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

[Tell]

Because I'm trying to remove screens from my life I've started using CD again after playing MP3s and later Spotify since the early 2000s. It's really quite freeing to put on a CD, listen to that for an hour and then get a natural break, all without screens. At this break I can then decide if I want to get up and put in something new or do something else, instead of before where I sat by my computer just having a constant endless stream that made it so I never had to move. I think that being too comfortable ain't good for us, and even starting a Spotify stream from my phone invites me to open Instagram, Facebook or whatever which easily makes me get stuck in a doomscroll.

The only real downside I see with CDs is the cost, I've spent several hundred euros the last months on music, which unfortunately almost nothing has gone into the pockets of the artists, instead it's people on Discogs.

 

[A Surfer]

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.)

I'm in the same situation exactly as you have described, right down to using a retired LG 8X as my source. I have plenty of lossless albums ripped from my CD library stored locally and I have been with Tidal for at least a decade I believe.

 

[Bland_username42069]

The cd player with built in streamer solves all dilemmas.

want the booklet or fancy boxset - buy the CD
Just want to listen to music - stream it

One thing I do encounter with streaming is that sometimes tracks are region locked and greyed out for me or the full set of tracks on the CD are missing.

The all in one combo solves all shenanigans

 

[Nutul]

I can have both worlds (despite not on paid plans, you'll understand...) BUT. There is always a but.
I work remote, therefore I require internet access. Now, since sh*t happens, I may be offline for any reason... being that, I cannot work, and may decide to listen to some music, right? If I relied entirely on streaming services I would be effed up. So, my easy solution has been the following, in the past 15 or so years:
1. a huge collection of CDs carefully ripped to flac+CUE on a 2TB SSD + moOde audio - critical listening
2. Internet Radio with moOde - casual listening
3. Spotify / YouTube Music for casual listening and music-discovery

Will never ditch my 2K+ CD collection. It is what saves my day.

 

[Yuhasz01]

Niche use case for me. My personal taste is medieval choral music. Hard to find physical media. I own +2,000 plus cds. Most (60%)were purchased second hand. Best place to discover new works is YouTube. Streaming platforms rarely carry anything in this genre.

 

[Open Mind Audio]

An observation from someone who owns 1,000+ CDs, SACDs, Audio DVDs, and Bluray Audio discs and has had both a CD player and streaming set up in my main listening rooms since 2006: I default 95% of the time to streaming (today via Roon, in the past via JRiver and Sonos). The convenience of streaming overwhelms any impulse to grab a disc, and it's very enjoyable on Roon, allowing me to meander through my own digital collection and explore everything online. But I still love having the option of physical media, and in the 5% of listening sessions where I grab a disc, it's to hear the full album and really take in the music. That's especially great for classical music and the classic all-time rock and pop albums.

So yeah, go with both, but if you can only do one, streaming wins.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Different strokes for different folks.

That is the beauty. Which is in the eye, ear and mind of the audiophile. I have a CD player but it is currently in dry dock. I ripped many of my CDs to a NAS. I also have a TT running into my WiiM Ultra. Rarely use it. I am not lazy, but I enjoy controlling everything from the WiiM and Tidal apps. The once enjoyed tactile sensation of putting a disc on the tray or an album on the matt has evolved out of me, along with volume, balance, selection and other knobs.

 

[dtaylo1066]

Niche use case for me. My personal taste is medieval choral music. Hard to find physical media. I own +2,000 plus cds. Most (60%)were purchased second hand. Best place to discover new works is YouTube. Streaming platforms rarely carry anything in this genre.

Yes, for more esoteric listening tastes, streaming may not offer nearly enough choice. Go with what got you to the dance.

 

[AgarWave]

The cd player with built in streamer solves all dilemmas.

want the booklet or fancy boxset - buy the CD
Just want to listen to music - stream it

One thing I do encounter with streaming is that sometimes tracks are region locked and greyed out for me or the full set of tracks on the CD are missing.

The all in one combo solves all shenanigans

Spot on regarding the regional licensing headaches with pure streaming. Having a physical fallback is a very practical workaround. To add a bit of context, the main hurdle I’ve found with most of these all-in-one CD/streamer units isn't the hardware, but the software implementation. If the companion app is clunky, it defeats the convenience of streaming entirely. This is exactly why I tend to favor stacking a rock-solid, audibly transparent streamer with a good app ecosystem over a generic CD transport. It usually saves you from future software abandonment.

