Got out of the format. Do I want to get back in??
 

Hello all.
-25 below zero day here in Toronto, Canada. Even Simba, my husky/lab x dog isn't interested in going outside.

Anyway, before streaming and Tidal and MQA, CD's was where it was at for me.
I had/loved my Ayre C-X5se and had a decent collection of Redbook and SACD's.
But in 2015, i made a right turn at Computer Audio St. and never looked back.
Ripped my redbook cd collection to a few external hard drives and sold most of the CD's/SACD's and the Ayre.
Invested in a good DAC, USB cables, Wyred4Sound Recovery and IFI power supply. I thought I was done.
Well, as we all know, done is never done.

I was reading a review on a Bryston BDC 3 in a recent mag and James T was quoted saying that unless you're streaming MQA, streaming sound quality is inferior to cd playback.

As much as I love Tidal and MQA with all the benefits of a large library of music at your fingertips, i think James is right.

For those of you who use both CD and streaming, do you find the songs you play superior when CD is the source?

And if you were going to get back into it, what player would you suggest based on a ceiling of... lets say $7500.

CAUTION — I always take what manufacturers and dealers say with a grain of salt..............marketing is a powerful influence, if their products don't sell, they don't have a job. :scratch2:

Enjoy the music. :music:

Ron

In my system playing discs is far superior to either playing from Aurender's hard disc or MQA through Tidal (up to last unfold in the Aurender as my DAC does not process MQA). I use Holly Cole's "Don't Smoke in Bed" for comparisons (simply breathtaking on SACD).

I have been told I "need" to go upstream in the Aurender line to get equal sound, but why bother when I can spin discs?

My suggestion for a "player" is to get the best Esoteric transport you can afford in a one-box unit or a separate (does not have to be Esoteric brand; other companies use the OEM VRDS transport in their players, such as dCS, and Wadia, Spectral, Tascam and Teac have used Esoteric transports in the past, but maybe not the VRDS).

If you wanted to go with Esoteric as a brand, then my observations and personal experience with used units are you should be able to pay 50% of MSRP one generation back and perhaps 25% of MSRP two generations back; most of this has to do with the marketing hype of the DAC becoming "obsolete" and one ought not pay anywhere near full MSRP for new, so these percentages are skewed. An Esoteric "generation" appears to be four years.

The best approach may be to keep what you have and buy an older Esoteric transport that has the current or one-generation-back VRDS (perhaps P-03 or P-05 if these have "recent" versions of the VRDS transport). You may be able to get a used P-01 or P1. Just make sure you can send SACD signals from the transport to your DAC if you want to play them as well as CDs. If you do not like the sound you can always sell it.

At the end of the day it is my opinion that the transport makes most of the difference. Using this method you can get a direct comparison of disc versus streaming with your current DAC and you may find no need to upgrade it.

My next move, if I make one, would be only a "D" model for the DAC (new chips and MQA) and use my current player as a transport.

Great post and I agree 100% i particularly like the bit about hype around DACs being obsolete usually just because someone read a new higher model#. There is alot of this FUD and outright b.s. out there with substantial amounts around various DACs that are still leading in sound quality as used in various Esoteric units new and old. Remember the Burr Brown 1704 PCM DAC chip and other classics? They stood the test of time for years even after higher models came out [emoji41]

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Good thread............... Ripped all my CDs to HDs & SDs and invested in all the bits & pieces to put together a streaming/server system for my digital needs. Inventoried all my CDs & SACDs with the intention of selling to the highest bidder. But......... can't seem to make myself take the next step (download Roon onto my Node computer and learn to use all). In fact, just spent a couple of hours listening to vinyl. Thinking more and more that I'll sell (or at least continue to let sit on the shelf) all the digital 'stuff' and upgrade my CDP.

At your $7500 price point, not sure if I would go with a McIntosh (was very pleased with the two I've owned for many years) or try an Esoteric.

So my question is if I take all my downloaded flac files and rip to CD should they sound better?

As with the ongoing discussions of vinyl vs digital, the answer is “it depends.” I am fully streaming and have never looked back. I have yet to hear a disc player that bests a great streaming setup, but a great disc player will beat a middling streaming setup. You can get stellar sound with either if done well.

Define “superior”...

If every room, every speaker, every amp, every preamp, every cartridge, tonearm, turntable, every DAC and every filter has its unique singnature, “superior” is an illusive term existing only in the “mind” and the “ear” of the beholder. :D

Whatever media or source captures your attention the most, for one reason or another, be it the sonic quality you may perceive or the emotional attachment of having jewel boxes with shiny disks lined up on the shelf in a “collection”, or the warm and fuzzy feeling of having tapped into virtually unlimited library of music under your fingertips with streaming, is the one to embrace. The one does not, nor should not exclude the other. There is no clear answer and no clearly “superior” solution. :smoking:

What he said.

Got out of the format. Do I want to get back in??
 

Bodiezaffa, I am in agreement with you!

The Luxman and Esoteric CD/SACD have my eye as I need a better DAC to play the SACD which is what I’m after, I’m dying here with what I have in place.

When I had the PS Memory and DAC it did a good job, and have zero regrets. It was a push playing SACD/CD against the Aurender especially when the N10 was outing MQA.

Now the only Transport I have is the Oppo 203 playing SACD when using its DAC. It’s a good setup, but with everything else I have it needs to only serve as HDMI IN duty with Apple TV cause I too want a new Transport as I’m leaving too much on disc when listening, I have heard it before.




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