The definition of insanity.

[Alobar]

Trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result..
First I am a hard one to please. I have never managed to find streaming my thing, but I do still see its potential, particularly as a discovery and audition tool for the express purpose of buying new music. Auditioning has never been a problem for the ones I have tried with the exception of Pandora. Type in the search box and walah! Its there. Using streaming for the discovery of new music has always eluded me however. What usually happens is I pick some "recommended for you" play list, radio station or some specific genre whatever that seems promising only to find I either already have what I am listening to, or it plays stuff I don't really care for, or is sorta morphs into music that wasn't in the original description of the canned playlist.

Today I paid for Amazon Unlimited for the second time now because the weather is crap and I have a bunch of work to do inside and it is a great time to discover new stuff. However AU still is not cutting it for me and after a few hours I am canceling my membership.

What other streaming outfits are better at what I am looking for? So far I have tried Tidal, Pandora, and Amazon and while all of them are a little different and some are better at certain things than others, none of them seem to work for me as a package. Ultimately I want to find one that I can stick with for the long haul as I do see the value in it for my purposes providing it can deliver. SQ is important, but since I am just working about the house and not using it for critical listening 320 or even 256 is alright.

 

[techguy0192]

I'm in the Tidal camp. There's no arguing the audio quality, it's simply fantastic.

 

[eiraved]

I use Spotify and I like it. I especially like the feature it has where it recommends songs based upon the music you've listened to. I've found several new artists that way.

 

[eljr]

I'm in the Tidal camp. There's no arguing the audio quality, it's simply fantastic.

Then you don't look for new Classical releases.

Tidal is terrible with this.

 

[techguy0192]

Then you don't look for new Classical releases.

Tidal is terrible with this.

Nope. I haven't found anything yet that I'm looking for that Tidal has failed to provide.

 

[Todd Dodds]

I have Tidal, Spotify and Pandora (...talk about the definition of insanity...). I will eventually can at least one of them, but for now they all have something to offer.
I voted for Spotify, and if the poll would allow, I'd also vote for Pandora. I'm not considering SQ for the purposes of this poll, just discovery. Pandora does well by me. Spotify does too, but requires learning a few tricks to get past the first line of suggestions they offer. Spotify has the obvious advantage of being able to scan down playlists, and the ability to show all covers of a particular song, where you can check out somebody you never heard of before.

 

[Rockyhill]

I subscribe to Tidal, Pandora and Amazon Unlim. I rarely listen to AU; it's my wife's source of theater soundtracks she downloads to her phone. For auditioning/discovering I would say Tidal. Bring up an artist, then launch the artist radio to hear similar artists/styles.

I should try Spotify again. There was something about it a few years ago that bugged me. Back then I was into jazzradio.com and tended to like that more at the time. I've since dropped that subscription.

 

[Alobar]

So haven't signed up for another streaming company today, I figured 1 a day is my limit. So thought I'd give Amazon another chance.. Decided to load an artist that I heard the other day. They don't have it but something "similar". So I played some, got tired of it quickly Then I decided I'd play some Norah Jones as most of her stuff is pretty good and maybe there is some material in there I haven't heard before. I click on her and get one song, Going back to Manhattan, and the very next song is Adele! I'd rather listen to my chop saw than her voice (no offense to fans of Adele, just her voice grates). So I hit the next button and on comes James Taylor Carolina on my mind.. NOT!! I just can't handle this interface! Music is supposed to relax and create a mood, even euphoria when we are lucky and the right song comes up at the right time. I'm about as far from that right now as can be...

I love Amazon, stream to the TeeVee with it, even order food but this streaming thing they are offering isn't working out. I guess I'm ready for Spotify next!

 

[Todd Dodds]

So haven't signed up for another streaming company today, I figured 1 a day is my limit. So thought I'd give Amazon another chance.. Decided to load an artist that I heard the other day. They don't have it but something "similar". So I played some, got tired of it quickly Then I decided I'd play some Norah Jones as most of her stuff is pretty good and maybe there is some material in there I haven't heard before. I click on her and get one song, Going back to Manhattan, and the very next song is Adele! I'd rather listen to my chop saw than her voice (no offense to fans of Adele, just her voice grates). So I hit the next button and on comes James Taylor Carolina on my mind.. NOT!! I just can't handle this interface! Music is supposed to relax and create a mood, even euphoria when we are lucky and the right song comes up at the right time. I'm about as far from that right now as can be...

I love Amazon, stream to the TeeVee with it, even order food but this streaming thing they are offering isn't working out. I guess I'm ready for Spotify next!

