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CD Quality Versus Streaming Quality

I realize this will be a contentious subject, and far be it from me to challenge any of the many expert opinions on this forum, but if I may offer my feedback vis-a-vis what I am hearing, and gain some knowledge in the process.

i will begin saying that my digital front end setup is not state of the art, but i have had the good fortune to listen to a number of really high-end systems. I guess the number one deficit in my digital front end is a streamer server, and no question about it that will improve the sound.

My CD player is a universal player; Pioneer BDP-09fd. It uses Wolfson DACs. It has been modified to a degree. I have bought and sold other players, but kept this one, because it has a beautiful sound that serves the music well.

Recently, i ventured over to my son’s place and we hooked up my player (he doesn’t have one and rely’s on streaming only) We compared tracks / albums of CD quality and master quality streamed on Tidal with ‘redbook’ CDs I have. For example, some Lee Ritenaur CDs and some Indian classical and the wonderful Mozart and Chopin.
His system is highly resolving.

we were both very surprised to find the CDs played on the player to be the better sound. And not just by a little. The sound was clearly superior, with higher resolution and definition, spatial ques, much better and clearer imaging. Very surprising indeed. Shouldn’t there be no difference? This would suggest the streaming service is throttling the bandwidth or compressing the signal?

i am most interested to hear others’ observations, and suggestions as to why this might be? I do love the convenience aspect of streaming, but it IS expensive for a chap like me of fairly modest means. The Tidal HiFi topline service is $30 per month I believe, something the good lady is not too thrilled about. God forbid I should suggest Roon on top of that I may likely get my walking papers. I jest, but only partially LoL. My point is, if I pay this sort of money, isn’t it fair to expect sound to equal the digital stream from the CD player and silver disc?
Thoughts?

AK





4afsanakhan
4afsanakhan OP
134 posts
 
Hi JPeters568 and Cleeds, thanks both for your great input. I am learning.

i will offer this from personal experience. The digital bit perfect stream that is check in the cache / buffer aside, CD players can and do sound different in the way the music is presented. For example, I had a Rega CD player (among others) that was decent, but didn’t offer the same performance and sound characteristics that I crave compared to the Oppo UDP-205. That player sounds truly top class. The DAC section is outstanding in every respect, so as a player, it sounds different. The same with the Pioneer BDP-09fd (modified). The DAC accounts for much of the sound quality as does the analogue output stage.

Cleeds is I think correct on this JP, the ISP does have some control of the stream with respect to compression. That is what i am struggling with I think. Noise of course could be a factor, but as you’ve pointed out JP, for the most part, the digital data is delivered to the router noise-free.

Another point and please correct me if I am wrong, doesn’t using balanced / XLR analogue interconnects eliminate noise?
zerofox
61 posts
 
In my system (Krell Digital Vanguard Integrated / SimAudio Moon Supernova CD / Wilson Cub Series 2) I have found the following.

First place (tie)
CD (balanced interconnect)
Ripped FLAC files from hard drive

Second place
Qobuz

Third place
Tidal

Fourth place
Spotify

I don’t have a vinyl setup.
4afsanakhan OP
134 posts
 
Thanks Zerofox, that Simaudio Supernova CD player is very good. I heard one at a friends place several years ago. 
Interesting that many, including yourself, prefer Qobuz over Tidal. 
4afsanakhan OP
134 posts
 
Anzaanimalclinic,

Thanks for the sage advice. And we are getting to the root of the matter here with what I suspect is in large part responsible for underperformance. The fact that sometimes the performance is better than others may be down to noise in my local network.

the Ether Regen is top of mind, but You have peaked my interest with other options that may be more cost effective for me. I checked out the ENO filter but it is an English company? I will search for a distributor in the US. 
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