Cd player quality versus network streaming

R

RainMan

Junior Audioholic
I mention converting a CD to a lossless WAV file and streaming it to a network receiver and certain people shoot it down immediately, saying that they didn't spend allot of money on there systems only to get substandard sound by doing so .
Has there been any articles regarding this subject ? I have wondered myself if the SQ is the same after converting cds to another format and then streaming them over cat5 . There is probably 50 feet of cat5 by the time I get from my server rack in my basement to my receiver .
I can't seem to notice a difference ,at least I don't think I do ,but was wondering how others feel about this .
 
jp_over

jp_over

Full Audioholic
I mention converting a CD to a lossless WAV file and streaming it to a network receiver and certain people shoot it down immediately, saying that they didn't spend allot of money on there systems only to get substandard sound by doing so .
Has there been any articles regarding this subject ? I have wondered myself if the SQ is the same after converting cds to another format and then streaming them over cat5 . There is probably 50 feet of cat5 by the time I get from my server rack in my basement to my receiver .
I can't seem to notice a difference ,at least I don't think I do ,but was wondering how others feel about this .
If you've got some doubts, do this:

foobar2000: Components Repository - ABX Comparator

If no significant results, call it good.
 
avnetguy

avnetguy

Audioholic Chief
I mention converting a CD to a lossless WAV file and streaming it to a network receiver and certain people shoot it down immediately, saying that they didn't spend allot of money on there systems only to get substandard sound by doing so .
Couple of points to look at here. First off, the PCM data on the CD will be exactly the same as the PCM data on your computer so there will be no difference there. Second thing to look at is the streaming format, is it being sent as untouched PCM data or transcoded into another format for streaming, like MP3. If the stream received is the same data (44.1 kHz, stereo, PCM) then there is no loss.

Steve
 
B

bikemig

Audioholic Chief
Once you've rip your music to a lossless format and start streaming it around the house, you'll never go back to CDs is my guess. The SQ is excellent and you'll never have to fumble around for that CD again. The real question is what device you want to use to stream with and which format you want to use. Do some research on the format (wav may not be the best choice) because you don't want to rip your music more than once. For hardware, my vote goes to the Squeezebox Touch; there are other good products out there but SB is a rock solid, reasonably priced product with excellent SQ (call me a fanboy).
 
R

RainMan

Junior Audioholic
Thanks for the replies guys .
This SB sounds interesting . I will have to do research but what I have going now appears to be working .
I will have to see what the benefits of the SB are .if there's improvement in sound I'm in
 
R

RainMan

Junior Audioholic
One thing I have noticed is when listening to a radio station streamed on the net , "105.5 spreeradio classic rock " to be exact ,I noticed it actually sounds better on some songs than my actual cd ? It shows it's in AAC format .

I have an old album "Sweet" , and the song 16 is terrible IMO but has decent bass and dynamic range on the Internet radio .
Does anyone recommend any software to edit older CDs ,maybe restore some bass
 
Last edited:
avnetguy

avnetguy

Audioholic Chief
There are many PCM audio programs that'll make adjustments, some are even free like audacity.

Steve
 

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