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Is using streaming services worthy of an audiophile?

I read that a lot of people on this forum use Tidal etc. Is this ok from audiophile perspective? I mean, do people who use such services actually know what quality is streamed? Don’t you lose all control over your music when you surrender to streaming services?
defiantboomerang
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
I use Tidal on my oppo and it sounds very good. I was surprised, I was not expecting the sound quality I got.. definitely better than Spotify. Willem is spot on there.
simao's avatar
simao
1,941 posts
 
Great!

@willemj and @toddverrone: that's my next musical adventure. I love after long while being in a position where I can listen to the music rather than to my system.
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
I second that! And then, after a few months I read something on here that gets me curious and around we go again.. it's like a gentle upwards spiral of audio awesomeness
soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
defiantboomerang


As and old music lover/audiophile ( is there such a thing? ) I will relay my steps towards streaming. 
I purchased a really nice dac you may be able to use your CD player. At first I started burning my CDs onto my laptop using JRiver software. For me I really didn't like looking at my computer while listening and trying to enjoy music. I purchased a Melco N1 at 2k. Then a comparable Buffalo burner. Now I burn my CDs to the Melco at the same time I use it to play music. So the Melco is a library and player with 2 terabytes plus unlimited external storage. I loaded up a " remote " app on my IPad and use that to control the Melco, which has its own software. 
Now I have almost all my CDs recored and playable. I like the sound quality better then any player I have owned, and I have easier access.  
Haven't gotten into streaming yet, a friend of mine had stored a huge collection of CDs, put them on a hard drive which I downloaded to the Melco, now I have so much music don't know how long it will take to listen to all of it. When I get board I may go to streaming. 

Just a thought. 


audioengr
3,282 posts
 

I would say that you're in the right forest, but barking up the wrong tree.   I believe that Audiogon members enjoy EQUIPMENT on a much deeper level.

It's true that there are a lot of equipment junkies on all the forums.  I like to get people off that train and into the psychological benefits of music.  Once you achieve sound quality that exceeds vinyl, you forget about the equipment.  It is possible.  I've had several customers sell their vinyl systems, not because they were inconvenient, but because their digital sounded better.

Defiant - If you are after the highest sound quality, the format of your rips should be .wav.  Even uncompressed FLAC has SQ issues.  Tags are an issue, but I put up with that for the better SQ.

The important thing to remember with all digital is that jitter is the #1 thing that will reduce the SQ.  The interface between the computer and the D/A is the critical part, whether its USB, Ethernet or S/PDIF, as well as the master clock in that interface.

Steve N.

Empirical Audio

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