Why Purchase A CD Player or Transport ?

Streaming is no more of a theft to artists than record labels, or any other middle man between the artist and the consumer

Tom Petty has a line that sums it up when dealing with record labels, I'll get rich you'll get famous

John Fogerty had to fight in court that his solo material sounded too much like CCR and not a violation of a contract that he singed in his early 20s with the CCR label

There are too many Cadillac Record stories to count over the years

On Tidal I get a report each month that shows how much of my subscription was paid out to the artists that I specifically listened to that month

As a consumer I kind of prefer that model, artists are paid for the songs that I listen to not all the songs that are sold to me on a record or CD

Not the filler songs that are rushed and added to get an album to market to meet a contractual deadline, or holiday release schedule, or to support an upcoming tour, not a compilation of greatest greatest hits put out by the record company because the artist is no longer relevant 

How many CDs or albums do you only listen to 3 or 4 songs, how many sit in your collection having only be listened to once or twice?

In my collection, while not vast though substantial, it's at least 50%

Once again in this hobby of ours, we all get to be right and there is no wrong answer because it's about personal preferences and each of our own interpretations of what sounds best to the ears and wallet of the beholder

I've rationalized that streaming is the best ROI and price performance route for my playback at this time and I'm enjoying the best SQ that I've reproduced in the 40+ years of building my system and collecting albums and CDs

When the same 40 year old songs sound better than they ever have, does the format matter?

I would submit to you, for the layman listener that 90% of what I'm streaming is the best version of the song that they've ever heard, and not by a small (only stuff dogs can hear) margin  

Happy listening and enjoy the journey

I just purchased the PS Audio SACD transport.  Primary reason was I had several hundred SACD discs that I could not play.  I use a Terminator Plus with Gaia and MacMini.  Very happy with purchase but agree with those who say it's an easy decision if you can afford the extra bucks.  As to SQ in my system I will say my vinyl rig still produces best sound.  Recording quality is key and does vary with media. Its fun to compare various playback options and sometimes CD's beat streaming. I will say rebook can hold its own with high res formats including DSD.  Lots of fun to have various input options as mood dictates.  

Weird question. Why would any "subset" sound better through a CD player ?

it would this week with the local internet’s being down.
(And also in a vehicle out of range if towers.)

There are many reasons;

1. Easy to rip a Redbook CD to FLAC but not as easy to rip a SACD to as DSF format.

2. Many of the streaming services only have newer remastered versions that many times are brick walled or not as well mastered as what you may own in the CD format such as a Mobile Fidelity or DCC mastering.

3. If a friend comes over to listen to music they may be interested in hearing how their CD sounds on your system.

4. With a good CD transport, DAC and great mastering you can compare digital to analogue and hear how digital sounds just as good and maybe in certain aspects better than analogue.

5. Fun factor in going to your shelves looking over a collection of great music, picking one to listen, sliding it into the drawer, pushing play and sitting back to listen as you read the pamphlet and back cover along with enjoying the art work. I admit certainly not as nice as an album cover but if you don't have that recording in vinyl it gives you a miniature version of the experience.

I know the PS Audio SACD transport let’s you listen to the full DFS stream if you use their DAC, but can you configure the Terminator’s I2S to make it work as well?

Just curious.

My Esoteric CD player(DV-60), sounds better than anything Iv'e heard streamed.

Another +vote for my Players sounds better than anything Streamed.

Happy Listening!

I used to think that CD was better than using a streamer having a playback designs SCAD player and this was the case for some years. However I built a dedicated 2 box computer/streamer following the audiophilestyle forum for advice. It took a while and several builds to achieve a high quality result.

I play files from local storage on the computer which, from my experience, is of higher SQ than using streaming services although less convenient, having to rip CDs.

The eventual result easily equalled my vinyl set up (Kuzma XL, 4pt, Atlas, Ypsilon phono) sometimes surpassing it with modern digitally recorded music. The vinyl only raised the game with my 60s and 70s jazz albums and some older analogue recordings depending on their quality. Digitally recorded classical, especially hi-res, can sound stupendous.

I would say the steaming device is at least as important as the DAC used.

As mentioned above, I've ripped all my CDs and put them on shuffle..just over 100 hours of material.  I just received a Holo May DAC and wow..what an upgrade from my McIntosh MA12000 DAC.  The ripped CDs sound so musical.  Everything about the presentation is better.  I'm streaming off iFi Zen Stream/ Roon Core i7 NUC/64TB Synology DS1522+ with dual SSD Cache.  

@jafant 

I love your system venue… so clean. You have lots of players, what are you using to stream? 

@rockysantoro

What is your system? There is a place to show it under your ID. This is really helpful to see where you are coming from. What streamers have you tried? 

ghprentice

Thank You for the kind words. No Streaming allowed in my System. Strictly CD and SACD only.

Happy Listening!

Cd transport definitely mo betta in my system. I’m sure the megabuck ones are A ok. 

@jafant 

I have no doubt that the Accuphase CD /SACD player is going to provide you with marvelous sound quality and enjoyment for many years.

Charles

charles1dad

Thank You for the acknowledgement. The Accuphase DP-65v may be aged, but it is still a Reference CD player. I can only imagine the Aural playback of a newer model with newer technology.  Superb.

Happy Listening!

A good SACD player matched with the insanely wonderful Japanese single layer pressings ( and those 7" mini albums!!!) are just 2 very good reasons to still invest in that format.

Plus you will never get laid with a streamer... now a wonderful McCormack Universal player or an Opera  Audio Tube SACD player with the wood Danish Modernist  cabinet..... OMG

I prefer CD. Sounds holographic. Kit is MSB Transport which can stream and plays cd. DAC IS MSB .My Aurender does streaming and has 6 TB hard drive of flac quality ripped off my CDs. My USB , Ethernet, Router and Uptone ether Regen is top notch. CD is still better

Get a decent transport an or  CD player , then purchase the Border Control Dac. Its the End game . A Rotel or a Marantz good bang for the $$$

grossman616

2nd- those 7" mini-albums on SACD are very sweet indeed!

Happy Listening!

My system has changed in that I have made major upgrades to both my digital and analog. My CDs now reside on a Aurender N20 and my DAC is the Holo May KTE. All power cables are Shunyata Sigma NR and are plugged into the Everest 8000. A Shunyata Sigma Ethernet cable and AES/EBU are used on the Aurender’s input and output.

My scanned CDs sound now rivals my Qobuz hi res streaming and both approach my analog, which is an impressive step forward. I no longer see any need for a CD player and doubt that any, but the best can rival the Aurender’s ability to serve up ripped files. I’m absolutely certain that others have superior systems and a better listening space, but for now I’m pleased with what I have. A big thank you to Juan of @blisshifi for directing me to the Aurender N20 and Audionet phono preamp.