Different folks, different ears, different opinions. And that’s all they are - opinions…
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After seeing very enthusiastic reviews on YouTube, I bought an Audiolab 6000CDT (transport, not player) and plugged it into Digital 1 on my Atom. There is no doubt in my mind that sound quality from the CD transport via the Atom’s DAC is superior to the streamed version of the same album. Admittedly, this conclusion is based on a small sample as I haven’t had the Audiolab very long, so this difference may not always be noticeable. Most of my listening is still done through Roon.
And get some snacks. This is going to be a busy evening….
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I had the same experience using an old but decent CD player in transport mode via my NDS DAC. It was a more enjoyable sound than my NDS in streaming mode.
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But streaming is just so much simpler 
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Steady….
I would argue none of the original streamers outperformed any Naim CDP. A matter of personal preference with the new ones but I personally find them consistently unengaging. Still love Naim amplification.
Is it? 
But are we talking about streaming from a USB stick or the outside world?
Likely too many variables to consider but I’ll take my 272/555 system over either of my CDS2 or CDS3 fronted systems all day every day for better SQ.
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And the reason why I’ll take my Melco for local streaming rather than external streaming sources.
BTW my original decision to go the streaming route was based on a 5 min demo (I didn’t need any more time) of Ndac with a USB stick against a CDX2
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Well, a large proportion of the reason why that sounded better is because the streaming section of the NDS was not being used, not so much because the CD was a better source.
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My CDX2 beats my NDX2 with same CD…
No wonder.
One is optimized to play CDs, the other is a multifunction platform that plays a lot of things.
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Yes, specialisation is the main advantage of a CDP over a streamer.
The disadvantages of a CDP vs a streamer include:
The CD is read live as it plays with possible errors, whereas good CD rips are bit perfect.
CDs can get scratched or damaged.
Streamers can be greatly enhanced by improvements to all the elements in the signal chain that feeds the streamer, including servers, switches, power supplies, cables, etc.
No high res.
I was talking about playing the same cd that was ripped and stored in a NAS. The CDX2 beats the NDX2.
But I use NDX2 90% of the time, with TIDAL.
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In that particular comparison, the CD has the disadvantage of reading the data live from the CD as it plays, which may include reading errors of the data.
The rip of the CD may have the advantage that the ripping process may have less errors or better error correction than the live CD reading process.
As you point out, the CD sounds better despite those points, partly because it is specialised to do that one task of reading a CD.
Also, if you had an even better ripper and server and power supplies and ethernet cables, etc, you might get better sound quality from the NDX2 than the CDP.
The fact that you play most of your stuff on your streamer, shows how much more convenient and easy it is to play on that device, and how much of an advantage it is to have almost unlimited music at your fingertips, and also that the sound quality difference is not as important as those other advantages most of the time.
Are they enhancing the streamer? Or are they preventing/correcting negative effects\influences from the network and environment? I suspect the latter (with some streamers more susceptible to the effects than others). In that regard perhaps CD has the advantage being (in most cases) all in one box from source reading to analogue output - a counter to the limitations of real time reading.
Perhaps - for those who stream from online sources…
Well I meant enhancing the sound quality one obtains from a streamer (by feeding it a cleaner, better signal).
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