My experience after lost of 20k$

@tonykay 

Quote:  "I have a room full of vinyl, cassettes and CDs, not to mention the hardware used to play each of them. I have resisted the urge to buy into the “new” computer audio wave even though I read about the joys of that experience. I simply see it as another attempt to separate me from my money with the promise of more transparency."

Bravo.  Couldn't have said it better myself.  PC-based audio is not the next big thing.  It's just the next thing, that's all.  If the high-end industry is going to survive then change is necessary.  But change for the sake of change is not always better nor worth the effort.  Just my 2-centavos....

I dunno.  When the Apple Airport Express came out (less than $100), I hooked one up to my stereo.  Now I spend about half my listening time streaming from Tidal from my phone (or, more usually, an iPad).  Sounds good to me.  Sounds good with my ancient tube amps and Altec Lansing horns.  Sounds good through my Tivoli Model 1.  Sounds good through my Schiit stack using Grados and Sennheaisers.  Sounds good through my Odyssey Candela>Odyssey Khartego>Harbeths.  Sounds good even without taking the digital out to an external DAC (it does sound better running it through a better DAC).  Family plan from TIDAL keeps my whole family in music for $29/month (less than $6/month for each of us), and we all have more music than we can listen to in 100 lifetimes.

Does it sound better than my analog rig?  I dunno.  Both sound good.  Records are fun.  Turntables and cartridges are interesting to play with.  But so is my 100 year old Victrola.  I like it all!

I just bought a Chromecast Audio for $25.  Sounds great!  Anybody who says that it sounds bad just needs to clean the wax from their ears.

The bigger issue for me is the quality of the program material. I tried quite a few Hi-Res downloads (direct from computer to DAC - no AEX), and the results were varied. Many sounded better than the CD versions I had. Most of those had been remastered. I was curious, so I resampled several of those Hi-Res downloads to 16/44.1. I could not tell the difference between the original Hi-Res files and the re-sampled files. My conclusion was that the difference was in the mastering. Of course, those of you with highly revealing systems and/or "golden ears" may well be able to detect a difference, but through my modest equipment and 61 years old ears it was clearly evident that there was no need for me to hop into the Hi-Res rabbit hole. Maybe I’m just lucky!

I’ll still buy an occasional Hi-Res download, but it is for the remastering and convenience only. I’ll listen to them at 16/44.1 and am completely content!

Like any other source components, good sound starts with the best versions of the title.  As the quality of different CD or vinyl releases varies, remastering may be better or worse, etc., you have to seek out the best versions to have the best sound. PC audio is not a cure-all, it is just an extremely convenient way to get to CD+ sound.

Hi Res *can* sound better than redbook. As above, it’s about the best source material, and often if something is hi resolution, then someone has taken more care with the mastering. But not always, and there’s plenty of not-better hi res out there.

Also, it takes knowledge. I have even been surprised at how many otherwise gear-smart folks don’t understand PC audio, operating systems, or the audio path through their systems. You have to understand it to optimize it - it’s not about cables and audiophile network gear. PC Audio can sound stellar.

Call me old fashioned, but after 35 years in audio, a collection of more than 300 LPs (many DD Masters) nearly as many CDs  and a collection of decent gear - I have 0 desire to change gears, dump a bunch of bucks and jump on to the digital stream band wagon. If I make any upgrades in the future, it probably will be to the next larger Maggie and an upgrade to my CDP.

One of the nice thing about being retired is that I have a good amount of time to just kick back and enjoy some real great music and spend little time worrying about expensive ways to make it the tinniest bit better.
You kids enjoy your downloads and streaming, but think I'll stick to spinning my discs and LPs....Jim.