Differences in YouTube, Spotify, etc.


What music streaming service do most members use, and why?

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I have more than enough material in my collection that I don’t need to stream. But I do subscribe to a YouTube channel for a group called "Voices of Music." They’re an "early music" collaborative, mostly San Francisco area professionals. They do concert sets, record all of them, and present them on YouTube.  Though the sound quality isn't even Redbook, it is worthwhile listening to.  The subscription is free and I recommend that you check it out.  They do have CD recordings for sale, but you won't find them on Tidal or such.

My wife was a professional violinist who played both "modern" and baroque violin. She mostly did "modern" playing because it paid a whole lot more than the baroque stuff. The "Voices of Music" players are mostly people she worked with in the past, so whenever I fire up one of their recordings, she has to go over and see *WHO* itas that we’re listening to.

BTW, her "modern" instrument was built by George Chanot in France, in the year 1848. Now that she’s retired, we sold her baroque instrument, which, also French, was made by Jacques Chapuy, in 1774.

For those of you not familiar with "early music", violins evolved over time and really hit their final design in the mid 19th century. The idea was to make them louder and to project more. The style of playing also changed. The bows evolved as well, all with the intent to play louder and project better.

Most of those zillion dollar 18th century Italian violins have been "modernized" and significantly altered from their original builds. They originally had a straighter neck and gut strings. The "modern" instruments had the necks pulled back and use steel wound strings. The bows are heavier too, as you might expect with the intent to make a bigger sound.

The trade-off is that while you can play louder and project more in a bigger concert hall, you lose speed and articulation. The baroque style of playing also doesn’t have as much vibrato. When listening to the smaller baroque ensembles, you’ll find that the players often have a greater degree of personal interpretation and expression. Modern orchestras are the instrument of the conductor, whereas most baroque groups have no conductor.

Have tried and subscribed to Tidal, Amazon HD, Spotify and for a bit Idagio. 

Have narrowed down to Qobuz for detailed listening sessions at home, and Spotify until recently for car, Bluetooth, wireless Headphone, etc.

Now am actively downloading all favorites (playlists, albums, etc) from Qobuz via CD quality for car, BT, etc...easier for playback in these occasions, then go "live" streaming when critical listening in max hires setting.

IF Spotify ever offers true lossless / flac option, may reconsider and try as current interface is a bit more intuitive.

Apple Music because I'm stuck in Appleworld, and I don't want to pay for more services. Excellent sound on my gear anyway.

Tidal. Flac or mqa option or cd-quality. Tidal connect sends the res I set to my streamer directly from the phone app controls. My family option just dropped from $29 to $16.99

Amazon Ultra HD tier because I'm already a Prime member so the subscription is quite reasonable. I also listen to music on You tube because I play acoustic guitar and it is a marvelous learning tool, being able to watch the player and playing along. Being in my 70's and dealing with my degree of hearing decline, any hi-rez service is far better than my hearing so I chose Amazon for price and convenience.