 

[AgarWave]

我的情况和你描述的一模一样，连音源都是一台老旧的LG 8X。我本地存储着很多从CD库里抓取的无损专辑，而且我使用Tidal也至少有十年了。

使用老款 LG 四核 DAC 手机作为专用 UAPP 传输设备，绝对是数字音频史上最经济实惠的方案之一。客观来说，这种 USB 音频输出方案的音质出乎意料地纯净，并且成功绕过了 Android 的原生重采样。话虽如此，依赖老旧的移动操作系统版本以及电池老化问题，日后可能会带来麻烦。如果你想要同样精准可靠的音质，又不想费心维护老旧手机，那么升级到现代的、小巧的网络播放器才是更合理的选择。

 

[AgarWave]

因为我正在努力减少生活中的电子屏幕，所以自从2000年初以来，我一直听MP3，后来又开始听Spotify，现在我又开始听CD了。放一张CD，听一个小时，然后自然地休息一下，全程没有屏幕，这种感觉真的很自由。休息的时候，我可以决定是起身听点新歌，还是做点别的事情，而不是像以前那样坐在电脑前，让音乐不停地播放，让我一动不动。我觉得太安逸对我们不好，即使只是用手机播放Spotify，也会让我忍不住打开Instagram、Facebook之类的社交媒体，很容易就陷入无休止的刷屏之中。

我觉得 CD 唯一的缺点就是价格，过去几个月我花了数百欧元买音乐，但可惜的是，这些钱几乎没有进入艺术家的口袋，而是进了 Discogs 上那些人的口袋。

我完全理解想要摆脱屏幕疲劳的心情；用手机听Spotify确实容易被社交媒体分散注意力。补充一点，你可以通过将CD翻录到本地硬盘，然后使用专用的、音质纯净的流媒体播放器（最好配有简单的实体遥控器）来实现同样不受干扰的、以专辑为中心的聆听体验。就我个人日常使用而言，像WiiM或FiiO这样的品牌推出的现代设备都能完美地处理这种数字传输，让你无需屏幕，也无需支付Discogs的额外费用，就能享受比特完美的音乐库。

 

[AgarWave]

An observation from someone who owns 1,000+ CDs, SACDs, Audio DVDs, and Bluray Audio discs and has had both a CD player and streaming set up in my main listening rooms since 2006: I default 95% of the time to streaming (today via Roon, in the past via JRiver and Sonos). The convenience of streaming overwhelms any impulse to grab a disc, and it's very enjoyable on Roon, allowing me to meander through my own digital collection and explore everything online. But I still love having the option of physical media, and in the 5% of listening sessions where I grab a disc, it's to hear the full album and really take in the music. That's especially great for classical music and the classic all-time rock and pop albums.

So yeah, go with both, but if you can only do one, streaming wins.

I completely understand the desire to escape screen fatigue; using a phone for Spotify definitely invites social media distractions. To add a bit of context, you can achieve that exact same uninterrupted, album-oriented experience by ripping your CDs to a local drive and using a dedicated, audibly transparent streamer with a simple physical remote. In my day-to-day use, modern devices from brands like WiiM or FiiO handle this digital routing flawlessly, letting you enjoy a bit-perfect library without a screen in sight or the ongoing Discogs tax.

 

[gzost]

even starting a Spotify stream from my phone invites me to open Instagram, Facebook or whatever which easily makes me get stuck in a doomscroll.

That's the reason I have a cheap-ish Android DAP. Separate Google account, nothing but music apps installed, and the screen is so small and low-quality that there is no motivation to use the browser.

 

[phofman]

Just a note - basically every streamer is a linux (with a few windows exceptions) computer. Both linux and windows support CD-DA playback from SATA (or SATA/USB adapter if no SATA available) CD drives. So it's all about the playback software. Unfortunately very very few streamer softwares actually support (i.e. suitable GUI) connected CD/DVD drives for CD-DA playback decently, eventhough technically it would be quite simple. Switching the drive to 1x or 2x speed (e.g. mpv parameter --cdda-speed=<value>) makes it just as quiet as a regular CD player.