The Beat, The Specials, The Selecter… love that! Also really like a lot of Trojan stuff… keep on skankin`!!!
… just to get back to the topic… name a few streaming-bridges that should - in your opinion - clearly beat the current CD setup. I‘ll be happy to try em out. It is fun testing and a hobby after all. Had Auralic Aries & Lindemann here already… did not convince me.
A CD player is a combination of a transport, and a DAC.
So when looking at streaming setups to compare to a CD player, you need to consider either an integrated streamer, or a combination of a digital transport and a DAC.
With RB/CD material, my combination of a Stack Audio LINK digital transport combined with a Chord M Scaler and TT2 DAC sounds better than my CD player. Period.
… never heard of Stackaudio… exclusive in the UK?
I don’t think so?
https://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/stack-audio-link-ii-streaming-bridgereclocker
Theo @StackAudio is your best bet to clarify this.
Which DAC did you try with the Aries?
Another CDP solution is using a Digital Music Transport like a Bryston BDP-2/3 and equipping it with an external USB CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive. The CD stream is then fed to the digital music transport. Similar in concept to the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport stream.
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… at the moment I‘m using the DAC in my McIntosh c52.
Interesting. I wonder if the DAC in your CD player is simply better than the one in the Mac C52…or are you using your CD player as a transport?
Unrelated, it’s been over a decade since I last played a physical CD, but I thought I’d give it a try today just for fun. In this case, the transport is the old Sonly blu-ray player that I use for ripping my SACDs so that I can play them in Roon. I have a few MQA encoded CDs (Chesky and others), so I wanted to find out if an MQA DAC could decode them. S/PDIF into an iFi NEO iDSD, and it actually works!
Mind you, I’m not sure that MQA makes much sense, and MQA CDs make even less sense. The noise floor on this album is particularly high…could be the original recording or perhaps MQA encoding contributed. Not the best sound, but this was my first time seeing the “MQA.” light come on from playing a physical CD.
So, I guess with the right DAC and (incredibly limited) media, you can enjoy MQA from a CD player. 
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I prefer LP to CD, and CP over streaming.
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… same here 
About a week ago I modified my Sony CDP-X7esD and let it play for 150 hours before comparing it with my Roon setup. Details as below:
My Roon setup:
Core: i7 laptop + 16Gb ram + 250 Gb SSD > Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS
Roon Endpoint: Ropieee on RPI3B + Allo Isolator + Allo Kali reclocker > I2S directly into Dual AK4497
Both Rpi and Kali recklocker are powered by a dedicated external 2A 0.4us noise linear psu.
Modifications of Sony CDP-X7esD:
1 - Furutech IEC-320 grounded inlet (instead of ungrounded and fixed power cable)
2 - Audio clock PCB, powered by dedicated R-core transformer. TCXO of mediocre Phase noise specs.
3 - Replaced all LM7805 - LM7812 - LM7905 - LM7912 regulators with TPS7A4700 regulators, 9 pieces in total.
4 - Replaced RCA’s for fixed output with WBT nextgen WBT-0210CuMs
In standard configuration the X7 doesn’t sound bad at all, but not more than that…
After all the mods it now plays ON PAR with my streaming configuration!
Soundstage, definition, air around voices and instruments, rhythm and pace, just PERFECT!
Since it performs that well I decided to upgrade the clock with one of the best ones available.
I ordered a new Clock PCB (which I have to modify with TPS7A4700 regulator), bigger R-Core transformer and a very good SC-cut OCXO. I suppose that the X7’s soundquality will exceed that of my streaming configuration when ready and settled-in.
Until now I only compared it’s Analog output to my streamer setup, not the digital output. I will keep you guys posted 
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Does anyone here use a dCS Rossini Player? It strikes me that would be an ideal way to compare CD to streaming with no extraneous variables confusing the result.
AT LAST I’ve managed to get hold of a Sony SCD-XA5400ES to go with my M/C SACD setup.
It uses proprietary Sony anti-jitter technology called H.A.T.S. to transmit M/C DSD from SACD’s via HDMI completely in-sync. The only drawback is that it only works with certain Sony receivers such as the STR-DA5500ES (which I have).
And it works! 
It sounds so much better than my Denon universal disc player playing SACD’s via HDMI.
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question for you on compatibility with “certain sony receivers”… are you taking about the anti-jitter technology, or the HDMI connection? (Wondering if the HDMI connection might work with I2S-equipped DACs.)
I’m not sure, to be honest. Sorry that I can’t answer your question 
Hi Guys,
I promised an update. Yesterday a good friend of mine and I compared my modified Sony CDP-X7esD extensively with my Roon setup.
Shocking news:
After a few days of extra settling-in, the result is just amazing.
My X7 betters my Roon setup in EVERY way!!! Analog AND Digital! If I use it as a standalone player, Analog output, it sounds best! When feeding my dual AK4497 dac thru Spdif-out from the X7 it also sounds better than my Roon setup…
And the problem is, it’s not by a small margin. The Sony plays much more live like, for example, playing Jazz at the Pawnshop (XRCD), first track, when it starts, with my Roon setup it sounds like I am at that recording, very good, but with the X7, it’s like the bar where they recorded this album is in my room! But, sadly it’s not, just tried to order a beer, no response
Of course I do like it a lot that my modified CDP-X7esD is on an incredible high level now (is there anything that CAN better it I ask myself…), but it seems there is something very fundamental going wrong in my streaming solution AND dual AK4497 Dac.
Any input is welcome…
Possibly, but you keep its provenance a secret - care to enlighten the forum?
This is my Dual AK4497 dac. Modified Href-L-R 4700uF instead of 10uF, replaced standard diodes for psu’s with CREE C3D02060F, replaced LM317 for output stages with TPS7A4700, and added several parallel buffer electrolytics. It has 3 dedicated R-Core transformers, one for digital, one for display etc. and one for analog output stages. All 3 transformers have dedicated EMI/RFI filter. RPI has dedicated external 2A linear psu (R-Core - 4x CREE C3D02060F - 4x LT3045 - 10.000uF buffer). Kali reclocker has dedicated external 2A linear psu (R-Core - 4x CREE C3D02060F - 4x LT3045 - 10.000uF buffer). Isolator HAT between RPI and Kali is fed by Kali.
USB-input of dac has been modified to receive I2S directly from Kali reclocker.
The output stages have been modified with 2x Burson V6 Dual Vivid and 2x Burson V6 Single Classic discrete opamps instead of 2xNE5532 and 2xNE5534
This solution sounds really good, 3D, but my modified X7 sounds “more 3D”
In my system meridan 506 cdt spidf to cyrus integrated amp+cyrus psxr sounds quite a bit better than my node2 and ifi zen stream,the meridan has more resolution and alot more bass,I can hear the diffrence instantly,not that the node and zen stream sound bad,they sound great but in my system the cd is better,I reckon you’d need to spend quite a few thousand pounds on a high end streamer +cables to beat a cdt