What is the best digital source

[Jwg1749]

In the interests of democracy I added a 'they all sound the same' option. Voting for this does rather depend on the voter having heard all the options though...!

Thanks, Rob.
Let's assume it means "all the ones I've tried have sounded the same".

[f1eng]

For whatever reason, it certainly isn't because I have noticed a night and day difference, I find myself mainly listening to CDs nowadays, with some LPs.
FWIW my CD transport is connected by AES/EBU.

[Music or sound]

For whatever reason, it certainly isn't because I have noticed a night and day difference, I find myself mainly listening to CDs nowadays, with some LPs.
FWIW my CD transport is connected by AES/EBU.

I still prefer playing CDs not only sound quality wise but I find it more satisfying to find a physical object than scrolling on a screen.
My second best sounding option is presently what most favor: computer AIR/ethernet. But I recently struggle with the idea that digital downloads (or streaming) will be the future of high res music: Linn is shrinking its catalog, Qobuz is lacking investments, Pono music did not happen yet. There are a few audiophile sites with a very small catalog and not much music I am interested in. I very much hope that situation improves but the the mainstream music distribution apparently moves to streaming at low resolution.

[PhilP]

I still prefer playing CDs not only sound quality wise but I find it more satisfying to find a physical object than scrolling on a screen.
My second best sounding option is presently what most favor: computer AIR/ethernet. But I recently struggle with the idea that digital downloads (or streaming) will be the future of high res music: Linn is shrinking its catalog, Qobuz is lacking investments, Pono music did not happen yet. There are a few audiophile sites with a very small catalog and not much music I am interested in. I very much hope that situation improves but the the mainstream music distribution apparently moves to streaming at low resolution.

I am very happy not to have any CD players left in the house though I think our Blu-Ray players can play the horrid little things

A lot of my listening currently involves streaming from Qobuz as I'm exploring new genres (for me) some resulting from some great recommendations on here and having access to CD quality music makes this very enjoyable. Although the quality of Qobuz is good I often find that playing rips I've made from CDs is better than the streamed equivalent - typically a lot more 'body' to the sound. I'm not sure why this should be but am not too concerns. What I have discovered to my £ cost is that 24-bit versions ( of recent recordings at least) often do sound a lot better than the 16 bit equivalents. A great example of this is the ubiquitous Daft Punk 'Random Access Memories' which I find so much more interesting and enjoyable in 24 bit.

Whether higher quality steaming services will survive is a moot point. I read somewhere that even Spotify are not yet making a profit so perhaps the streaming business model in its current form is not viable.

[Confused]

Didn't know Daft Punk was available on 24bit. A good tip! Devialet's of course sound at their very best playing sometimes slightly annoying electro French house music. Although Devialet's are not at their best with normal Brittish punk for some reason.

[PhilP]

Didn't know Daft Punk was available on 24bit. A good tip! Devialet's of course sound at their very best playing sometimes slightly annoying electro French house music. Although Devialet's are not at their best with normal Brittish punk for some reason.

If you want to be amused/annoyed try Sexy Sushi or Psycho Tropical Berlin. I haven't tried 'real' punk apart from The Clash London Calling which sounds so much better on vinyl than CD

[Confused]

Didn't know Daft Punk was available on 24bit. A good tip! Devialet's of course sound at their very best playing sometimes slightly annoying electro French house music. Although Devialet's are not at their best with normal Brittish punk for some reason.

If you want to be amused/annoyed try Sexy Sushi or Psycho Tropical Berlin. I haven't tried 'real' punk apart from The Clash London Calling which sounds so much better on vinyl than CD

I have a copy of Le Femme's Psycho Tropical Berlin! Very good it is too! Plus a whole stack of original 70's punk vinyl. Haven't got round to playing any of them yet since getting my new turntable. Watch out for updates this on the "What are you listening to thread" some time soon .... (No idea who Sexy Sushi is though, I'll check it out)

[smokejumper]

After Kunter's comments I am now trying an Audioquest Diamond ethernet cable. No going back is correct, huge improvement from Vodka

[GuillaumeB]

After Kunter's comments I am now trying an Audioquest Diamond ethernet cable. No going back is correct, huge improvement from Vodka

It's an excellent cable and it seems that most who try it agree. Another cable also worth trying is the TotalDac one:

http://www.totaldac.com/ethernet_cable-eng.htm

At 390 euros for 2M it's quite a bit cheaper than the Diamond and to my ears certainly equal in performance. It has quite a unique construction and is very different from anything else on the market: it has a massive choke comprising of dozens of ferrite rings, these supposedly act as a low pass filter.

I've also got a couple of Sablon ethernet cables here to try and will report back once I get a chance.

Guillaume

[Antoine]

The thread suggesting the Diamond is here: http://devialetchat.com/Thread-last-mile-ethernet