Am I the only guy w little or no interest in streaming high resolution?

What the labels give them. They can hardly prepare their own high rez masters, can they.

 

I glanced too quickly at the above and misread tablet as "toilet". Sorry!

 

I use lossy streaming via Apple Music when out and about, but have come to the realisation 95+% of my listening is from music in my 1300+ CD / DVD / BD collection, with a tiny proportion of albums bought as FLAC downloads. Like a lot of people, I don't envisage ever being able to listen to every CD I own again. I cannot really find a place for Hi Res streaming, particularly with the uncertainty of not knowing which version / mastering I am listening to and whether a favourite album might disappear overnight. I also have less than zero interest in the possibility that MQA might take over this area of the market.

For me, streaming is a good way of listening to new music, but I am still of the mentality that I want to buy either a CD or lossless download (no DRM or MQA thanks) and use that as my main source of listening. I like to know that what I am listening to is a) mine, and b) the version I picked!

 

Not only is streaming in high-rez possible, it's currently on offer by a couple of providers at the least : Qobuz and the Neil Young Archives. Neither offer MQA.

 

I own a very small CD collection (~ 300), and for the last few weeks I’ve been using Tidal HiFi (3 months free with Audirvana). Tidal has a very large HiFi (44.1/16) collection, HiRes and MQA (428 albums, probably 50 worth listening to). The service is rock solid, I’ve experienced zero downtime, and will likely subscribe once free trial is over. I don’t know about what labels they carry, but so far I’ve found every single artists I’ve had on CDs, even some from the 70’s.

@Nick Brook , My setup is super simple, an “audiophile” configured MacMini with Audirvana MediaSever connected via USB to my DAC and UPnP to my Media Renderer, all controlled via the Audirvana A+ iOS app. Your music library as well streaming services are at the tip of your fingers. (There are many other ways to do the same)

We can enter in an endless debate, vinyl vs tape vs CD vs HiRes vs wired streaming music... for me the convenience, ease of use and the ability to sample songs instead of albums is key. Oh did I forget to mention the SQ is pretty awesome

PS: Apple Music and Spotify can not even come close in terms of SQ, 256/320k is just not enough

 

I still prefer physical media to streaming, but as of late, I’ve been very happy with Deezer Hifi lossless streaming. Through a Cambridge CXN sounds quite satisfying. Sure, some examples of recordings they offer are better or worse quality than what I have on the shelf, but for the most part, it is worth the subscription. Definitely a jump SQ wise from Spotify and Apple Music to my ears.

 

I do not stream. Content with vinyl and CD. That being said, I do also have some old precious recordings on C90 cassette tape which very occasionally get an outing ! High fidelity, no....but irreplaceable and good clean fun.

 

I find your lack of streaming...disturbing.

 

Pitty. You could have become a 'Night Streamer'

 

I have no interest.

At work my co-workers stream music and seem all high and mighty since they didn’t pay a dime streaming music for free. The same people complain that they don’t play exactly what they want.
I have 4,000+ songs to choose from on my phone. Half are CD and Half are needle drops. I listen to what I want anytime and anyplace. Once I am at home it is the big boy stereo Vinyl and CD.

 

In the OP you said you hear about people having too many issues with streaming hi-res. Now you’re asking if streaming hi-res even exists. Then you’re (for some unknown reason) “gathering” that streaming hi-res is barely CD quality.

 

When the 5G internet arrives and hirez streaming becomes the norm over cd quality streaming-I’ll get on board.Until then it’s the physical disc (including vinyl) for me!

 

If streaming is good enough for godfather of boomer audiophilia Neil Young, surely the tech is worth a try.
Free use here (until June) : Neil Young Archives

 

No interest in streaming!

 

I couldn't live without streaming. For me it's an enabling technology, it enabled me to pack my CDs away, enjoy my music everywhere, anywhere and anytime, have multi-room audio at home and make me a bit more tolerable when I travel.

OTOH, I consider my record collection and the turntable a necessary evil. I don't enjoy using it and I'm not particularly interested in it but that's the only way I can re-create experiences I enjoyed 40 years ago. That just prove that music and the love of music may be universal but the means to enjoy it are very personal.

 

Exactly.

I must say I'm a bit surprised to see members stake out their "no streaming" positions. You love your collections and your investment in your gear to play exquisite sounding music, totally understood. But why would you cut yourself off from the most incredible technological music search radar ever devised by mankind? To me, streaming isn't about bit rates, it's about access. There are artists creating the most amazing stuff out there and you can find them from your couch.

Here is the latest industry report on music revenue. While CD and album sales are up, they are dwarfed by streaming revenue. Any music hardware builder worth their salt has been taking notice and building great gear to help you to access this.

I'm as much as a get off my lawn guy as the next one, but I ain't dead yet either. Stay in discovery mode.

 

No interest.

 

No.

No, you are not.

 

I have no interest in streaming hi rez, or music at all, for anything beyond sampling. I was comparing stereo receivers yesterday and briefly considered getting a networking model "just in case," but I doubt I'd use any those features. I can do all of that through my PC, TV, and BD player, but I've just never pursued it for music.

 

Like I said, I am pretty ignorant re streaming. Don’t want to upset you. Sorry about that.

 

No interest in streaming whatsoever.

 

Ignorance is bliss but sometimes it pays to know something. I am not surprised given the forum demographics that so many aren’t interested, but one needs to always keep an open mind and experiment and given lack of interest here does not mean streaming is bad quality! As you see from my above post, I am very pleased with the overall quality and streaming experience with Tidal HiFi (CD quality, HiRes, MQA).

Streaming doesn’t mean wireless which I believe regardless of wireless streaming protocols and operating frequencies, that will still suffer from ample jitter, delay and interferences. All my streaming is done over Ethernet with QoS rules setup on my router.

 

I think you non-streamer folks are really missing out. I rarely stream on my main system, but stream Tidal in the office all the time. Browse this forum, hear about a band or album that sounds interesting - call it up and play. As the poster above said, streaming is about access and auditioning. Ninety percent of what I stream I would not buy and I own thousands of cds and lps. Still glad I checked it out.

 

Years ago I stuck a cheap, quiet, (no fan) little computer and screen inside my audio rack.
For several years I just listened to YouTube videos of concerts and old hard to find albums for free at whatever the standard streaming speed is on YouTube.
What a wonderful way to add more artists and music to my collection (saving my favorites to "bookmarks.")
At 128K through an extremely high quality system I do hear a loss of midrange detail (slightly recessed) however only in an A/B comparison with the identical CD stored on my 400 CD megachanger which is in the same rack.
I tried free Spotify but hated the commercial interruptions as I already had enough of THOSE while listening to YouTube.
Then came along Amazon Prime Music (which comes FREE with Amazon Prime which I have always had anyway) which has NO commercials and a wonderful collection of classical.
AND Amazon Prime can be set to reasonably high fidelity so the listening fun really had no letdown.
Now I'm hooked.
I have already started learning who my favorite Classical composers and conducter are. Which songs make me a fan. New music.
Cajun music! French chansons! John Philip Sousa for crying out loud.
All from just sticking a cheap little computer setup in my rack.
I still LOVE tinkering around with ultra high quality vinyl and of course still have over a thousand CDs in my three 400 CD megachangers.
A super high quality DAC makes all my digital sound wonderful.
As I learn more about setting up vinyl my playback gets more fun by the day.
Life is good, my fellow music lovers!
Jump in.
The water's delicious!

 

You're not doing this thread correctly. You're supposed to virtue-signal by succinctly declaring "I don't stream". Say it in the same tone you'd declare you prefer black coffee.