Hi.
I ask this question from a total point of ignorance on the subject matter.
Ignoring SQ for now.
Comparing the two ways of listening to a CD, as per the title of this post, which “system” suffers least from background noise floor/electrical interference/emf etc.
Thank you.
Not sure I understand the question! In what way are you concerned about “background noise floor/electrical interference/emf etc” other than how it might affect sound quality, which you say you want to ignore?
Hi.
I think it mostly depends on the quality of the PSUs. But many advocate a dedicated spur for the hifi.
Both deliveries suffer from imperfections in different ways.
Not quite your question, but when we got our Core we experimented with delivery to nDAC or NDX2 over SPDIF against ethernet to NDX2.
In our system, with separate streamer/DAC, all setups sounded the same. So we opted for ethernet as it lets us keep the Core well away from the rack.
And before Core arrived we tried our old Micromega transport into nDAC via SPDIF. Again no appreciable difference from a rip, so we ripped all CDs and now don’t have a racked spinner.
With a ripped you still involve router noise as a control is still through the app usually, pure cd-transport is cleaner in that regard.
Depends entirely on where the rip is sent from, how it’s physically delivered. If it’s from a usb stick or ssd usb drive the physical path to the dac is likely very very short indeed.
You have stumbled into question with quite a complex answer. There is a lot of ‘it depends’, mostly on how you set things up.
A lot of the background noise in the electrics from say your freezer are best managed by dedicated electrical circuits or spurs to the hifi. That applies equally to both choices.
Then when it comes to direct comparison, there is a reason most manufacturers stopped making cd players - digital streamers overtook them in sound quality, partly by eliminating the issues of the transport (reading the data from the cd - errors and all) and added the convenience of access to digital downloads and streaming services.
The media server and storage components of the streaming option are devices that generate common mode/electromagnetic noise and these can affect the hifi sound through field effect/proximity and via the ethernet connection. The ethernet cable can also transfer common mode noise from switches, routers and other devices on the ethernet network.
There is an active debate ranging amongst members here about how best to handle and minimise that noise - the use of audiophile versions of ethernet cables, switches, servers, nas or the use of decoupling techniques using standard components in the network - physical distance, dedicated hifi switches, correct use of unshielded and shielded cables etc. You can read pages and pages of discussion on this topic to your hearts content. All these debates are on the margins - the last few % of sound quality in my view. But we all chase the last bit of improvement we can.
As to which is better - it depends on how you set all of this up. A digital streamer opens up the world of hi resolution streaming services and digital downloads. Some members run both streamers and transports side by side. In my case I packed up my cd’s and stored them in the loft years ago to make more space for Vinyl! 
Hope that helps.
Those are compromised interfaces because of the power running alongside signal
Hi @RogerGround
Probably several ways to interpret your question but I’ll give my recent experience, but please bear in mind I know nothing of the science.
I’m old school so my preferred listening has always been vinyl, FM and CD in that order. However, loving classical music I invested quite a few years back in a CDS3 and in the face of everyone moving to streaming I swore blind I would stick with CD, but there was always the nagging thought that once the laser died there was no chance of a reprieve so when Naim recently announced their trade in scheme, albeit a little hesitantly, I traded for a NDX2 and purchased a NAS drive and dBPoweramp.
Outcome, and bear in mind the streamer may still be on run in, the music is more fluid, organic, dare I say more analogue in presentation, sometimes the difference is subtle other times very much more obvious, for example when Simon Standage is coming down the scales on his excellent version of the 4 Seasons. A bit of a damascene moment for me, and as I rip the CDs I’m rediscovering many of them.
Why? With the best will the CDS3 and CDX2 always had a slight transport noise which worked through to the speakers (very very slightly) and I should imagine that the switch to solid state has removed that noise and jitter arising from the mech, so the data arriving at the DAC is in better health?
Guys, if I’m talking rubbish don’t hesitate to tell me!
Regards,
Lindsay
That doesn’t compromise an interface.
But let’s not eh 
There are other relevant threads on this (of course).
We tried testing exactly this when I ripped all my CDs onto a Core as a way to send music to Tasmania. We compared ripped CD through Core/ NDX2/XPSDR with playing the same CD on my CDS2 and with the best Qobuz stream we could find.
I suspect that the answer is each case will depend on the details. A CDS2 is vastly better than the SQ from inserting a cable from a Mac (or a USB stick) into an NDX2, but good rips on any decent NAS and replayed via a good streamer will beat most budget CD players by a large margin.
Sometimes we had a clear preference for or against a particular Qobuz version versus a particular CD, but none of us could consistently pick between ‘live’ CD replay and ripped CD replay. When we removed the XPSDR from the NDX2, we all preferred the CD played directly on the CDS2, so we hadn’t all suddenly gone deaf. I think many others have also concluded 'It depends…"
@NickofWimbledon something I’ve noticed over the last 3 weeks is that I can go louder with the NDX2 over the CDS3.
Regards,
Lindsay
Interesting, because it is not something we noticed. Does the CDS3 seem a fraction more uncouth when you play loud?
I always prefer an accurately ripped CD to a CD player ,even when I had the Naim CD 555.
A little yes, as I say I never thought I’d say it but I prefer the NDX2.
Wow👍
Playing ripped CDs has many variables, so it’s impossible for anyone to be definitive! I play without streaming across a network, which removes all questions over network cables, switches, switch power supplies etc, in my view the simplest and so best approach.
As for comparison with playing CDs direct, ripping, if accuracy verified be reference to AccurateRip, it is certain that the digital data is as perfect as it can be. Playing direct in real time relies upon accurate reading, which is by no means a certainty, and when that fails it relies upon error correction, which I understand is predominantly by interpolation, or can produce gaps in playback. On that bass I believe that playing ripped files has at least the potential to sound better, and never worse, assuming all else lie DAC is equal.
Thank you very much everbody for taking the time to answer my post.
The driver behind my question is as follows.
I am thinking of upgrading/changing my TT, arm and cartridge. To answer the why question, because I fancy a change, in the sameway that some people just fancy a change to the motorised form of transport.
I have since noticed that CDs are roughly a third to half the cost of new vinyl.
So this set my mind to thinking about spending the budget for the new TT, arm and cartridge,circa £16k, on a CD Transport and using the DAC in my NDS.
I have CDs ripped, in flac and WAV, to a QNAP NAS but the SQ is such I never bother listening to the rips.
Reading on the forum about this switch and that switch and power supplies etc just seems a lot of faff IMHO, YMMV.
So the idle thought turned to using a CD transport that has been purposely designed to get the best out of a CD. No need for switches, power supplies etc.
As I said in my original post, this thought is born out of total ignorance on such matters. It is an idle thought/musing and that is as far as it may ever go.
Kind regards
Roger
If the SQ on your rips is that bad, I might try that again with different kit.
In any event, shaving even a little from your turntable budget would provide a decent CD transport and you can see for yourself whether you come to prefer it to streaming anything in a year or two. I doubt that any of these will seriously eat into your vinyl time, whatever you do, but you can maximise what you get with better rips, a CD transport or both.
Now we get to the really interesting bit - what sort of turntable options are you considering?
Regarding networked audio it more and more remind me of Steve Jobs and his ”you are holding it wrong”.
On a competitors forum a friend found a setup using one Ubiquity AmpliFi-HD and one GS108T. If you follow it exactly with specified lengths of BJC CAT6a etc it preliminary sounds surprisingly musical,
I noted Ubiquity now has ”premium-audio” support. A networked 130w amp. i havent read about it yet. Anyone figured it out?