Comparing sources

[Gadusmorhua]

Whilst debating whether to buy an Audiolab 6000cdt it became apparent to me that now I had a new amp (cxa61) my Marantz 6000ose cd player ( through the amp's dac) sounded much better than Tidal coming out of a WiiM Pro (again through the 61 dac).
Previously, using a Denon 600ne, and at times my Mojo, I struggled to hear a difference. When I started out the WiiM was inferior, but a£50 iFi power supply made a huge improvement, to my amazement- I had it down as probable Amazon return.

But back to the subject of my thread: what is an easy, but effective way to compare my sources?
What I have done so far is far from technical, and involved swapping inputs on the amp whilst playing the same cd* (or what sounds the same to me!), at a similar volume . I became aware how crucial it is to reasonably match volumes, but I have to say my cd had better soundstage even at lower volumes.
Is there a better way to match volume? I thought of using my multimeter on the speaker terminals to see what the voltage was, but then realized that depends on the music, and what the amp is putting out. I trust my ears, for sure, the cd/tidal difference is night and day, but I'm anticipating it'll be much less when I compare the transport to the player, so it would be nice to accurately match volume.

I am still awaiting the arrival of the transport, and I've spent some time convincing myself it's two hundred quid wasted, so I stay totally objective
Don't anybody say I should have spent the cdt money on a new streamer


*I know that strange things happen when Tidal stores and serves its files, but that aside..

 

[twinkletoes]

Connect all the sources and play them simultaneously. You’ll barely notice any difference if you quickly flick the input switch though.

Level matching can help, but some standouts can be heard before you do this. For me, its the body/fullness thats most noticeable. I find CD has a richer presentation compared to streaming from Tidal.

Transport vs. CD players: you won’t hear any differences I suspect. It’ll be difficult to say which is “better” since you’re only testing one of one Ideally you’d have a couple transports in to digest the differeance between them and what the dac maybe doing , then put them up against the cd player.

People have forgotten how good CD players can sound in all honesty and there will be a resurgence at some point I feel.

I think ive understood you correctly and what you're trying achieve.