That's really interesting. I didn't realize the mechanics and optics of reading the physical disk were a contributing factor. A/Ds and D/As have a similar problem even today (though not at such low sampling rates as CD anymore). They have a spec called Effective Number of Bits (ENOB) that is always less than the electrical number of bits produced per sample to quantify this loss. Sounds like the CD read/write is producing 16 bit words with an ENOB of only 13. Good to know!
And
@Zacster This IS interestIng. In the nerdy vintage audio groups I have belonged to, some folks use good, originally high end, older CD players or even high end DVD/DVD/SACD players, with Sony transports being mentioned often even if branded differently (Oppo used Sony guts apparently) and then use different DAC’s for playback. I have an several years old Sony NS999ES which will play CD/DVD/SACD’s, hooked up to my Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ for my main system, and it seems to do a really nice job. I enjoy listening to classic/cool/mid-century jazz that way, for example. I also have a decent turntable/phono pre and all that for when I want to put on a vinyl album, just for that experience. I have a number of albums for that.
But back to the CD’s. I am currently ripping a bunch of our CD‘s (we have a ton built up over the years since 80’s/90’s into a BlueSound Vault 2 I picked up used, and then will get rid of, saving only a much smaller number for actual home play, and/or play in my truck (often PJ official bootleg CD’s or similar) when I am driving that for bigger camping trips. Will start using my new MYLR for some of those trips now though, when I am just sleeping somewhere for the night and don’t need to set up a whole camp.
But for convenience, the most common way for me to listen is via Tidal, and the Masters version as often as I can. Though I think some albums that are not “Masters” quality also sound really good if they were recorded and mastered well, and are just the equivalent of ”HI-fi” or CD Lossless.
So, I guess my goal for my new car is to get my hotspot set up for Tidal, and also have my ripped CD’s I want to have access to on my Samsung T7, so I have all of that for what I want to hear whenever. I will back up the files I rip in the BlueSound Vault on that drive (and probably another home drive) Not gonna be able to stream the 2021 October 2 Ohanafest PJ show and stuff like that via Tidal, so will be nice to have. And along the way, I will be interested to see what my ears think on various formats of the same recording. Kind of Blue could be one example. But newer stuff recorded well more modernly as well.
And not going to worry about the folks that say you can’t hear differences. I know that not to be true just based on my experience already in my cars with CD players vs. Other inputs.