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Ultra HD = AM Radio?

turnitup

turnitup

No, the stereo won’t break the crystal...Oh CRAP!
We are at the threshold of a new era in music playback my friends, mark the date…

Ultra HD is coming to the masses. With hardware like the WIIM streamers coming online for less than $90 bucks, and HD (ultra HD?) subscriptions for 7.99 a month/individual or 14.99 for a family of 6, are we there yet? I’m thinking, yep, we are finally there! Add a quality DAC (or not), exponential levels of improvement of transmission on the horizon.

With HD on the cheap, maybe we are finally back to the point where quality of the music transmission comes back into play again (for the masses) over just convenience of just crappy playback?!?

MAN, I hope so! It’s been a long, long journey…

With HD being on the threshold of being available to the masses for really cheap, quality transmission is back! Watch the Hardware vendors adapt quickly I’d guess, we’ve waited long enough. 192/24 available to virtually everyone, we’re on the very threshold my friends. Man, I’m hoping!

Im not affiliated with anybody, just an excited observer!!!
 
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What I am trying to convey is that we are really close to the intersection of very high quality playback and mass affordability/access. Not just for the AK diehards (like us, with expensive/complex DACs, streamers, etc.) but for the average Joe/Jane.

One of my biggest frustrations with audio (in my lifetime) is that there was mass acceptance and interest in high quality music reproduction when I was young (mostly in the 70s), only to be degraded over time by convenience/technology and expense (and again, I speaking of “the masses”). Highly available quality internet bandwidth, inexpensive hardware (streamers/DACs) and cost/technology are finally pushing us forward again to promote quality playback (192/24) over highly compressed music for all, not just the audiophile. I’m looking forward to when HD is the norm, cheap, readily available, ubiquitous, and I think we are just about on the cusp of this being reality...finally...

There is a large portion of the population who has never experienced the magic of music to its fullest. When you compare music playback to other technologies that we are living with, TV, computers, cars, etc., there was a fairly linear progression and improvement in quality over the last 20-30 years. Music playback really hasn’t followed this model (arguably, from my perspective). Huge, super high quality TVs are cheap and available to almost everyone (remember the switch from CRT to flat panel), there hasn’t been a linear progression equivalent for music. I’m hoping we are finally on the path for this (for the masses), looks promising to me and I’m excited about it!

I know that what I am saying can be picked apart, in a million ways, but I feel like the trend for high quality for the masses is very much going in a positive direction again in a cost and availability intersection, therefore, the analogy of “HD AM radio” for the masses...
 
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I have 3 HD FM tuners that have pretty good SQ, and the reception is free off of my TV antenna.
 
Doesn't matter the bitrate of your source if playback is a sound bar though -- it's all relative. I don't really understand your post, high res streaming has been available to the masses pretty cheaply for a while now, I've had it a couple of years...
 
Poultrygeist said:
For the price of four SACD's or four 200 gram LP's I can enjoy a year of Ultra content from Amazon with superior fidelity.

I cringe at the thought of how much I've spent over the years on CD's or LP's for a single song.
Click to expand...
OFT… this is part of the “entertainment budget” in our household. Cheaper than one matinee ticket at a movie theater each month :thumbsup:
 
Poultrygeist said:
For the price of four SACD's or four 200 gram LP's I can enjoy a year of Ultra content from Amazon with superior fidelity.

I cringe at the thought of how much I've spent over the years on CD's or LP's for a single song.
Click to expand...
I like physical media.I have Pandora which is free and sounds great and they don't play many ads.
 
I'm in my second year of paying the annual Qobuz fee - $130/yr seemed reasonable -
thats $2.50/wk for access to a huge selection of CD quality and higher res music.
Helps me sort through new and older releases to see if I like them.
And I still buy physical CDs when they appeal to me,
like the 3 Hilliard Ensemble CDs @pmsummer introduced me to for Holy Week.
The RaspberryPi streamer and DAC combo were reasonable as well.
 
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The neat thing about streaming Amazon HD from the Node's BluOS app is that my music choices are remembered and a play list is automatically customized based on my interests. If I start playing songs by Diana Krall and when that playlist is completed I get introduced to different female jazz artists similar to Diana Krall. This is an incredible way to discover new artists.

I had never heard of Eddie Higgins ( jazz pianist ) before but thanks to the introduction by BluOS and Amazon I can't get enough of his keyboard magic.
 
Poultrygeist said:
For the price of four SACD's or four 200 gram LP's I can enjoy a year of Ultra content from Amazon with superior fidelity.

I cringe at the thought of how much I've spent over the years on CD's or LP's for a single song.
Click to expand...

You will cringe if artist, artist management, record label, or others decide to yank what you like to listen to. With streaming, this can happen. And you lose access to it.
 
turnitup said:
What I am trying to convey is that we are really close to the intersection of very high quality playback and mass affordability/access. Not just for the AK diehards (like us, with expensive/complex DACs, streamers, etc.) but for the average Joe/Jane.

