Comparing digital files/sources to each other and to vinyl...

[Dr Tone]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

... as for the dBpoweramp - I need the Music Converter & CD Ripper Reference R16 Single Mac for 38€ - right?

Can anyone recommend a good storage/NAS?

Yes.

Qnap or Synology are the best consumer NAS's on the market.

[bruno2009]

Thanx. To kinda get back to the general Topic - so from what I understand, if I rip my CDs as FLAC via the software dBpoweramp and then store them on the NAS - further install Roon on my iMac and replace the Lightning DS by the Roon app on my iPad - then stream the ripped CD/FLAC to my Auralic, I should get an SQ that equals what I‘m used to from playing CDs straight from my CD transport to the DAC.

Of course I did ask myself „why go through all the hassle when you can just aswell throw in the CD using the transport u already have“ - but I guess it‘s a lot of work at first but once all is ripped and installed it comes in pretty handy?

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

... as for the dBpoweramp - I need the Music Converter & CD Ripper Reference R16 Single Mac for 38€ - right?

Can anyone recommend a good storage/NAS?

Yes, the music converter and ripper is what you need.

Here is a review of several NAS.
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/be...ached-storage/

[Dr Tone]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

Of course I did ask myself „why go through all the hassle when you can just aswell throw in the CD using the transport u already have“ - but I guess it‘s a lot of work at first but once all is ripped and installed it comes in pretty handy?

Test it for yourself.

Rip a CD or 2 with iTunes to ALAC. Install a trial of Roon on your iMac and point to the CDs you just ripped. Add some Tidal albums to Roon. Turn on Roon mode on your Auralic and give it a try.

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by bruno2009

Thanx. To kinda get back to the general Topic - so from what I understand, if I rip my CDs as FLAC via the software dBpoweramp and then store them on the NAS - further install Roon on my iMac and replace the Lightning DS by the Roon app on my iPad - then stream the ripped CD/FLAC to my Auralic, I should get an SQ that equals what I‘m used to from playing CDs straight from my CD transport to the DAC.

Of course I did ask myself „why go through all the hassle when you can just aswell throw in the CD using the transport u already have“ - but I guess it‘s a lot of work at first but once all is ripped and installed it comes in pretty handy?

The process is just as you described. And yes the SQ should be the same.

Once you have done the ripping, you can put all the CDs away.

[bruno2009]

Quite a few people seem to prefer the sound from their ripped files to the CD - seems odd that the copy should sound better than the original - I am curious though...

[PMCH]

For me the sound quality of a ripped CD is not as good as playing directly from my CDP. The K-01x is a very good CD player though. The ease of playing ripped music can often be a consideration.

[bruno2009]

I‘ve decided to go „full circle“.

I‘ll start ripping CDs and if it‘s only for the sake of having a secured copy.

I‘ll keep CDs and CD Transport for now though.

Obviously I‘ll keep Vinyl.

Also I‘ll continue to collect physical music - but I think in the future I‘ll reduce buying to exceptional music or favorite artists and concentrate more on the quality of the release. Should future releases not be convincing, no buy and I‘ll stream from Tidal.

Also I‘ll go with Roon - be it for the sake of future music and Tidal only (in case I should come to find my CDs from CDT more enjoyable than the RIP).

This actually gives me the best of all worlds and I can compare.

Only missing links are a NAS and Roon anyways - everything else is in place already - so it‘s a reasonable stretch.

So it‘ll be Tidal + Roon for future releases and Music I don‘t already own.

CDs and Vinyl already there will be played by existing hardware.

Future releases will be bought on Vinyl if quality of release is convincing.

Considering I spend between 300 and 400€ on Vinyl per month T the moment the invest for Roon is reasonable and selecting buys more carefully in the future will probably even lead to saving money on the long run (which is something you can‘t say very often with this hobby ✌️[emoji12]).

Sounds the way to go - right?

[bruno2009]

... one thing I‘ve noticed with some Tidal files - they sometimes sound a little harsh, especially in the upper tones. Like there‘s a bright/sharp/harsh overtone to the music (especially when played loud). Is anyone else experiencing this? I‘m not sure if this is due to my hardware (maybe the Auralic Aries Femto has a different tonal characteristic than my CD Transport) or is it due to the software?

[Alrainbow]

My findings as follows
Playing music from my nas is very close to playing media from inside my first server Ina two pc setup
Close enough I don’t care. Now what i did to get there is a page of info
Any way back to topic Puttig aside varying masters
It’s in this order.
On sacd
Rips beats tidal mqa Masters if same music
Example Black Sabbath master of reality
As for cd Rips mqa tidal beats a cd but consider there mqa is most likely a remix and master
Now cd rip to tidal cd close and to be fair cd wins by virtue of a blacker background
But having said this tidal is damn good on roon now and steaming into second pc with hq it’s very good. It blows away the tidal desktop app on one pc.