Is Streaming the Future?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Khorn, Feb 11, 2020.

  1. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I'm an opposite case -- I clung to vinyl well into the '90s, long after almost everyone I knew had abandoned the format for CD. Then, I hung on to CD, not so much because I loved CD but because I never warmed up to downloads. I tried it -- I had three different portable players during the heyday of MP3 and iTunes; I had a Emusic subscription for a while and iTunes store account. I hated it. I found it was a big hassle to keep track of the files and move them from device to device or storage media to storage media. I was constantly running out of storage space. And although I have a DAW in the same room where my stereo is, I never really had a computer integrated into my hifi. Never really adopted downloads.

    I never went back to vinyl during the vinyl revival. No interest in that. I listen to my old vinyl because, hell, I'm not terribly interested in re-buying music I already own and I have thousands and thousands of LPs. But I haven't bought new vinyl in 25 years. I don't have space for more vinyl (hell, much of my old vinyl is still in storage a decade after a home reno), and I don't think vinyl is really a better playback format than CD. I only buy vinyl if there's something I want to hear that's never been released on CD or on a streaming platform. I still buy CDs when a title is not streaming. But having to buy and hold and pay piecemeal for every piece of music I was interested in hearing meant I was listening to less and less new and different music. Now, with streaming services, I'm listening to more new and new to me music than I was otherwise listening to in recent years. And for me, hearing new and new-to-me music all the time is the most exciting thing. I return to old favorites of course, but old favorites aren't really the thing that excites me, at least no the way hearing new and different music does, so streaming as a service sets up great for me because I get to hear new and new to me music continually at no incremental increase in price.
     
  2. chervokas

    chervokas Senior Member

    I never understood the appeal of ripping CDs. I always found that a trial. It's always been easier for me just to play CDs. In fact, my current computers don't even have optical drives so I couldn't even rip a CD unless I bought hardware to do that with. That said, I do think for people who rip CDs, and especially if they listen on portable devices, that's on less barrier to a streaming service -- they're already using non-physical media. And if they're putting their ripped files on a networked server, they're already streaming. I'm not sure if most CD buyers are ripping their CDs though. I mean most new computers don't even have optical drives for ripping.
     
  3. Bingo Bongo

    Bingo Bongo Music gives me Eargasms

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    ha ha, nice quote Mr. Lennon. :D

    I still have my physical data in my iTunes. It's the same data that is on a disc. I just don't hold the album in my hands anymore, but I will always have my music, unlike renting from streaming. I too, you can count me out!
     
    Wingsfan2012 and Tim 2 like this.
  4. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Streaming is the future for me, not only is it the cheapest way to play music ( total $20 per month ) but there's unlimited music that takes up almost no space. Quick easy access to all music.
    The quality of hi-res through Bluesound is very close to my higher end CD player too. The streamer to play music on is also a fraction the cost of other formats. Upgradable by better DAC's when your ready.
     
    rodentdog likes this.
  5. Silverwolf

    Silverwolf Occasional Esoteric Freak

    Interesting thread! I don’t stream at the moment, and I don’t have a turntable - both of these for me are for financial reasons (I guess I’m ‘poor’ compared to most on here!).
    In an ideal world for me I would mostly stream at cd quality, buy a small amount of CDs I can’t stream but want a digital copy, and then have a couple hundred LPs of my favourite music if available, partly as I’d want the art work at a good size and not on a screen, not just for the sound...
     
  6. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Back from what, there still outselling vinyl by a large margin.
     
  7. TheIncredibleHoke

    TheIncredibleHoke Dachshund Dog Dad

    Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
    Only my work computer has an optical drive. It's the only thing I have around me that can play a CD. Hence the ripping to FLAC files that I can play on my Astell & Kern DAP. I normally do this when I can't find the specific mastering that I want in downloads or streaming. Fortunately, Qobuz is pretty good about having good masterings available.
     
  8. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Who is streaming high res in Canada?
     
  9. Bhob

    Bhob Forum Resident

    Location:
    Atlanta Ga
    I use streaming in the car because I hate XM and we have no decent FM stations, but in the house I have so many other options available...
     
  10. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Tidal for one.
     