One of my biggest frustrations with audio (in my lifetime) is that there was mass acceptance and interest in high quality music reproduction when I was young (mostly in the 70s), only to be degraded over time by convenience/technology and expense (and again, I speaking of “the masses”). Highly available quality internet bandwidth, inexpensive hardware (streamers/DACs) and cost/technology are finally pushing us forward again to promote quality playback (192/24) over highly compressed music for all, not just the audiophile. I’m looking forward to when HD is the norm, cheap, readily available, ubiquitous, and I think we are just about on the cusp of this being reality...finally...

There is a large portion of the population who has never experienced the magic of music to its fullest. When you compare music playback to other technologies that we are living with, TV, computers, cars, etc., there was a fairly linear progression and improvement in quality over the last 20-30 years. Music playback really hasn’t followed this model (arguably, from my perspective). Huge, super high quality TVs are cheap and available to almost everyone (remember the switch from CRT to flat panel), there hasn’t been a linear progression equivalent for music. I’m hoping we are finally on the path for this (for the masses), looks promising to me and I’m excited about it!

I know that what I am saying can be picked apart, in a million ways, but I feel like the trend for high quality for the masses is very much going in a positive direction again in a cost and availability intersection, therefore, the analogy of “HD AM radio” for the masses...
Click to expand...

Mass affordability/access to HD music becomes something of a moot point when the masses don't really care about fidelity and certainly don't care to obtain the equipment needed to fully realize the potential fidelity in the music file/transmission/stream/whatever. The masses had a greater inclination toward this half a century ago because there were far less forms of entertainment and distractions for attention than what exists now. HD music will only ever be relevant to those who are enthusiastic about the fidelity of their music listening experience...and that ain't very many in the grand scheme of things.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
You will cringe if artist, artist management, record label, or others decide to yank what you like to listen to.
With streaming, this can happen. And you lose access to it.
Click to expand...
And you stop paying for it. Seems a reasonable 1 for 1 equation.
You ALWAYS have the option to buy a personal copy (CD, LP, etc) of what you find desirable -
and I find a lot of material on streaming services is nice enough, but not essential for my personal collection.
Just found out Rickie Lee Jones "Girl at her Volcano" is an album I should give a listen to, but it unavailable to buy at reasonable prices.
So I'll stream it next time I get a chance and find out if I think it's worth owning, since I'm not a huge RLJ fan.
Streaming gives me that option to try new music before I buy - I LOVE that feature.
 
hjames said:
And you stop paying for it. Seems a reasonable 1 for 1 equation.
You ALWAYS have the option to buy a personal copy (CD, LP, etc) of what you find desirable -
and I find a lot of material on streaming services is nice enough, but not essential for my personal collection.
Just found out Rickie Lee Jones "Girl at her Volcano" is an album I should give a listen to, but it unavailable to buy at reasonable prices.
So I'll stream it next time I get a chance and find out if I think it's worth owning, since I'm not a huge RLJ fan.
Streaming gives me that option to try new music before I buy - I LOVE that feature.
Click to expand...

Streaming I refuse to pay for. Because I don't have anything to show for it. And a lot of the music I like will never be available on it, in the best sounding edition.
 
Yet I and a lot of other folks do pay - because its worth $2.50/wk to listen to CD to high resolution quality music with no commercial interruptions and the tracks I chose.
And know the artists are getting something from that.
This RLJ example is CD quality, but many choices there are higher resolution,
like the Hilliard Ensemble tracks I listened to over the weekend.

RasPi-RLJ-Volcano_6927.jpg

Still not sure why the comparisons to AM radio, which I have not listened to since the early 70s, generally sounds abysmal, and most of us have no interest in at all.
 
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hjames said:
…Still not sure why the comparisons to AM radio, which I have not listened to since the early 70s, generally sounds abysmal, and most of us have no interest in at all.
Click to expand...

What I was trying to convey (and in retrospect, I REALLY chose the wrong words in my title!) is that I see HD playback (at some point in the not too distant future) as being as readily available as AM radio was in the 1950s/1960s. We have to pay an ever lowering premium for it now, but the cost is quickly dropping, just as high quality streamers and DAC are dropping in price too. Internet quality is also quickly becoming commoditized everywhere (Starlink, Google fiber, cellular, etc.). Once it becomes the norm/commoditized, I think (hope) that the younger players in the consumer market will (once again as in the 1970s) demand it because the cost/complexity/availability to get it will no longer be a barrier.

There will always be a audiophile market for those who seek the best at any price, I’m simply stating that I think we are on the verge of MUCH better, highly available, quality at lower consumer prices. Mapping closer to what happened with flat panel TVs and HD signals to feed them. It has taken a inordinate long time for audio quality to catch up with equivalent TV/video quality (in the mass consumer market). Many of us here lived the 70’s quality audio revolution, only to watch it slowly erode. How many people watch a CRT TV now? It’s finally audio’s turn again to get back on track to an up and to the right trajectory for the masses…
 
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