Why does my old CD player sound so much better than my new streamer?


Earlier this year I upgraded my system. Briefly, new Prima Luna Dialogue Premium HP integrated, new Lumin D2 streamer/DAC, kept my Tekton speakers, bought a 10 year old Muse Erato CD player, new Nordost Red Dawn cables all around.  After plenty of break in, the Lumin D2 streaming Tidal, even 24/96, does not sound close to as good as the Muse Erato.  I understand the Muse was about $10k new years ago, I paid $650 for it on Audiogon, is that the difference? It replaced my Naim I had for 20+ years and I bought it on the chance I want to listen to something not on Tidal, but now I'm going to CDs when I want to sit and listen instead of streaming. I considered upgrading to the Lumin T2, but will that be more of the same Lumin sound, which is accurate but thin and a little cold compared to the Muse.  I like the Lumin when just letting Tidal shuffle music as I move around the house, but from the opening note in an A/B test the Muse just sounds so much warmer, live and simply more enjoyable. Any thoughts or suggestions?
fsgattuso
It stands for True Fidelity. What is based on how sound and music sounds in reality. I have been addicted to music since I was 6. This is why I started to do this for a profession. I want people to experience their beloved music at the highest level possible.

Sound and also music is built on different aspects/properties. What I wrote many times you need them all to hear and experience the emotion of the music you play. The reason why we started to modify is based on the fact that audio products are not good enough to create an ultimate level in emotion and realism.

This is why I want to use conservatorium students during audio presentations to show that we reproduce music as it sounds in real. Intimate sound is one of the aspects of sound. Both voices and instruments are very small in dimension. Besides the size, we can also give both voices and instruments what we call a 3D shape.

Most people who work in audio even know very little about music and sound. And the same counts for those who spend serious money on audio products. So you can not blame consumers to buy the wrong products. At this moment there is a serious problem regarding digital sources.

Because of the fact that most digital sources and DACS miss so much quality that the level of emotion is very limited. Most people over here experience the same limitations when you read this thread. We auditioned many network player and DACS in over 7 years of time now. Then you know that there is a serious problem.

When consumers only can buy network players and DACS who all create a low level in diversity (layering) in sound. It is impossible to stay happy with this. Because of human emotion will make you aware that it lacks emotion. 




Audio Troy brings up some good points and advice. However, the issue IMO is Tidal itself.  I don't think you are getting good quality sound with it in comparison to a CD player.  Try ripping some CDs and playing those and do a comparison with the CDP.  I have a Lumin Mini with a T+A Dac and I burned all of my CDs and sold the CDP.  You have to compare apples to apples.
After some work, my Antipodes streamer sound is very similar to local files / CD.

Introducing a good switch between the router and the streamer was the most significant upgrade.   
Introducing a good switch between the router and the streamer was the most significant upgrade.  
Which switch did you choose?I am looking at the SOtM  sNH-10G switch but have not found many reviews yet...
The problem we found regarding switches, is exactly the same you hear and see regarding all audio products. The fact that they are incomplete. This means that they can not reveal all aspects of sound.

When we compare different switches with each other it becomes clear that the differences are huge. Lumin works differently regarding the transport of data. For this, the impact and result of using a better network switch are bigger compared to most other network players.

We have sold many modified Sboosters on the switch we use. Most of our clients experienced it as one of the most impressive upgrades they ever made. At first, you think and even believe that it can not make a big difference. But......audio is all about facts and what it does to the end result.