    Deuce66 likes this.
  11. Dream On

    Dream On Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    Yeah, I was going to try to put different amounts of space between the different formats, but that can get complicated depending on what a person values and so I just left it even.

    I'm not sure if you just aren't getting my point or maybe I'm not making it properly.

    The scenario I describe is a person who buys vinyl and CD. So that's at least two formats. It's the scenario I am in personally. CD is my primary format, vinyl secondary (the ratio might be 60/40). I also listen to the radio and occasionally on You Tube and Napster. So I agree, most people listen to multiple formats, though if they are going to listen to just one it'll probably be streaming.

    So again, my point is the person that buys both CD and vinyl. My argument is that the vinyl collector in this person might just keep him buying CDs, whereas if that person gave up on vinyl then the jump from CD to streaming might happen relatively easily. So the vinyl resurgence and peoples interest in the format might just help keep them in a physical media state of mind, and vinyl's popularity is thus actually helping CD in a way. Not to the point where CD is also gaining steam. Of course, it's losing steam rapidly. So the effect is not massive. But without the vinyl resurgence, it's quite possible CD would sell even fewer units than it does today. That's all I'm saying.

    By the way, I totally agree with the bolded part. But that's not the entire story when we are comparing formats.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2020
    MackKnife likes this.
  12. Big Blue

    Big Blue Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    I’m sure there are not many. Streaming is just too accessible and convenient to never use it. I think there are probably many more people who only listen to music via streaming. I listen to vinyl, CD, and downloads, because that’s how my collection was built, as well as streaming when that fits the situation (terrestrial radio in my area is really only interesting to me for public radio, which is a mix of music and talk shows, and sports broadcasts). However, a lot of people I know probably haven’t handled a physical disc of music in years.
     
  13. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    I don’t think Qobuz is available here. I started streaming Apple for totally different reason. I supply music for our Stroke Recovery Group so I started using Apple for that purpose. Sure I could go out and spend 10k on equipment to convert my SACD library to files but at my age? I don’t need the hassle.

    At this point I’m excited about Streaming and hope my investment in this new equipment will pay off. It seems Streaming is my future anyway.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2020
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  14. Hab

    Hab Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walsall
    I get to listen to about 9 hours of music a day at work alone, this for me makes streaming terrific value for money as I'm not held back by my own albums. Being able to go off on a tangent and deep dive artists back catalogues is brilliant.

    Still spend a unhealthy amount of money on gigs and vinyl and compared to those, Tidal is a pittance.

    Still no idea why people think its impossible to stream and buy music.
     
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  15. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    They are on the decline and headed towards where vinyl was when CD’s took over. The hipsters supposedly were the ones touted with vinyl’s resurgence.
     
  16. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Probably people who know how to use VPN’s to help them trick the proper services into letting them do so. Is Deezer Hifi available in Canada?
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2020
  17. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    True, and they'll likely be the ones that tout CD's resurgence.
     
  18. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Even cassettes had a tiny brief comeback. It won’t last anyway but it’s a niche fun for those into it.
     
  19. Deuce66

    Deuce66 Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    I did a little digging using this link as a starting point. Apparently Deezer is available in Canada.

    Wiki music streaming services

    Comparison of on-demand music streaming services - Wikipedia
     
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  20. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Anyone here heard of Tidal ? No VPN's or tricks required.
     
  21. saturdayboy

    saturdayboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago
    I consider streaming the present, who knows what happens in the future with licensing, pricing, etc...
     
    audiomixer likes this.
  22. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    At this point Tidal will be my first choice until I find a service that provides 24/192 on a steady basis.
     
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  23. audiomixer

    audiomixer As Bald As The Beatles

    I’ve subscribed to Tidal for over 5 year now & I couldn’t be happier!
     
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  24. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Duce66 apparently didn’t know about Hi-res availability in Canada. Some people may be using them to get Qobuz there or others that aren’t available legitimately yet. Now at least you let them know Tidal is available and so apparently Deezer Hifi maybe as well are both available in Canada.
     
    Khorn likes this.
  25. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Tidal will likely be the first. 54 countries, 3 million subscriber's and 60 million songs, a good start for a company thats only 5 and half years old.
     
    Khorn likes this.

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