I think I’m ready to use Qobuz and Tidal as my sole music source. I do have around 150 albums stored locally on my QNAP nas but over the last year or so I’ve been using mostly Qobuz 95% of the time. Almost everything I have on the nas is available on Qobuz often in hi def.
I can’t convince myself that local streaming is consistently better with my system
ND 555 /552/500/Sopra-3
Am I fooling myself in order to keep things simple?
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With a Nas, yes. With a top Melco or Innuos, stored files , generally, are still better in my experience. With Nds and Nd555.
Apparently @Dunc , with his Vivaldi full stack, has now better results with Qobuz than from Melco. But it’s a 100 k digital source….
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i moved to streaming exclusively. had about 500 cds and player. i got rid of all and enjoy listening to qobuz and even internet radio. i have a nice system but i think one of the most important parts in providing good sound from streaming is my ansuz d3 powerswitch (network switch), it made a big difference.
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Silent Angel Bonn switch for me vastly improved SQ for my Auralic Vega S1 to Nait 50.
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i think until folks invest in a very good switch they underestimate the impact. not just 0s and 1s anymore many other issues seem to come into play.
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Forgot to mention that I use the English Electric-8 switch to the ND 555
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I’m basically 100% streaming from Qobuz but I do use Roon. With the EE8 switch and decent Ethernet cables to my streamer, any perceived difference between local files and streamed content is very small if any in my setup.
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Yes i have had various different outcomes as i have progressed through the streaming, and stored files.
For a long time stored files had the edge over everything digital. Especially the years with my NDS.
Then with the rossini, i felt things got closer, but still the stored files had the slight edge.
But since getting the vivaldi set up, and the rest of my system sorted, i can honestly say streaming from Qobuz is fantastic, and i hardly ever use my stored files these day’s.
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I’m almost exclusively Qobuz, except for the MCLD pressings of the classic Steely Dan albums, which reside on my nas.
G
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If you are convincing yourself that all the music you like, or even just your favourite music, will always be available, every day, long and short term, then yes.
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Good point. From time to time streaming services may remove content only to have it available at a later time. It’s very annoying when you go to play a favorite and it’s not there.
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If you want to make things even simpler, switch the nas off and disconnect from the network. (Removing a possible noise generating device).
I did this 18 months ago, haven’t once considered turning it back on.
Now 100% Qobuz. 
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Im considering buying an Innous or Melco Music Server and ripping all my CD’s, so this thread is very interesting to see what people are now doing with respect to still playing their ripped CD’s or no longer bothering much with that approach and are now mostly streaming from Qobuz or Tidal etc.
Ive been streaming Hi-Res from Tidal for the last 5 years and find the sound quality excellent and availability of music I like really great, so debating whether its worth all the time and effort and significant cost in new hardware worth it.
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I’ve been a very late adopter of everything to do with digital. I even came late to the CD party. However, I’m finding the digital world both crazy and quite fascinating, particularly in relation to what you have to do to suppress the dreaded ‘noise’ thing but it really does work. I’m now further on with digital SQ than I was with my CDP555, and that was pretty awesome! In fact I’d say some streamed music is now better than my LP12. The other aspect is the the amount of new music you discover. No more guessing if you are going to like that £20 CD or £40 vinyl album you’ve just waited weeks for!
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I ripped all my CDs and LPs, and buy new music either as downloads or on CD and rip. I do not stream online other than free services to listen to possible new music before buying, from places like Spotify, Bandcamp, Youtube. I wrote this in another thread a couple of years ago:
Benefits of own storage compared to online streaming: all your favourite music is available, all the time, and in perpetuity with no risk of dropouts lack of continuity caused by poor internet, and no risk of unavailability of music you love due to change of streaming licence or business model of provider, or collapse of provider. Also: no subscription to maintain to keep your music available.
Online streaming has the benefit of access to a huge range of music. This can be free and good enough for initial sampling from providers such as Spotify (but limited sound quality). Otherwise the same or approaching the same sound quality as your own files at the cost of maybe a dozen or so albums a year. Fabulous for those starting out, less so for those already having a substantial collection.
And if important to you, compared to online streaming the artist gets a lot more money if you buy whether by download or on (new) physical media.
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I would say it’s good to have all your cd’s ripped, and any downloads stored in a melco, innuos, or whatever.
Even if like me you hardly ever use it, it still good to have if for some reason you lose the streaming. Also its nice to have, and easy to access all the time.
But i certainly don’t go to the melco for the extra sound quality, i feel my streaming is better or at worst, on par.
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Qobuz and Tidal have had financial issues at various times, Tidal quite recently laid off staff again. I don’t trust them to have their entire catalogue remain intact (for example with future licensing or rights issues), or indeed to remain in business. I do trust my NAS plus several backups. I can easily imagine a streaming landscspe with various non overlapping providers and services like for TV etc. Not an attractive prospect, especially if high res services are seen as superflous. Spotify have promised a lossless service for ages, but it hasn’t appeared yet.
Like others I stream to explore music and for on-the-go convenience, but I always buy and download my ‘keepers’.
Bruce
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I listen to Qobuz 90% of the time, the remaining 10% of my listening time is for LPs when I am alone at night, fully relaxed, with a glass of whisky and a book for reading.
Nothing can beat the music from a fully loaded LP12.
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No, sure there is a little more digital noise generated in the streamer with cloud streaming, but with a good streamer this should be minimally detectable if at all.
Masters and LUFS processing can vary between cloud and local CD streaming, but you may well prefer the LUFS processing from the cloud, it tends to make a track sound more vibrant and alive.
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If you value the best sounding versions of your favourite albums, then you can’t rely on streaming services. They usually only have the most recent remaster of any given title. I personally seek out the best sounding master so streaming is severely limiting in that sense. Of course if you’re only interested in modern pop music then it probably doesn’t matter as most new releases will only have one master, which more than likely will have high dynamic range compression as is the norm unfortunately.