Simplicity

[JimDog]

@adaug

to my ears, i have never heard streaming that sounds better than great CD sound.

But have you heard really excellent Naim streaming systems set up painstakingly and tuned to the room?

The best of these will beat the best Naim CD based systems.

[mikehughescq]

@RWC

My specific point was that CD was straight forward and simple. In my case one box with no special cables.

Yes but that simplicity was to do with your system and not CD per se.

[MaxBertola]

I have long given up trying to find rational explanations for why an LP sounds more pleasant; possibly less expectations? Perhaps even the notion that HD or SSD replay is more safe in principle than the ‘on the fly’ job by a laser beam could contribute to the general feeling of mistrust in CDs that seems to dominate audio since some time. It can’t be that digital is less pleasing to the ear than analogue, or streaming wouldn’t be so popular.

I regret having tortured my LPs over the years, not having bought many more, not having cultivated a proper music library. Pictures of bookshelves full of well-kept albums always give me a true sense of what enjoying one’s spaces, moments, sounds means.

[Blythe]

I am convinced that some CD’s are simply “over-loud” or somehow distorted and therefore sound unpleasant. Also it appears that some have been “remastered” to boost treble making it harsh to my ears.
Not wishing to hi-jack the OP thread, I do find streaming to be very convenient, simple and easy, if not always “music to my ears”.

[Innocent_Bystander]

@MaxBertola

I think that having all the music in this world available any moment through loudspeakers is not normal,

If you mean normal, perhaps it is becoming normal today… I felt you might mean natural - but then having any recorded music at home is scarcely “natural”!

I have no interest in, indeed positively dislike the idea of paying a subscription to be able to hear music, though the idea of being able to listen to multiple versions of a classical piece to decide which one or ones to buy for future repeated enjoyment is appealing, and if multiplied up to encompass all possible compositions in which I might be interested that is a huge amount - and that would be with just my limited tastes.

[JimDog]

@Innocent_Bystander

the idea of being able to listen to multiple versions of a classical piece to decide which one or ones to buy for future repeated enjoyment is appealing

Some people who don’t want to pay for an ongoing subscription just take out a subscription for a month or two, often when there’s an introductory offer, and then they can do exactly what you say i.e. explore the almost unlimited library and use that time to decide Between versions of Music they want to buy, and also find new things to buy.

[Innocent_Bystander]

That sounds like a good idea! When I have more time I may well do that just for the purpose I indicated (where once I would have gone to a record shop and perhaps managed to hear part of 3 or 4 to pick).

[JimDog]

Please let us know if you do that.

It would be interesting to see whether there is any SQ difference between local and Internet streaming on your system.

[Innocent_Bystander]

It’ll be some time yet as likely to be pretty busy for some montgs yet.