Sound Quality of red book CDs vs.streaming

@rvpiano

I don't think there's a cost analysis that would show that purchasing CDs is less costly than music streaming services such as Tidal, even if Tidal was to double the price. Tidal gives you real-time access to over 40 million songs directly via most network streamers at home or via smart phone. I understand that you're likely only interested in listening to a fraction of them, but even if you purchase 1 - 2 CDs a month, you're spending more than a Tidal HiFi subscription. 

How many times have you read an equipment review where a reviewer noted a particular song or album that was produced extremely well or had incredible bass reproduction and you didn't have it in your CD collection? Do you really want to spend the time and money to purchase it for $15 - $18 or just cue it up on Tidal as you're reading the review?  I cued up songs this morning via Tidal for a review of the Rockport Atria speakers where the reviewer cited many song titles for bass reproduction.  Doesn't get better than that.

@rvpiano
Are you serious about what will artists do if CDs go away? Digital recording and streaming have opened the door for hundreds of artists that can't afford the cost and bureaucracy of getting their songs onto CD or vinyl. Many artists are discovered via a streaming service such as Tidal or other music channels from digital files they put together in their home studios for a fraction of what it cost 10 years ago.

I haven't purchased a CD ever since I got a decent network streamer (sorry, BlueSound Node 2's are not decent streamers), got rid of any extra equipment in the signal path such as a computer that introduces jitter and other unwanted sonic artifacts and purchased a Tidal HiFi subscription (the standard $10/month won't do as these music files are compressed).

I have an Ayre CD transport and none of my HiFi friends can tell the difference between Redbook CDs on the Ayre of via Tidal HiFi.  You also get the benefit of listening to Tidal remotely via your phone and anywhere you have a BlueTooth audio connection such as your car.

Streaming is truly one of the biggest values we audiophiles have going for us.

@drbarney1 

With all due respect, I think you're a bit off topic. This discussion thread isn't about downloading song titles and storing them locally.  It's about is the sonic quality of RedBook CDs better than using a streaming service such as Tidal HiFi. With streaming services you don't typically store any song titles locally, so there's no need for a 'music server' as you refer to. 

I know all about downloading song titles from HDTracks as I've spent far too much money doing so before Tidal HiFi became available. Why do you think download sales on HDTracks.com are slumping? It's because many albums they sell are available on Tidal in MQA format for the same $20/month fee, many in 192k/24 bit format (please don't start an MQA debate here). You also don't need the aggravation of downloading and storing the HDTracks titles, which requires a computer which shouldn't be in the signal path of your system for a variety of reasons.  You also need lots of disk storage, usually a SAN device so you can back up your investment of downloaded songs. 

No need for all that extra required time, equipment, power and interconnect cables any more with streaming.