The problem with streaming

Financial resources also play a role in deciding which sources we choose to use. At the moment, vinyl is the primary source in my system. Resources are directed to improving components in the chain to attain the sonics I desire.

Along the way, I’ve bought or been given albums.

Since resurrecting my system three years ago, every component has been replaced. I’ve also started my vinyl collection over again from zero during that time. I don’t envision acquiring thousands of albums. Several hundred is a round number that I think I’ll be content with.

The second source I use is an FM tuner. The dial stays on the NPR classical channel.

Technically, I do stream a little. I have a line that plugs into my laptop earphone jack and connects to the preamp. Occasionally, I’ve listened to music from YouTube.

@reubent had it spot on. It allows me to check out music - if I like it I buy the vinyl.  Not just that but some music I can’t source - ie Carnatic South Indian music. The problem with it is buffering. I don’t have it expecting great sound but I use it as an public library - I have a quick borrow and if like it I buy it

IMHO streaming is for lazy people who don't want to spend money building a collection of top notch recordings. Sometimes you buy something that you wind up not liking. I ditch those recordings. The end result is a collection of great works and many of them are not SOTA recordings but the music is so important you are willing to tolerate less than premium sound. 

@mijostyn I sure am lazy, 3k plus albums, at least 2500 cd's, many albums collected from record shows, I'm gifted albums as its well known I still collect and play.

I think its just the opposite, streaming is for people who love music. And if sound quality is as bad as detractors say it is, must mean they really love music over worrying about sound quality all the time.

Please stop with the generalizations and put downs of streaming, can't we all get along? I'm happy for everyone who gets pleasure out of listening to music on their curated sound systems, regardless of format.

@sns, we definitely can all get along. When I said "The problem with streaming" it wasn’t meant as a putdown.

I’m sure you’re aware that there can be a huge difference in sound quality between pressings of albums since you have a very nice collection. The better your system, the more dramatic the difference in sonics between those pressings. You can probably tell the difference between vinyl and CD of the same release. If you have the best vinyl pressing of a particular release, I’m sure you know that it kills your CD version if your analog rig is set up perfectly. We spend a good deal of money on our systems, room set-ups, treatments, etc.

Because of all these factors, it is very important to me to listen to the best available source material regarding vinyl. A great pressing maximizes the potential of our components. The couple of hours I spend listening each time, hearing great sonics of releases that I love make for an amazing listening session.

All I was saying about streaming, is there’s really no way that you can be sure you’re hearing the best version because in most cases you don’t know the source material that was converted to digital.

We all have different details that matter to us when listening to music and that’s cool. It’s nice to live in the first world where there are multiple source options that best fit our preferences.