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Listen here: you can’t rely on music streaming. Maybe it’s time to dig out your old CDs

Tom Brennan said:
So you're a collector, that's swell, but many audiophiles and music lovers aren't. The existence of streaming and downloadable music has made things far simpler and easier for me. And for me the less "stuff" the better.
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I just want to state categorically that I'm not at all against streaming & downloads and I'm sorry if I gave that impression in my statement because that wasn't really the intent at all. I realize that some of us here are collectors and some of us aren't, and it's all cool. I totally understand your reasons. However as a collector, I did feel compelled to defend other ones like myself who maybe haven't adopted streaming yet or even are not interested in it at all. We shouldn't be cast as not being "with it". I also, though, felt like I had to express certain potential pitfalls of streaming but, however, this may not end up affecting you (or others) in your own particular situations.

GChief said:
Being both, and it being about the music first I have never understood the hate of something that gives me some much access to music… IMO it is still just a bunch of luddites complaining about something they haven’t really tried.
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Again, it's not hatred. Of course, I can only speak for myself, but probably many other physical media collectors would agree. I also don't really care for that luddite label being thrown at collectors. This kind of thing was part of what I was referring to in my prior post. As far as myself, I'm still open to streaming even though my few prior attempts haven't turned out too well. If it is to happen, I would want something that integrates well with my existing stereo system and also doesn't require booting up a computer every time I want to use it. Still as it stands now, I have more music options than I can really even absorb, even without the streaming.
 
I have many boxes of plastic and am very pleased with them. What upsets me is when songs "disappear" from my computer playlists because my streaming company no longer carries the song. Of course there are many reasons for that, but it's something I don't worry about as long as I have my boxes of plastic. :)
 
eiraved said:
What upsets me is when songs "disappear" from my computer playlists because my streaming company no longer carries the song. Of course there are many reasons for that, but it's something I don't worry about as long as I have my boxes of plastic.
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There is a third world that bridges key virtues of the other two: local digital library. About ten years ago, I ripped my ~800 CDs to a fault tolerant NAS. And over time, have added to that number and continue to supplement its contents with MP3s where I must and the world of 24 bit high rez downloads wherever possible. Having your own copy of a master recording was but a dream in the past. Nothing disappears and two things change:

1. You spend more time listening. Selection and control is via your choice of four different kinds of smart devices. I use all of them in different situations. There’s nothing to hunt down, insert, remove and refile each time.
2. You quickly rediscover old friends. Random play (filtered by genre if desired) walks through the library and has given me much pleasure realizing “its been too long since I last played that”.

The collection of plastic boxes is under indefinite loan to the local library system. Which reminds me I’ve got more to take to them.

Since I also listen to the garage system a good bit, I once maintained a multi hundred collection of burned CD-Rs. I really didn’t enjoy constantly shuffling jewel cases between locations. The media server feeds multiple players alike. Music or video for that matter. My movie collection also lives on the NAS and is accessible from multiple TVs.

Having Qobuz Studio means that I get to hear 24 bit masters the day they are dropped. Yesterday, I sampled the new Tears for Fears album.
 
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intro6 said:
I just want to state categorically that I'm not at all against streaming & downloads and I'm sorry if I gave that impression in my statement because that wasn't really the intent at all. I realize that some of us here are collectors and some of us aren't, and it's all cool. I totally understand your reasons. However as a collector, I did feel compelled to defend other ones like myself who maybe haven't adopted streaming yet or even are not interested in it at all. We shouldn't be cast as not being "with it". I also, though, felt like I had to express certain potential pitfalls of streaming but, however, this may not end up affecting you (or others) in your own particular situations.



Again, it's not hatred. Of course, I can only speak for myself, but probably many other physical media collectors would agree. I also don't really care for that luddite label being thrown at collectors. This kind of thing was part of what I was referring to in my prior post. As far as myself, I'm still open to streaming even though my few prior attempts haven't turned out too well. If it is to happen, I would want something that integrates well with my existing stereo system and also doesn't require booting up a computer every time I want to use it. Still as it stands now, I have more music options than I can really even absorb, even without the streaming.
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There is ZERO need for a computer. A cell phone (a small computer TBH) with Spotify on it and a 3.5mm to RCA cord is all you need. Plug it in to any open input and you are rolling. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Far faster than any other medium.

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eiraved said:
I have many boxes of plastic and am very pleased with them. What upsets me is when songs "disappear" from my computer playlists because my streaming company no longer carries the song. Of course there are many reasons for that, but it's something I don't worry about as long as I have my boxes of plastic. :)
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How many millions of songs do you have in your boxes?