I don't know anything about Amazon, but with the others, it doesn't take too long using the Thumbs Up/Down to fine tune...they get the message pretty quick about what you want. Well, Pandora kept trying to shove CCR down my throat for a long time, but they finally relented just about the time I decided that maybe Fogarty was ok...
But really, both Pandora and Spotify amaze me how well they caught on to just who I was, and what I like. I had to shitcan a lot of JT and Adele, but we got there

 

[Alobar]

I don't know anything about Amazon, but with the others, it doesn't take too long using the Thumbs Up/Down to fine tune...they get the message pretty quick about what you want. Well, Pandora kept trying to shove CCR down my throat for a long time, but they finally relented just about the time I decided that maybe Fogarty was ok...
But really, both Pandora and Spotify amaze me how well they caught on to just who I was, and what I like. I had to shitcan a lot of JT and Adele, but we got there

I just signed up for spotify as it had a free for a month offer. First thing I noticed was how non descript the playlists were. Didn't even give me a clue what was in them! After banging around the past half hour I said F***it and fired up JRiver.. I still want to audition with something tho and I need to keep a streaming account open for that. I actually get the best recommendations ever from AK music forums.. This way I can plug a name into Spotify or something and make sure I really want it before I order the CD.

 

[Condorsat]

I roll w/ Tidal ... 320kbps AAC.
If it's not on there ... I'll try Spotify (free version)
If it's not on there ... YouTube (free version).

Sub Streaming is a format to me ... not just for auditioning and discovery of new music?
Most albums I don't feel the need to buy anymore ... unless I want a Vinyl copy ... that's just me.

 

[Alobar]

Has anyone noticed Spotify and Amazon for that matter seems to have the bass kicked up a few notches? I didn't notice it with Tidal when I was running it, in fact I thought 320K Tidal was the best sounding of the streaming companies I have tried but Spot had me making adjustments to my preamp.. I know there is no way to know for sure I suppose but I'm not that crazy about excess bass. To be fair it could have been the luck of the draw with the music I selected too..

 

[Todd Dodds]

I roll w/ Tidal ... 320kbps AAC.
If it's not on there ... I'll try Spotify (free version)
If it's not on there ... YouTube (free version).

Sub Streaming is a format to me ... not just for auditioning and discovery of new music?
Most albums I don't feel the need to buy anymore ... unless I want a Vinyl copy ... that's just me.

Same here. Quite happy streaming, I just like to dink around with records and I guess sometimes they do offer a little extra oomph.

 

[satkinsn]

I have the family plan of Spotify, Pandora and ClassicalRadio. I would drop Spotify were it not for family members who use it. To me, streaming works best as 'radio by other means.' If I want a piece of music, I buy it. I found that with Spotify, having so much choice isn't much better than having too little choice. To me, that's the most important thing.

s.

 

[Alobar]

I probably need to stick with one of these for a while, use the thumbs up and down more and see what kind of music it thinks I'll like. Pandora, when I used it was starting to hit on some music that I still enjoy today that I probably would never have been introduced otherwise. Then I got out of the apartment with the tiny system and it didn't sound that great anymore..

 

[SoCal Sam]

I voted other for Youtube. Audio quality is passable but acceptable considering how much really obscure stuff is on there. Stuff can get posted by original artists without the filter of a studio producer applying some formula to the composition. And then there is stuff that has no commercial value such as Derek Paravicini.

 

[N8Nagel]

Spotify's daily mixes and discover weekly have helped me find some stuff I genuinely liked.

 

[stevo137]

The dac is a key element.

I have recently switched to DragonFly Black with Apple adapter and it makes a noticeable improvement in all of my streaming directly from my iPhone.

 

[Alobar]

Okay, I am having a bit of success with Spotify after loading the Windows App I am finding it much easier to navigate. I put together my first "artist radio" and it has picked a bunch of artists based on that. We'll see what it comes up with. What I wish now is a Spotify phone app that can control the music played through the Windows app so I can give thumbs up/down as I am working on the house. Any such app out there? I do this with JRiver, but it is for that particular program...

 

[Todd Dodds]

Okay, I am having a bit of success with Spotify after loading the Windows App I am finding it much easier to navigate. I put together my first "artist radio" and it has picked a bunch of artists based on that. We'll see what it comes up with. What I wish now is a Spotify phone app that can control the music played through the Windows app so I can give thumbs up/down as I am working on the house. Any such app out there? I do this with JRiver, but it is for that particular program...

Well, they've got the Phone apps, but I don't know anything about playing that through the windows app. I'd just download the Spotify app on your phone. When you sign in, it'll automatically pull up all the stuff on your account.
What I do is, when I hear something new I like on a particular artist station, then I start another artist station based on the guy/gal/band I just liked.
You're on your way to satisfaction.