Playing CDs sounds better than Qobuz — dammit


I’ve built a decent HeadFi rig over the past few months and am quite happy with it streaming Qobuz as a source via my iPad/iPhone.  I recently brought my CD player into the rig as there are some reference CDs I need that aren’t available on Qobuz.  Well, I made the mistake of playing some CDs and compared them to Qobuz, and in every case the CD sounds better — specifically a quieter background and more transparency overall.  I’ve got good cables from the dongle out of my iPad to the USB cable that runs to my DAC for streaming, so let’s leave cables out of the discussion for now because I think this goes deeper than that.  Needless to say I’m pretty disappointed right now because I’ve enjoyed not spinning discs over the past year or so and certainly don’t wanna go back to buying CDs again.  Ugh.

So, what I’m thinking is that streaming over WiFi through my iDevices may be the bottleneck.  IF that’s the case and I need to up my streaming game, what would be the cheapest way to go to overcome the bottleneck?  My thought is going hardwired (which I can do) to something like an iFi Stream or maybe a ProJect Streambox, but just wondering if that’d get it done?  Something else?  I need something pre-made and won’t wrestle with doing a Raspberry Pi with hats, etc. as I have no patience for configuring/troubleshooting tech.  Thanks for any advice/thoughts. 

soix

@minorl

Ahh…..gotcha. I wouldn’t think Aurender makes CD transport. Bits or digital audio signals are all different, they are not the same. Say if you have two different sources or using two different streamers or music servers going into the same DAC they would sound different although you’re using exact same DAC. Those zeros and ones (binary) are not the same.

In regards to your older Pioneer Elite bluray player used as a CD transport to play Redbook CD, I never had any hands on experience with any Pioneer Elite bluray player or universal disc player. But say just in case if your old Pioneer bluray player dies on you or stop working due to age, you should consider buying a used Oppo 103/105 or 203 universal bluray disc player and use it as a CD transport. Oppo makes great disc transport for very affordable price. I had been using my Oppo 105 as a disc transport going to a separate DAC until I bought a used Cary Audio CD 306 SACD player / DAC (professional edition) 4 yrs ago. The Oppo when used as a disc transport it performs very well, reliable and sounded very good when connected to a high end outboard DAC with a high quality high end digital cable and power cables and good isolation on the Oppo. But my Cary CD 306 SACD player (professional edition) is on another level as its original MSRP was almost 8 times as much as the original MSRP of the Oppo 105 ($1200). The Cary CD 306 SACD player (professional edition) original retail was $8k when it was first introduced back in 2008. Now I run the XLR analog out of my Cary 306 SACD player / DAC to my preamp and use the Oppo 105 strictly for bluray movie and streamed Netflix movie playbacks as well as occasional DVD-Audio high resolution audio music playback and is connected via HDMI to my Classe SSP 800 preamp processor. The Oppo is excellent when used for bluray movie playbacks via HDMI out, even those streamed Netflix movies look very good on the Oppo 105.

Or alternatively for playing CD & SACD and if you’re willing to pay more you should look for a used discontinued Cary Audio CD 306 SACD player / DAC (professional edition) or the non professional edition, the professional edition sounds better but it isn’t like a night and day difference but it is audible and the pro edition is noticeably better. This is an older CD/SACD player / DAC combo, it was first introduced in around 2006/2008 and was discontinued around 2015/2016. These players (both pro and non pro editions) sounded fantastic highly musical very analog like very smooth yet highly resolving but it’s hard to find one in used markets. A used one is probably going for around $2500 to $3500 in used markets if you can find one. This is a statement flagship CD/SACD player from Cary Audio and Cary doesn’t make CD/SACD player anymore. These Cary 306 can be used as a standalone DAC as it has digital audio inputs on the back : AES/EBU, coax digital spdif, optical digital (Toslink). This player is heavy weighing in around 45 pounds and is very well built and designed. it was built like a tank.

 

Thanks for the information.

The DV-09, BDP-09 are hidden gems.  They sound good as CD players but make outstanding transports and are stupidly inexpensive because most people were/are using them at DVD or blue ray players and not CD transports.  So they don't know or care.

As an Electrical Engineer I can tell you they are very much over built.  As I've mentioned, I've compared quite a lot of CD players to be used as transports (way more that I want to admit) and these two provide a wow factor.  I'll keep my eyes open for the ones you recommended also.

 

Thanks,

enjoy

For those here discussing old cd players, Ive got a 23 year old Toshiba SD9200N DVD/cd unit. Dont know much about it, but it was $2k back then and must weigh over 20 lbs. No remote. Can only use cd player and bypass its dac through a Geshelli J2 dac. So I guess Im just using it as a transport. 

Anyone know if a new "transport" would make any SQ improvement?

Must admit cds sound better than most HiRez Qobuz  through etherneted Node 2i using J2 dac too.

Lps SQ still better and high quality lp pressings are the BEST in my rig.

If you upgrade your streamer to something like Innuos, Lumin, Aurender, etc. you’ll get a big improvement in performance.  I’d start there.  Just my $0.02 FWIW. 

Are you sure the difference isn't just the DAC inside of the CD player vs. whatever DAC you use for streaming? 

 

I have a Primare CD32 that I connect to a Topping D90SE DAC via toslink because I think the Topping DAC is better than whatever is in the CD32. I also connect my Laptop directly to the Topping D90SE via USB and output the sound to the same amp and headphones. 

 

This way, I'm really doing a direct comparison between what is essentially a CD transport, and Qobuz. And honestly, the difference is so small I can't tell if it's just placebo. I feel like CD is maybe slightly more dynamic and has more bass, but that could be just wishful thinking, because I'm talking a like 1-2% difference.