CD Player vs Music Streamer: Which One Is Better for Your Hi-Fi System?

[AgarWave]

Hi everyone,

With streaming becoming the default way many of us listen to music, I started wondering whether dedicated CD players still make sense in a modern Hi-Fi system.

From my perspective, each option has different strengths.

CD Player

Pros

Physical ownership of music
Consistent playback quality
No dependence on internet services
Great for collectors with large CD libraries

Cons

Limited music library
Physical storage required
Less convenient than streaming
Music Streamer

Pros

Millions of tracks available instantly
Supports high-resolution streaming
Easy multi-room integration
Remote control from phone/tablet

Cons

Requires internet
Subscription costs
Some services remove albums over time

Personally, I think the choice depends on listening habits.

If someone already owns hundreds of CDs, a quality CD transport still makes perfect sense.

For someone building a new system today, I'd probably recommend investing in a good streamer first and adding a CD transport later if needed.
Do you still use a CD player regularly?
Have you completely switched to streaming?
If starting from scratch today, where would you spend your budget?

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Another option

Listening to a collection of music on a hard drive - from ripped Compact Discs and digitized vinyl.

 

[Chrispy]

I rip all my cd's to hard drives/thumb drives and use those after the first play. I still use optical disc players, mostly for SACD, DVD and Bluray formats. I use Pandora and Spotify for streaming services (but mostly just stream my own content over my network), mostly Spotify these days. I prefer owning content back from the vinyl days and has carried over to digital as well. If I can get a good download or cd, I'm happy. I use SACD/DVD/Bluray for multich audio and the video possibilities as well. I started to rip my vinyl but found it a pain, and was just easier to put the vinyl on when I wanted to hear something I only had in that format....may as well give the old tt a bit more use after 40 years of service

 

[Joe Smith]

Room for both. If starting today, though, I would definitely not buy/own as much physical media as I do. I enjoy all formats but those up us who are older have “legacy” feelings for vinyl and tape.

 

[Chrispy]

Room for both. If starting today, though, I would definitely not buy/own as much physical media as I do. I enjoy all formats but those up us who are older have “legacy” feelings for vinyl and tape.

LOL it's definitely something that's a bit baked in and doesn't make a lot of sense unless you just don't trust online subscriptions a lot

 

[Joe Smith]

For me, it’s like books. I use the public library a lot, but have a large home library, built over 50 years. Again, that library could be pared down, but I would never not have one.

 

[JSmith]

For me...

JSmith

 

[EJ3]

Hi everyone,

With streaming becoming the default way many of us listen to music, I started wondering whether dedicated CD players still make sense in a modern Hi-Fi system.

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions.

I do not stream
(unless it is from within my own gear [such as a NAS with copies of my owned albums, CD's, cassettes, reel to reels on it]).
Since I have 12 bin's that hold around 70 albums each (and about the same amount in CD's), I do not feel constrained by listening to only my collection.
Once in a while, I run into new music that I want on FM or at friends homes. And then I hunt it down and buy it in physical media.

 

[gzost]

I could never go back to just physical media. I own >2000 releases on vinyl and CD, but love to go exploring new music, sometimes sampling dozens of releases before finding something I consider worth listening to in full. For that I used to make a couple of trips to the record store every week, but I can bow do that from the comfort of my home and with a selection that no physical shop could ever offer.

 

[Soandso]

I belatedly switched to streaming only about 5 years ago. My 1960 - 1980 record collection was subsequently given to a relative and last week every time I played a CD lost interest after 1 or 2 CDs. My younger self lived in the era of abundant long play vinyl record albums and would listen in an attitude of interest to hear the artists' specific body of work as presented on an album.

By now I have matured musical tastes and a critical opinion toward individual songs that aren't interesting despite being from a favored artist. Streaming provides the flexibility to pass up hearing album/CD songs that are not appealing to me. And since most record albums are not actually full of "great" songs I find streaming my personal playlists (or sometimes recommendations) provides me consistent musical appreciation with at-the-fingertips skip option for songs I'm not in the mood for.

These days I've ditched Deezer and subscribe with Tidal (in USA Tidal monthly individual plan is going up to U$11.99 + tax). Now I use an old Android quad-dac LG phone as the streaming audio source connected to my own WiFi hot spot giving me quick room to room connecting to different amplifiers and being outside with headphones. The quad-dac LGs have a headphone jack output and internally filtered through the purchased app UAPP renders the Tidal music bit perfect. One of my playlists' tracks can run for 29 complete days and another for 27 complete days of plug and play 17,025 different musical selections not counting my other playlists. (Quobuz would also be compatible with UAPP app's bit perfect Android rendering for LG quad-dac phones but they limit each individual playlist to fewer tracks than Tidal and I've yet to trial Quobuz nor recall their individual plan's monthly price.)

 

[Mart68]

Do you still use a CD player regularly?
Have you completely switched to streaming?
If starting from scratch today, where would you spend your budget?

Main system is CD only. Don't like subscriptions, prefer to browse a physical library, like to choose my mastering where there's options. Don't like to wrestle with I.T problems when I just want music. I only listen to full albums.

TV system has my laptop connected via HDMI so I can stream Youtube to check out music I don't own. Very rare what I'm after isn't on there, SQ is acceptable, costs nothing. If I really like it, I order the CD.

Starting from scratch without large CD collection? Probably I would just stream. But I do like record shopping, it's the only type of shopping I enjoy. As in, going to a physical second-hand record store and rooting through the CDs. I would miss that if I was streaming only.

 

[DazST]

I use both. Streaming for mixed playlists, discoveries and background listening while working or gym. Cds for more serious listening sessions or when feeling nostalgic. Cds are also ripped to flac for convenience and played via usb on wiim amp ultra or ultra.

 

[pinger]

Streaming is too antiseptic for me. I have maybe 500 Classical CD's. Its like a library . Doesn't take up that much room. Looking at the physical CD's and picking one to listen to is much more fun than scrolling on a computer. Also CD booklets have lots of good info the composers and the performer. And no thats not all available on Wiki LOL!

 

[Purité Audio]

All the world’s music available at the touch of a button, why wouldn’t you.
Keith

 

[goat76]

I ripped all my CD collection in 2011, and since then I only bought one CD that doesn’t exist on any of the larger streaming services. Maybe around 80% of my listening is streaming from Tidal or from my digital collection stored on a NAS. The remaining 20% since last summer is now listening to vinyl records, which I really like the sound of for some reason.

 

[Mart68]

All the world’s music available at the touch of a button, why wouldn’t you.
Keith

I don't want all the world's music. Most of it's not my thing and I don't have time to listen to even a tiny fraction of it all. If I was immortal, then maybe

 

[EJ3]

I don't want all the world's music. Most of it's not my thing and I don't have time to listen to even a tiny fraction of it all. If I was immortal, then maybe

I wish that I could give you a trillion likes!

 

[dtaylo1066]

WiiM and Tidal. Heaven.

 

[EJ3]

WiiM and Tidal. Heaven.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[AgarWave]

I think a hybrid approach works best depending on the room. While my main rig still sees occasional CD use, my desktop setup is strictly streaming due to form factor constraints. Pairing a clean, well-engineered Class-D amp from Fosi Audio with a modern streamer gives me plenty of headroom and absolute silence when the music is paused.