Spotify vs Audio CD

Hi Vivek, based on the other thread you started, unless you have a fully tricked out laptop (doesn't cost much), you will not be able to discover which is better, conclusively. IIRC, you had not done all the treatments needed, nor were you using a dedicated streamer. In such a case the CD would be undoubtedly better. Pardon me if you have already set up your streaming rig optimally.

My personal opinion, and that is what I have based my system on, is that the CD will beat even an optimized streaming setup.
Hi @Gerry_the_Merry

I have not bought any streamer yet and still relying on my laptop.
 
When comparing bit rate, or the amount of data transferred per second, High-Resolution Audio's bit rate (9,216 kbps) is nearly seven times higher than that of CDs (1,411 kbps) and almost 29 times higher than that of MP3s (320 kbps).
But in actual CD always perform better in real world.
 
When comparing bit rate, or the amount of data transferred per second, High-Resolution Audio's bit rate (9,216 kbps) is nearly seven times higher than that of CDs (1,411 kbps) and almost 29 times higher than that of MP3s (320 kbps).
But in actual CD always perform better in real world.
so your saying Flac is higher resolution than CD?
 
so your saying Flac is higher resolution than CD?
FLAC can handle any PCM bit resolution from 4 to 32 bits per sample, any sampling rate from 1 Hz to 65,535 Hz in 1 Hz increments or from 10 Hz to 655,350 Hz in 10 Hz increments, and any number of channels from 1 to 8.

CD is encoded at 16 bit, 44100 Hz sampling rate.
 
FLAC can handle any PCM bit resolution from 4 to 32 bits per sample, any sampling rate from 1 Hz to 65,535 Hz in 1 Hz increments or from 10 Hz to 655,350 Hz in 10 Hz increments, and any number of channels from 1 to 8.

CD is encoded at 16 bit, 44100 Hz sampling rate.
I guess SACD has a higher bit rate and sampling rate? What I have seen is 24 bit and 92000 Hz
 
I guess SACD has a higher bit rate and sampling rate? What I have seen is 24 bit and 92000 Hz
DSD64 is sampled at 1 bit, 44100 Hz x 64 = 2822400 Hz.

DSD128 is 44100 x 128.... and so on.

24 bit 192 kHz is probably the equivalent when DSD is played over PCM.
 
Nice thread. My experience has been a mixed one but its gets better with time. I listen to apple music at resolutions16/44, 24/96. For mobility and listening on headphones via mobile phone or a portable headphone dac+amp on the go, lets face it any music service with 16/44 and above resolution is a dream come true.

An example of Alan Parsons album. The day I saw it labeled lossless, heard it on my headphone rig and was totally underwhelmed. Muddy. It sounded like hearing a cassette with the tape deck head dirty. Over time this album became better. They may have tweaked something at the backend or are streaming a another master/source. In the interim I upgraded my phone software too so who knows what made the difference. What I noticed was there were multiple versions of an album sometimes which sounded different.

A few other classical albums sounded good on streaming, just about on par with the cd equivalent. So no complaints there. Yes I can hear differences for the better in various albums as the service picks up momentum and phone softwares get updated. Trust me, I have begun to update my phone software only because of apple music :)
I guess the service's are optimising their streaming sources and end user software as well.
Should take some time for them to get to and stream the whole catalogue with the best source material. I guess thats expecting too much right now as well.
In some cases there are settings in the software which say “Auto” for streaming resolution which I turn off. Who knows if the software is auto downgrading a stream due to bandwidth constraints intermittently ?
Physical media have their own charm and will play consistently as long as they are maintained well.

To me streaming services are a huge convenience and a blessing but not a replacement for my physical media. Maybe in the future.
 
When comparing bit rate, or the amount of data transferred per second, High-Resolution Audio's bit rate (9,216 kbps) is nearly seven times higher than that of CDs (1,411 kbps) and almost 29 times higher than that of MP3s (320 kbps).
But in actual CD always perform better in real world.
True. Music is not Bit rate anyways. It also does not depend on age (listening capacity due to age)
 
In my gear, I am able to make out the differences of flac(played via kodi/plex) (being far better) versus Spotify Premium. Will moving from the shield to a budget streamer from Allo make a difference and improve the case for Spotify?
 
My personal experience is, audio cd sound more life like compared to spotify, tidal and qobuz. I am using a linn streamer with digital out to cary audio dac, not sure whether the experience will change with very expensive streamers.
In my experience always CD quality better than streamers , even though never tried Tidal.
 
Sorry for the off topic. Recently upgraded with premium account for spotify when I bought lap from flipkart. But I dont see any difference between premium and normal account. all looks same. except the ad.
True, apple music is far better than spotify,
 
In my gear, I am able to make out the differences of flac(played via kodi/plex) (being far better) versus Spotify Premium. Will moving from the shield to a budget streamer from Allo make a difference and improve the case for Spotify?
If you have an iPhone try the dongle, its pretty good. I also have a large collection of flacs ripped from cds. Is the difference night and day or does it prevent me from enjoying discovering music on Spotify? It’s thoroughly enjoyable, sometimes I go weeks without playing a Flac. No matter how big, one’s own collection is finally limiting.
 
+1

there is world of difference in terms of SQ and soundstage.

And I have a fairly entry level setup with LgV40 --> Marantz PM8006 --> Elac b6.2 + REL HT1003 Mkii subs
I think there's a world of difference between Bryers and Baskin Robins Ice cream because I prefer Bryers :rolleyes:

Someone with a far better setup than yours could just as easily feel the opposite way. Or they could feel neither is as good as CD or vinyl. It's simply a matter of perspective (in this case equipment). And why I put zero stock in statements like the above.

I personally prefer listening to CDs over any streamed content. That's me.

Perspective.
 
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