2. tech-talk
  3. 160036-2319

A question for those in the know about streaming FM/Music sound quality

Hi all, 
I am a long time audio person with experience in most of the great names you would know, Audio Research, Magnepan, Magnum Dynalab...and most other brands you could think of.  Was in the audio business at one time and attended shows throughout the world.  That said, I do not know much of anything about "streaming" music.  
I listen to classic Jazz and female vocals mainly and would like to know more about streaming and especially if it can be a high end audiophile source.  Not interested in quantity as much as quality.  
Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge.

whatjd
riley804
1,224 posts
 
would like to know more about streaming and especially if it can be a high end audiophile source.

have you not taken the time to read one of the many threads that are on here where members no longer use a cd player and use a streamer of some kind for their source ???

the question to ask you is how much do you want to spend on a streamer ?


fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,629 posts
 
As far as streaming stations (ala FM) the quality goes from 64kbps to lossless flac. Some with godawful commercials.
Orange Squeeze is the only player OS I have that reports the bandwidth if each feed. Radio Paradise is listener supported and has 4 different programs in 5 different stream rates up to lossless.
As far as on demand music, it'll cost you $10 to $20 per month. Quality and libraries vary but all have free trials.
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
Try Qobuz.  Try the classical streaming service Primephonic, too.  In addition to classical, Primephonic also offers a limited but finely-curated selection of jazz and pop.  More often than not, I get superlative fidelity from both these guys.
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
A question for those in the know about streaming FM/Music sound quality
I used to be into high end FM tuners, all I’ve found with internet streaming is compression. If you have DAB or DAB+ (digital audio broadcast) transmission, it to me now is the best quality, especially if you take the digital output if it has one from your DAB tuner to your own dac, almost as good as CD replay on a good transport/dac.


Cheers George
More to discover