With a) Radio Stations differing in quality b) Ripped music differing in quality do you get consistent enjoyment?

Hi Jon - taking internet radio out of the equation - the stations and sources are too diverse in range and quality to form any opinions on quality. Its more about choice - lots of choice. 

Back to streaming, i've found i appreciate my collection more. good and bad. It's not just streaming though, its the system as a whole. When the system synergy is right then you start to forget about the kit and the mechanics and just enjoy the music. I've got albums that sound stunning, i've got albums that sound so-so. They always have done, whether on vinyl, CD or now via Streamer. What i have found is as my system has got to the point where i really enjoy it, it's widened my musical tastes and albums where i might not have spent much time with sound so much better that they've now become mainstays in my playlists. 

I worry that you seem to have a very nice setup with the NDX / nDAC / XPS / Headline and Grados but you don't seem to be enjoying it and throwing money at the problem with a 555PS etc isn't going to solve it. Rather than question the mechanics of your source, perhaps it's time to evaluate what you really want from a system - is it a full 500 series system that should tick all the boxes, but in the end ultimately doesn't satisfy you like it should or something else that just makes music enjoyable to listen to ?

You've got the cash to spend - go to a few dealers. Listen to a Naim 500 system, Listen to a Linn Klimax system - do they do what you want and just make you want to listen to music for hours and buy loads of CD's. Do they bore you and make you want to go and do something else ?

You've got some great dealers not too far away from you - Cymbiosis, Tom Tom, UHES - give the guys there a ring and they'll get you on the right path. 

James

 Some 'sources' simply aren't as good so they are for occasions when listening isn't the main/only occupation. Can't listen seriously for more than half an hour to a 320kb/s stream. If I'm not in the same room it's not a problem. This is the case with a Uniti/Qute which are both capable of exposing lesser material. Presume higher echelon streamers would amplify the differences.

But I find it's easy enough to tailor expectations and get enjoyment from many sources. Sony NWZ-A846 (wav files), through supplied earphones, while laid on the beach proved more than capable of eliciting some air-baton movements (much to my wife's embarassment).

Andy

I find the NDX (or my system?) completely unforgiving of poor recordings.  And yes it does steer me to listen to good recordings only, even when I like the music that has poor production.

The issue of different sound quality from different sources is not confined to streaming. FM radio, DAB radio, CD, vinyl, cassette, reel ro reel tape, minidisc, etc. etc. - all sound different. I have found that a musically capable system can make any source enjoyable. That's not to say they are all equal, but a good system will dig out the music in just about anything, even surprisingly low-fi sources/recordings. But I am talking about musical enjoyment here, not hi-fi sound quality. If you are hung up on sound quality as such then your choice of sources and recordings will be much more limited. Personally I put the music and not the sound first.

Peter

Though I do listen to Internet Radio, my main streaming is of FLAC files from ripped CD's. There is no variation in quality in this, beyond the variation in quality of the original CD's. The streaming bit of things introduces no variation at all, so I still get the original sound quality AND the convnience. I'm sure there may be an arguable point about whether a stream or original CD may sound slightly better per se, but a streamed file sounds the same every time it's played - nothing varies.

Hi Jon, I think the answer to your OP is mostly yes with CD. There are a few very compressed CDs I have that are brick walled and sound flat, but are still enjoyable albeit the fidelity of them falls short.

I did find until I upgraded to my CDS3 and then NDX->NDAC/555PS that some CDs were tiring to listen to, but now that isn't the case... Yes you can hear poor production, but now seemingly it  doesn't get in the way, and often actually adds to the enjoyment of the music.

Web radio however I usually find rather uninspiring, I am afraid lossy file formats just don't dot it for me.. too much is taken way.. I massively prefer FM radio with which my tuner / aerial can sound superb, whether the station is compressed or not.

Whereas I find the high definition stream of Radio 3 at 320 kb comfortably superior to FM, DAB or any other way I can get it. I know 320 is far from the holy grail, but I'm a bit surprised by the comment above by AndyPat that it's unlistenable for more than half an hour.