Is there a difference in sound quality when streaming TIDAL Vs CD player

Since I have Tidal. I rarely touch my CD. Sound quality are the same. Now all CD are ripped to digital files and play with my Oppo 205. MQA definitely sounds better then 44.1k/16bit. Now I use Qobuz, HiRes music 96k/24bit sounds better than MQA. I also have over 2000 album of SACD. DSD64 sounds equal or better than 96k/24bit. Don't get me wrong, the music on CD sounds are very good indeed. But with Tidal and Qobuz, you own the music library which will cost you millions to collect. I still buy and collect CDs I like. 

larry5729 "doesn’t tracking needle against the groove on vinyl create a lot of noise?"

No not unless something is wrong with the components, calibration, or alignment.

I wonder why the the dealer I purchased my ARCAM suggested I purchase an expensive RCA cable to listen to CD’s played on my OPPO U203?  I am guessing the DAC on the ARCAM to be better than the OPPO.  I did an A & B comparison with my HDMI cable and I thought it sounded better on the HDMI.

Since subscribing to TIDAL, I rarely play CD’s.

Another question.  Can you hear a significant difference using more expensive CD players?  If so, why?

surprised Wrench rated a turntable as number 1 for sound quality.  I was told digital has way more information to create detail then a turntable.  Plus, doesn’t tracking needle against the groove on vinyl create a lot of noise?

Which sounds better likely depends on the quality of your network and USB DAC implementation. You may need a system well above $10K to hear all that hi-res streaming can be. As Roon applications Tidal/MQA and Qobuz 24/96-192 both equal or surpass CDs in my Esoteric K-01X, which has one of the best CD transports extant.

I have not a/b CD vs tidal.  I use tidal hifi, my rig is above 10k, digital cable from bluesound node 2i to anthem mrx 720. My system is ht/music.  The sound is excellent to me and the convenience makes me forget about my cds. I packed my cds away and haven't looked back. Like many mentioned you need to hear for yourself and you can bring tidal to your car.

Hello, in short words "yes it is".
I am playing with Auralic -> Chord Blu 2xBNC (~720kHz) -> Chord Dave -> MC2600 (NOS tubes, old and great Telefunken and Siemens) -> MC302 all with Tellurium Q Silver Diamond) application between. The last change in my system was Tellurium Q Silver Diamond USB cable upgrade and it did tremendous job in increasing Auralic straming quality.
Enough to say it is really difficult to distinguish CD (Blu) and streamed WAV file in this config. Still possible and better on CD side but in therms of preference not comfort.
However, then streaming from Tidal the difference is significant. Especially Tidal HiFi and much lower for Tidal MQA. The MQA files have the ambition to catch CD quality but it is still just an ambition. In my opinion Tidal HiFi is superb for playing from cars, mobiles, and up to 2000$ fixed gear, Tidal MQA is for most of the stationary playing equipment, but it is not a serious source if your gear total is above 10.000$. Absolutely unacceptable for Hi-End solutions.
Personally I use my Tidal in my car, phone and as an excellent source of music browsing and searching. Yes, great as library.
Well, in fact, serious problem with the music in general is the loudness war issue. If you will compare DR7 to DR14-18 tracks you will find it much more disturbing than streamed material quality problem.
Please refer this info to Qobuz as well.
Spottily if for mobiles, causal listening and barbecue usage only.

Added: I noticed some colleagues try to use some degree 1-10 scale. Well here is mine at this moment:
Spotify: 2-3
Tidal HiFi: 3-5
Tidal MQA: 5-7
Locally streamed file FLAC: 6-9
Locally streamed file WAV: 6-10
CD: 7-10
Hi res files, SACD: 6-10;
Turntable: 8-10

I have the program Pguin, and use Synology DS218+ ,wireless to the Logitech , connected with the DAC of my Luxman D-06. The sound of the sacd-player of Luxman with cd, is more open and more dynamic.
For me the best is the sound of cd’s.. (The sound of streaming is detailful to, but i give it an 8 while i give a 10 for Cd.)

