Making a list...

SACD- close between the Japan SHM-cd and blue spec cd

cd

LP

dinov,

Gold Star for the correct response format.!!!

I left off a category though.

5. Downloaded to NAS from Internet Seller

1. Ripped to NAS

2. SACD

3. XRCD

3. Redbook

4. streamed

In general …. original OEM XRCD or OEM hi-rez downloads for me .,,. The rest are all a step down for me,

Without prejudice to the preceding , there is a qualifier- and it is a BIG qualifier - to that opinion:

DUGITAL PLAYBACK  EQUIPMENT: does your CDP and digital player/server/ streamer and sister DAC have the high end build quality and high end internal DAC (and matched price tag ….) for the requisite superior audio performance maximization above?

MY AUDITIONS AND EXPERIENCES: Superior class-leading performance comes at a price.

- for me my REGA ISIS VALVE cdp/DAC stands first among all contenders,  and slays all the pretenders .

- digital payers and dacs start to differentiate themselves from the pack at about $3000 and going north for each stand-alone unit. My BRYSTON stablemates are one pair among other quality build contenders .

Lose the NAS, I did.

And there is no reason for me not to rip my own.

I do not wish for any streaming as I already have it.

Quit playing cd's years ago as ripped cd's had better sound quality even all those years ago, my streaming setup has only become far better in intervening years.

Streams and rips are so close in sound quality, mastering of each is the criteria by which judgments made these days.

On my system it would be minus the NAS as my SS drive is in a Uniti Core rip/serve. Otherwise- 4 (ripped =best),  1,2,3 would be fairly equal, streamed last.