In the good old days, music lovers put on a record when they wanted to listen to music. That morphed into Compact Discs and now into streaming. There is no question that streaming music is more convenient, but does it sound better than the other formats? The answer of course is it depends. Each format can produce stunning results if done right. And each can sound downright bad if not. Like the other formats, streaming can be done inexpensively (probably more so than the others) and the result is less than stellar. And that’s what tends to happen: the system is assembled for ease of use rather than quality of sound. Here is the real truth: streaming music is here to stay and it sounds as good as any other format if care is given to selecting the right products for the job.