What I can say is that I have an OPPO U203 also, and I've compared the sound from its DAC (via RCA outputs to a preamp) with the sound I got when connecting its coax digital output to both PS Audio DirectStream Jr. and DirectStream DACs, and the PS Audio DACs were superior to the OPPO.  Of course, as could be expected, the DirectStream was superior to the Jr.

Regarding the Oppo connectivity issue: The 203 should have digital outs in every flavor m HDMI, coax, toslink, usb....I am not sure which one The Arcam will accept, but AVRs at that price will usually do it all.  I use HDMI to connect my Oppo 105 to my Bryston DAC3 in my 2 channel system , because I have a large SACD collection and Oppo can output the DSD from SACDS into an HDMI DAC such as the Bryston.  I find that CDs from the 105 into the same HDMI input on the Bryston also sound excellent, although I have experimented with the coax, optical and usb connections between the two components as well, the HDMI sounds as good as any of them so I’ve just settled on using that.
  In my MC system with the Oppo 203 I use HDMI into my Anthem AVR and haven’t really experimented with other connections 

I have not heard the Arcam so I can’t really answer your question about how it sounds vs a Parasound integrated.  I do have Parasound pre  and power amps in my two channel system and a Parasound 5 channel amp in one of my HT systems, but sorry can’t compare to something that for me is an unknown.  I will say that the reviews on the Arcam which I read after reading your initial post were pretty good, that Arcam is a respected company, and that for $3500, which was the price quoted for the Arcam, you probably have a top of the line, fine sounding AVR.  Some of the money spent on the Arcam went into making it a multi channel component, and if you don’t choose to listen to Multichannel, you are paying for functionality that is wasted.  Whether or not you prefer the House Parasound Sound vs the Arcam sound will significantly be a matter of personal preference.
You sound like you have what we call Audiophilia Nervosa,  a type of Buyers Remorse that is common in this hobby.  I am sure that you have a fine sounding piece of gear.  Relax and enjoy the music.

Would the sound quality have been better had I purchased a Parasound integrated amp as opposed to the ARCAM AVR550 I purchased.

You should listen for yourself. No difference = no worries.

The big advantage of HDMI in this case is the multi-channel and bass management in your receiver.

Best,
E

To Mahler123;

Is there an additional port on my OPPO where I can connect a digital cable or is my HDMI cable good enough to use as a digital cable.  Also, when I was getting started in this hobby, I wanted a system where I could listen to both 2 channel and home theater.  The dealer I purchased my ARCAM told me an ARCAM was a lot better than others.  I originally wanted to buy a Parasound integrated amp.  Would the Parasound amp have sounded better.  In retrospect I wish I had purchased 2 channel preamp and amplifier and concentrated on just 2 channel.  However, had I done so I was not sure how I would have been able to use the room for both 2 channel and for home theater.  Just wish I was rich and had a wife would allow me to spend more money on this hobby.  Looks like once you are bit you get hooked on this hobby.

I have a dedicated CD player and rarely use my Oppo for listening to music, and when I do it's mostly streaming of the music files on my network, but when I do I have it connected by coax (rca) to my Auralic Vega DAC which results in much better sound quality.

I have an Oppo 203, and the DAC is decent, but I only use it as a transport when playing CDs , preferring the DACs contained in my Anthem AVR.  If you use RCA cables to connect your Oppo to your Arcam, you are correct in that you will be listening to the Oppo DAC.  A digital cable is needed to send a digital feed to the DAC of the Arcam.
    The second question is which Digital cable?  Should you use HDMI, toslink, coax, or something else?  You will get proponents of each here...
  My advice is to experiment.  Hook up the Oppo to the Arcam with both RCAs and whatever digital cable you have handy.  I am guessing that you already have HDMI so that you can use the Oppo as a video player.  Listen to the CDs yourself and decide what sounds best.  If you wish to try other digital cables besides HDMI, you can get decent cables for around $20

Both Oppo and Arcam have good DACs. However, I don’t know how clean the analog inputs on the Arcam are; and seeing as analog is an afterthought for AVRs, so I would say I’m not surprised that going digital to the Arcam would sound better to you.