Digital and streaming are two separate issues. DIgital is fine. Streaming from your own computer library of hi res file is great, no networks involved. If you check out my system page I am as digital as you can get and I have full Roon capability, I just don't use it. Online streaming? You have to be out of your mind. Listening to that will powder coat your ear drums. Next thing you know you will be trying to eat online.
The problem with streaming
As I sit here listening to America Includes: "A Horse With No Name", I realized the problem with streaming. Who knows what source material you're getting with streaming? The album I'm listening to is a Warners Brothers green label. Sonics are absolutely incredible! The band sounds like they're in the room!
Navigating the pressings to find the best one can be challenging but that's part of the fun of the hobby. I doubt the same care is taken when generating streaming recordings. You're stuck with what they use, thus missing the incredible texture of the best recordings.
Of course, great care must be taken to set up the turntable and match all components downstream. I find the effort to be well worth it! There's just no substitute for great analog!
Showing 5 responses by mijostyn
@sns , I think you missed the point. Streaming is a total non-issue for me. My opinion is, for a healthy person it is the lazy way out. Just turn it on and forget about it. You do not have to create playlists of songs you actually like, or flip records not to mention clean them. Just turn it on and forget about it. It is what I do in my office for background music. But, for serious listening? I think you need to go out and get yourself a juke box, a Wurlitzer with all the colored lights. You can get stoned and watch the lights flash while you listen to scratchy old 45s. |
@sns, lighten up! We are only talking about audio here. There is absolutely nothing serious about it. The Russians are marching into Ukraine and threatening the rest of us with nuclear arms. They are killing people including their own. I said nothing about streaming sounding worse, I just hate the drop outs and I really do not mind flipping records or zooming through my computer's library. Another problem is that 90% of new popular music is, to my ears crap. Streaming is for lazy people. It is a godsend to people who have lost their vision, just ask Siri. Last I checked, the democrats have not labeled streaming a threat to the environment or inherently racist. You are free to do whatever you like, for the time being. |
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. |
I am totally in with digital. I have a digital preamp/processor. I do not stream. Above all I am a music collector. I prefer owning it. It is a psychological thing. I can say that I truly HATE drop outs which are always a problem with streaming and the internet screws up up here in NH all the time. As for which format sounds better? It all depends on the mastering. I have probably over 100 duplicate albums in both analog and digital and I AB them all the time. It can go either way. Same thing with reissues. It can go either way. The original is not always better as some want to think. |