CD Player or Network Streaming Player

[noknor]

I have recently acquired a Yamaha AS500 amplifier. That was my first step into the hifi arena.
My second step is acquiring a source.
I am currently doing some research on whether I should go for a CD Player or a Network Streaming Player.

I want to mention that I do not have any CD collections and neither do I have any digital music files on my computer.
Whatever the choice of source, I will still have to purchase my music collection from scratch.

I do have a computer and also a wifi router but I do not want that to cause a bias towards network players.

In this situation what should I buy? Any suggestions and advise would help.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Noknor,

Welcome to the Audio forum. Let me sum-up things on your current situation.

1.CD Player- you need to roam around stores and Online for getting the OST and it Might not be so easy.Even i tried to spend some money and time towards getting OST and i understood its going to be waste of time.

2.Network Streaming Player This should be Good.Choose a Media Player with Network compatible.Just get a Internet Connecting.Plug the Ethernet Cable and start streaming Music and Movies Online.

So Network streaming Player+Good DAC Should be 100% Optimal solution for you.Meanwhile you could look for CD and rip them into the HDD and Play them happily.

So what is the speaker you are using with Yamaha?

 

[asliarun]

The problem with CD collections is that they take so much money and effort to build. My pet peeve with most albums is the inconsistent quality of songs. Most often, I find myself not listening to the entire album but listening to a couple of songs I really like.

I rergret having spent so much money on CDs. I basically ended up spending 6-8 times more than what I should have spent. Don't even get me started on the hundreds of tapes I threw away.

I only say this now because we do have the option to buy music as digital singles. ThE main challenge is ensuring that the singles we buy are CD quality too.

If I had to start, I would definitely start building a flac or wav collection. Actually, I am starting as I no longer even listen to my CDs so I am ripping them slowly.

I also find myself listening to Pandora and internet radio more than anything else. It is a wonderful way to discover new music.

 

[jagdish_p]

Noknor,

Welcome to the Audio forum. Let me sum-up things on your current situation.

1.CD Player- you need to roam around stores and Online for getting the OST and it Might not be so easy.Even i tried to spend some money and time towards getting OST and i understood its going to be waste of time.

2.Network Streaming Player This should be Good.Choose a Media Player with Network compatible.Just get a Internet Connecting.Plug the Ethernet Cable and start streaming Music and Movies Online.

So Network streaming Player+Good DAC Should be 100% Optimal solution for you.Meanwhile you could look for CD and rip them into the HDD and Play them happily.

So what is the speaker you are using with Yamaha?

If you are only looking for Audio streaming through wired LAN ( No video streaming) you can think of Marantz NA7004. No need for an external DAC as the inbuilt DAC is good.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Yes,But In case MUSIC Only then could prefer Marantz, But I hope we just spin few Disc for Movies too.

So Media Player would be good to play Music\Video from HDD\Network Etc.

 

[noknor]

@Audio Freek : Thanks for you suggestions, I actually did not think about a network compatible media player. This was really an eye opener for me as I was only thinking about audio streaming. This way I can actually listen to music with a DAC and also watch movies on the tv.
I have not thought about the speakers yet, I am considering the Krypton Audio as there are some very good reviews by the forum members.

@asliarun : I like your ideas, buy only the tracks I want to listen and not the entire album as more often than not we only listen to our favourites.

@jagdish p : Yes, the Marantz and CA network players were on my list but after reading Audio Freek I would like to watch movies too.

 

[haisaikat]

What is your budget? Now that you have brought in movies into the picture, I thinkg you will have to head towards a network AVR and not just network streamers. I think your best bet in low budget can be a USB DAC which you can connect to your laptop where the music can also reside and connect its output to the stereo amp directly. This will give you enough time to decide on whether you like unripped CDs or ripped music from CDs in terms of FLACs / WAVs and MP3.

If your computer is a desktop computer keep it close to the audio system and Control your player (foobar / anything similar) through your phone via wifi.

 

[pratyush]

Hi, I have recently bought a Denon CEOL N8 (with the stock speakers), has fabulous Network streaming capabilities. However in your case, I would probably suggest a Denon CEOL N5 or N7 (without the speakers).

I like the Marantz 603 but it has wired internet which is a big downer.

 

[Staxxx]

It looks like you are going the streaming way, which I also strongly advocate for several reasons. I have built up a huge collection of CDs but find it impossible sometimes to find the tracks I want - especially since i have multiple artists playing the same thing. So access to your collection in the long run will be much easier. The sound quality is arguably better on some streamers than a stand alone CD....certainly not worse I have found from personal experience. Lastly, as a sign of the times, I had a hard time selling my stand alone CD player and many dealers also report the same. Good DACs are becoming cheaper and technologically better. If I were starting from scratch I would definitely have gone the Network / or stand alone streaming option (which I have converted to now). One suggestion - when you begin to build your library of music, always collect and rip to the highest fidelity/resolution you can, you will never regret it in years to come.

 

[soulofmusic]

Incase you are looking for a streamer, I have one to sell Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6... Need to take the pictures to put it for sale here... lazy me

 

[noknor]

I am think I will go for a network enabled streaming media player with a DAC.

Not looking for AVRs, want a hifi system only for music.
The network enabled media streamer would also help me to watch movies from my ethernet enabled TV.

For now I might not even need a media streamer, I guess I will connect my computer to a DAC and later on get a media streamer.

 

[Brajendu]

How much will be the quote?

Incase you are looking for a streamer, I have one to sell Cambridge Audio Stream Magic 6... Need to take the pictures to put it for sale here... lazy me