $100 bucks.  Half the time I just plug that evergreen into the headphone out and don't hear any difference.

I wanted to not use a computer for music anymore so that's why I got the Node2. I've had it four days, and it's easily the best source I've owned. Mainly because of the convenience.  The internal DAC is decent and sound quality is very good. I have read many review that discuss adding an external DAC from the Node, and you can easily.  The increase in sound quality can be had, but the results vary widely.

@shadorne 
Dude, we are on the same wavelength.  I just discovered the Nils Acoustic live about two weeks ago. Try Ray LaMontagne live.