The problem with streaming

In thinking more about perception of streaming being for lazy people I can see how that thought may occur.

For some playing vinyl is a ritual. Handling vinyl with care, placing it on cleaning machine, handling with care again to place on tt, carefully dropping arm onto record, adjusting VTA, VTF, cleaning cartridge. This all repeated over and over ad infinitum is ritual, just as so many of our rather reflexive or automatonic actions. This may be perceived as one's comfort zone and/or we can apply meaning to it. Rituals evoke many kinds of emotions, playing vinyl can be a precious activity when we apply meaning and invest emotions into it.

I also understand how the physical aspects of vinyl evoke various emotions. Values above and beyond the music contained on the grooves become meaningful. The art work on the cover, the long held possession of a physical object may be both inherently valuable in a monetary and memory sense. I still have some vinyl purchased well over thirty years ago, they certainly have subjective value way beyond their monetary value for me.

For others all the rituals stated above is simply work, little or no value placed upon it, and the value of the vinyl physical object is only monetary. I can understand how the vinyl aficionado could feel disdain for one who so undervalues vinyl and the ritual of playing vinyl.

But then, the vinyl aficianado  may misunderstand the streaming enthusiast.  They see we have very little cost in order to play our music, the perception being how can anything worthwhile cost so little. This seems rather like the Christian work ethic principle to my mind. I ask myself does pleasure require pain, work, suffering, I think not. I believe one can very much value music with very little cost, I know I do!

Perhaps I'm unique in that I live in both these worlds, playing vinyl and steaming are both unique listening activities I enjoy. I don't need them to be in conflict, got enough of that in this world!

Hi Everyone,

 Interesting conversation. I was also an analog guy until I actually set up digital properly. First, I want to say that I do import and distribute certain digital products and I'm not touting those products in this conversation but rather explaining that digital needs an incredible amount of work and time to get the harmonics that a great analog set up produces.

 In my opinion moving from Roon to Stylus music player with my Pink Faun server/streamer and adding my Aries Cerat DAC was the first step to understanding the true potential of a great digital set up. In order to set up for Stylus we had to convert all my .w64 files to WAVE lossless format. But there are a lot of small details, just like owning a great analog set up, that you need to perform before you can reach the full potential of digital. In term of streaming, Tidal is also MUCH better when played thru the Stylus player on the Pink Faun. Anyone that has not professionally set up a digital front end properly cannot understand how analog sounding digital can really sound. It's like the person that tells you hypothetically how a 911 Porsche drives without ever driving one. You need to drive the car to fully understand the true potential of that car. My suggestion is to test as many digital products as possible and A/B test products against each other when possible.

 We have tested over 100 different digital front ends on 6 very different systems and the end results were exactly the same in every system. The final thing I can say is that digital takes a lot of effort and time to get it to sound analog but once you do get it correct then you have access to a lot more music. This then allows you to explore different artist that you would never have heard before and for me just hearing some of the performances by these different artists has changed my perception and enjoyment of music.

This is just my opinion so please analog guys until you have tried to set up digital at this level, let's not poo, poo what I am saying.

Best regards,

For reference and perspective I am a trained musician who supposedly knows how  to listen for music as it happens in live settings all of which depends on electronic reproduction to be heard. Listening to music is a solely  singular experience of the mind. And mine just expanded. How? Well, friends, I just bumbled into the BIG change in the recordings of everything to which I listen, regardless of signal source origination, by the need for replacement of “failing” gain stage tubes. 

Four 6922 tube (variant) “rolled” into my pre-amp amp stages of “ how to copy a copy of a recorded performance of “best take” recordings “mastered” by a human listening to and live time self adjusting”  to the actual MUSIC often layered one performance at a time ( see Boston) and not (as it appears to have been) originally co-performed and co-recorded in “real time”. Music is now a process of limiting variability of quality best suited to the end of the chain reproduction equipment capacity to best replicate the original. A desired result with too many variables to contemplate while the recording is being performed. I just play the part. Written by the song writer. Or arranger. After that the performance is at the whim of industry, not me. Back to my point:

Those tubes (manufactured in one batch from 1976 ( hand made variances included at no extra cost) have opened and widened perceptive nuances of the sounds transferred to tiny electric codes magically appearing where they were not discernible by my ears prior to the new (old) better(?) tubes were installed. Or at least, so it appears to my ears! BTW I am all digital all the time. Conclusion: you are listening to a highly processed copy of actual music that is just that….a copy!  because I am also a pro musician and can report that from an actual on stage performance centered perspective, there is no “image” effect. If such is possible from the audience perspective it is probably due to the efforts of a good sound person. Just like the person at the helm of the replication being copied to recorded formats currently known to man. Recordings are replications of captured information. The after effect reproduction contraptions we utilize to create the reproduction of the performance of the original. Waiting for rediscovery hidden in the old stock original  6922. Who knew?  YMMV. 

@mijostyn you do make me chuckle 🤭. In ur own post you said you flick via ur computer library.

@sns ​​​​@worldwidewholesales i think ur points are very valid. If it’s about sound quality we often don’t hear digital at its best - likewise maybe streaming is for the true music lover who really cares only about the music and nothing about the format.

streaming - particularly during the pandemic - has allowed my ears to open to music and genres that one just can’t buy in record shops. Lp’s are appallingly overpriced now that they are ‘cool’ . I know people speak about 2-3000 record collections but it’s a bit like a ‘yard of books’ at a stately home. 2000 records at 45m length is 90,000 minutes 62.5 - 24 hour days - Hand 🤚 on your heart ❤️ who can genuinely claim they know their collection - assuming most of us work to indulge our hobby

Once streaming on my system equaled analog, CD, and stored files it became apparent the overwhelming cost and listening advantages of streaming and consequently it’s future. I have over 4,000 albums… typically I used to buy a few albums a month… that adds up over time.. so implementation a high quality streamer and for the cost of $15 / month my library almost became infinite.

You can justify a really good streamer and DAC as the least expensive solution over time… and unlimited access to music, no storage cost… and less getting up and down (I get lots of exercise). And honestly my discovering and enjoying soooo much new music has been incredible. I probably listen to one or two albums a week that I owned before streaming now.