Andy Pratt - "Avenging Annie"
Spotify
Wow, what a blast from the past. Loved it in 1973 and still love it today......
Spotify
Wow, what a blast from the past. Loved it in 1973 and still love it today......
What are you streaming tonight?
As we are in the modern age of music I thought I would see how this fares.
We have threads specific for cdp and tt so why not streaming as it is a modern media.
I don't care if you stream Tidal, Deezer, Spotify, Paradise Radio or any number of internet stations.
I would like you to share your tastes and method of streaming.
We have threads specific for cdp and tt so why not streaming as it is a modern media.
I don't care if you stream Tidal, Deezer, Spotify, Paradise Radio or any number of internet stations.
I would like you to share your tastes and method of streaming.
5,800 responses Add your response
I think Qobuz is somehow reading my mind. I heard “Love Hurts” on a commercial and it got me thinking of Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons. Sure enough, I get an email from Qobuz suggesting their “Canyon Sounds of 1970” playlist chock full of Flying Burrito Brothers. Spooky. Nice selection of stuff. Enjoying it right now. |
Was listening to Andy Pratt while doing "social distancing approved" lawn work today. After the Pratt album, Spotify started playing some deep tracks from other '70's artist when this one came up. Never hear it before, but it was pretty tasty...... Dave Mason and Steve Cropper, Feat. Gretchen Rhodes - "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" Live recording from 2018 I was diggin' this version of the Traffic classic......... |
I've been dancing on the edge of the loyal Apple volcano for a while now but when they replaced iTunes with Apple Music AND totally abandoned classic iPod owners like me-self that was the last straw. First off, Apple Music just plain sucks. The update to OS Catalina along with the replacement of iTunes proved to be an absolute mess. ALL of my music, around 160GB, had to be re-downloaded. ( I have a lot more music in FLAC format stored on a portable hard drive which includes all of my iTunes music and more. ) It's a wet mess at best. I will mention here that I purchase all of my music. Yes, I still buy compact discs and vinyl as well, so the streaming thing is something I purposely avoided until only recently. I never tried Spotify for obvious reasons, so my first leap into streaming was through Tidal. The platform promises access to higher resolution files - at a price - so I thought, "let's give it a shot." Tidal is good. I signed up for the most premium service. I like the depth of their catalogue. At $19.99 per month it's a bit on the "expensive" side, but the sound quality justifies the premium. (My stereo setup is modest but quite decent; a Belles 250i Integrated hybrid amplifier, Bluesound Node, Jolida FX tube DAC, and either a pair of Thiel CS2.4 or Totem Acoustic Rainmaker monitors. ) I had a much better (IMHO) setup years ago but financial hardships beginning in 2018 have stunted that pursuit. C'est la vie. I never heard of qobuz before this month, so while I was subscribed to Tidal I opted in for the trial version just for kicks. With both programs opened on my desktop I selected an identical tune from each - in this instance Ginger Baker's "Cyril Davies" - and performed an amateur side by side comparison. Now my desktop computer ( 27" iMac, 2018 ) is hardly a "hifi" piece of equipment, but the difference I heard between Tidal and qobuz was vivid - even through the crappy little speakers in the desktop. qobuz had "air" in the music, a sense of depth that I felt Tidal lacked. This was "near-field" listening so methinks my observations have a sound footing. Since abandoning Tidal for qobuz a few things have become obvious. qobuz has more frequent drop-outs than I ever experienced with Tidal - it can be pretty annoying. The depth of the catalogue leaves some things to be desired. ex.: Lyle Lovett's catalogue is non-existent. (Admittedly this has more to do with obtaining licensing rights and whatnot, but that did surprise me. ) I thought I had everything Lucinda Williams recorded as a guest here and there, so comparing my iTunes library with many of the offerings on qobuz I discovered I was missing a few. Go figger. This predicament was also experienced with Tidal and, I imagine, will be with any streaming program. All of the platforms pretty much mirrored one another with new releases, differences were/are minimal at best. qobuz appears much more like a webpage than either of the other two so my attempts to open a section in "another window" were met with a slap. Hard to break habits... Also, when rummaging through "suggested" recordings it is pretty annoying to return to the beginning page which defaults to the starting point instead of where you had last scrolled to. Not a huge imposition, just kind of annoying. To sum it up, I like qobuz. Good curation, decent catalogue depth, and easy personalization. At $14.99 a month for the highest level I think it beats the others. I look at streaming as a complement to my already existing music collection, not as a replacement. |
Oblgny. Welcome to hires streaming! Interesting comparison between Tidal and Qobuz which I agree with 100%. I think it maybe your internet giving you fits on dropouts? I am honestly say I do not get dropouts ever since I upgraded my router to latest provided by my provider. Now as to the Qobuz web experience, yes the desktop version sucks. The iPad and Android apps are infinitely better IMHO. |
oblgny, nice write-up! I was tempted to try Tidal, but I am having so much fun with Qobuz on my PowerNode 2i I haven’t gotten around to it. Think I’ll put Tidal off a bit longer. I agree that Qobuz is not as comprehensive as I might like, but it does have more than enough for me to listen to in my lifetime. I hope it’s selection will grow over time, but for now I can find MOST of what I want and so much new stuff... I have not had drop-outs with my PowerNode 2i. Might be your internet connection? |
Right now I’m between pairs of speakers for my two channel rig in the living so my experiences with dropouts were encountered on my iMac desktop in a near-field situation. I’m using a Node 2 there. I’ve had multiple real-world sessions with Tidal on that thus far, and the only occasional loss of signal happened while tuned in to local radio stations. While playing files via usb none occurred. I have a strong internet setup along with multiple extensions in the living room and a couple in the rear of my house. I haven’t had any significant experience with qobuz on the Node thus far - at least in terms of extended hours like I had with Tidal - so the dropout question remains to be seen on that. I’m getting a pair of Usher Audio X-719 monitors next week to replace a pair of Totem Rainmaker monitors. The Ushers have a marginally larger woofer than the Rainmakers (just put up for sale here on A’gon) which will give me just a smidgen more bass response. My living room is fairly large, 14 feet wide, 24 feet long, with a ceiling that slopes from 8.5 feet to 17 feet at the apex. Laminate floors, lots of hard surfaces. I’ve also been looking into purchasing music off of qobuz and they’re fair at best, very worthwhile in other respects. If you’re a fully realized member you are given the “sublime” option in a purchase which means you get a hi-Rez file at a discount. I’m waiting on the new speakers before I get into that. |
The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers, Qobuz Funny with all the posts in the turntable thread and the other thread about the SQ of the Stones recordings I never really critically listened to them. I put on my newish reissue vinyl last night and thought there was something wrong with my system! I had to try it on another turntable to confirm that the highs were really as rolled off as they seemed and that the horns were buried in the background. It sounds slightly better streaming as background music. |
Bob Dylan- Murder Most Foul John Mellencamp - No Better Than This Steve Guttenberg The Audiophiliac a couple of days ago had eight album recommendations for social distancing. I’m trying to go through the list, starting with John Mellencamp. https://youtu.be/5sagWvPKaGw |
Ken Micalleff posted a nice review of 15 jazz albums to listen during coronavirus. Some good stuff, some stuff I’m unfamiliar with. I’ll start with Cliff Jordan- Blowing In From Chicago. https://youtu.be/XgnyfSGll2M |
