Despite the reluctance of a large part of the hi-fi community to embrace the CD initially, we are constantly being told by our customers that it still either constitutes their main or at least a significant portion of their musical diet.

While the advent of MP3s and the resurgence of vinyl seamed to sound the death knell for the Compact Disc as a commercial product, it not only made it to it’s 40th birthday last year but we may see it make it to 50. However, the numbers involved are tiny compared to the market share now enjoyed by internet downloads and music streaming services.

While anyone interested in sound quality found the convenience of these services easy to resist when the emergent, “lifestyle orientated” equipment failed to appeal and the mainly compressed music coming from on-line providers felt like a backwards step, that is no longer the situation the hi-fi industry and enthusiast find themselves in.

Now we have streaming hi-fi separates made by your favourite CD player manufacturer and some very compelling products from the new specialist companies who now have a decade of research and development behind them. That, combined with the availability of streaming and download services offering higher than CD resolution, it’s fair to say that reluctance to embrace this part of hi-fi is either borne out of ignorance or stubbornness.

For those of us that insist that involving a smart phone or tablet in the ceremony of the dedicated listening experience is heretical, I will not try to come between you and your anti-static cloth. For those out there that simply don’t know enough about it or have been misinformed, allow me to provide some anecdotal insight.

The goal- for me at least- was simple enough, could I free myself from searching through my CD collection, which often ended in disappointment: missing, scratched, dirty, rusty?! Also, could I enjoy music from a streaming service at the same standard as CD in my own system meaning a whole lot more music becoming available. Some may claim they have enjoyed that kind of experience for years now, well sorry, I never really bought that up until now.

 Every time I had dipped my toe I pulled back. The sound quality of the hardware on offer was either (to my ears, at least) mechanical and uninvolving. Or it came from a company I was unsure would still be around to support the products future if I invested. Not only that, the “CD quality or higher” promises of the music services just did not live up to my expectations. All that plus unreliable software interfaces that seemed sometimes to take just as long as spinning vinyl to get going meant a new CD player remained top of my list of upgrades.

That was until quite recently, mainly due to a very convincing experience on a customer’s system and breakthrough at home with my own. On this customer’s system that had a high-end CD transport and a reasonably upmarket streaming transport running in to the same DAC I was convinced I preferred the streamed version of the same track played on both. I then tried that same streaming transport in my own system, this time playing back a CD that I had ripped to my server a long time ago and was always dissatisfied with, in comparison with the actual CD. Finally, the ripped copy sounded just as good.

With a newfound confidence we undertook the experiment in-store. This time with a more affordable streaming transport into a modest DAC alongside a good CD transport we blind tested the original CD against a ripped version (WAV file) and the same track played through a streaming service. Yes, there were differences, but any preference was based on subjective presentational nuance, not on quality.

 

As always, at CAV we encourage you to make up your own mind. We are more than happy to demonstrate the differences between different streaming products and compare them to more traditional sources. As part of a series of upcoming CAV events we plan to include an open evening for those curious to learn more, but in the meantime, here are a few dos and don’ts to mind.

 

Don’t-

Expect an internet recommended sub-$1000 streamer to be as satisfying as your highly developed and carefully chosen $4000 CD player.

Be stuck with an unsuitable streaming service because it’s the one another family member subscribes to.

Assume that something labelled “uncompressed” is actually CD quality

Think that you need to be a computer geek to make this stuff work

Do-

Understand that streamers have levels of price/performance and differing presentations just like CD players or turntables, so audition before you buy

Consider a transport only streamer if you already have a DAC in your system

Do the free trial with different streaming services and check they have the music library and quality that you need

Seek advice about products and techniques that allow you to copy your CD collection correctly

Consider alternatives to the manufacture’s interface when it comes to using your streamer