Seriously, you can do what you want, but please don't think that any physical collection can compare with streaming.
 
Bodyblue said:
Seriously, you can do what you want, but please don't think that any physical collection can compare with streaming.
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In what regard? Accessibility? Volume of titles/songs? That most common of denominators, "convenience"?

Maybe I prefer the sound of my old turntable over the same thing streamed, or wish to spin a cd that I hauled around in college (call it pointless nostalgia).

Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar. Streaming is easy, streaming often sounds amazing, but the sound is only one component of a hobby such as this.

Some people want to get to the destination. Others prefer the journey. No right or wrong, and I do enjoy my computer library.
 
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Jarred555 said:
Kinda like how Neil young is leaving Spotify
A southern man doesn't need him around anyhow
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stereofanboy said:
I don't need him on Spotify anyhow. I've got him on cd.
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"Sweet home Alabama"
Play that dead band's song
Turn those speakers up full blast
Play it all night long
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Some people don't need Skynnyrd, either.

tom67 said:
I was around during their prime and remember their mantra of "power to the people" and "do your own thing.". Very sad that they are now reduced to cranky geriatric woke types pushing an agenda of censorship
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That's typical of anyone who rose to power. You'll never hear anyone on their side say "You've got the right to your opinion and I'd die to protect you saying it" anymore, that was strictly the 80s when they were still striving.
 
onwardjames said:
In what regard? Accessibility? Volume of titles/songs? That most common of denominators, "convenience"?

Maybe I prefer the sound of my old turntable over the same thing streamed, or wish to spin a cd that I hauled around in college (call it pointless nostalgia).

Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar. Streaming is easy, streaming often sounds amazing, but the sound is only one component of a hobby such as this.

Some people want to get to the destination. Others prefer the journey. No right or wrong, and I do enjoy my computer library.
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I was referring to the amount of titles available from Spotify etc. In that regard, nothing compares. I agree that it does not matter how one gets their music......but some of the attacks on streaming are moronic.
 
The critical thing is - Support the artists, enjoy their music - however you get it.
(Tho hopefully not stealing via bit Torrent!)
 
Bob in WI said:
Prices on Discogs are ridiculous. How many LPs can the Saudi sheiks buy?
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This is no joke. In the past two weeks I've sold TWO $300 records. And a total of over $1300 worth of records, and it's not even put a dent in my collection.

It's one reason I'm kind of getting out of the thing. The opportunity cost of owning the records is bringing me down. I can listen to the music for essentially "free" (via streaming or downloaded local files, many of which came with the records I bought), so why keep such an expensive collection around? Maybe I'm just getting too "practical" anymore. This is a fun hobby and I get spending money on your hobbies. there are much worse ways to spend your money, that's for sure! And I did used to pride myself on supporting the artist via buying the record and attending the shows. Now, it will just be attending the shows, or possibly a download via Bandcamp.

But I can use that money elsewhere, these days. And the space savings is another huge bonus. I'll likely keep my cheapest (and coincidentally, most sentimentally-attached) turntable, records from my 3-5 favorite artists, and call it good. But I was in the "other" (physical media) camp for the past decade, so I'm definitely not going to preach that any one mentality is better than the other. I'm just going to try a new approach for the forseeable future and see how it goes. One thing I have learned with audio, most things can easily be repurchased again, and this includes gear and media (MOST things, not all).

Happy listening!
 
Frank Sol said:
I'm streaming my OWN Music this morning all the way across my room :biggrin:

Windows 10 desktop --> JRiver Media Center --> WiFi --> Cambridge Audio CXN V2
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Same! Western Digital NAS -> NVidia Shield (Android TV, running KODI) -> Accuphase E-212 w/DAC-10 card
Listening to a bunch of mixes downloaded from the Aquarium Drunkard music blog - solid site if you've never checked it out. A bit esoteric at times, but I've found some real gems here, and they have lots of free downloads.

https://aquariumdrunkard.com/
 
I've been working on my streaming rig (mains living room) since 2015 ... I'm also into Vinyl and have robust Classic Rock collection (bulk was put together during the dollar bin days). Mostly stream "modern music" ... post 2000. If I have the album on Vinyl .. usually just spin that. So my point of reference (baseline) has usually been post 2000 tunes on streaming.

Anyway ... yesterday I decided to stream a couple of early James Taylor albums on my mains ... Sweet Baby James (1970) & Mud Slide Slim & the Blue Horizon (1971) ... Have to admit .. I was really taken back by how good the Tidal streams sounded on my digital front end.
 
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