Just started Streaming...

[Jonty2547]

So, my Airport Express turned up today and was quickly set up and running through a Bushmaster MKII into the NVA gear and a 30 day free trail of Spotify premium was acquired.
Fcuk! I feel like a kid in sweet shop with 30 million kinds of candy to sample. I’m actually racking my brain trying to think of tunes i want to listen to
The overwhelming choice has kind of blown my mind a little bit
Why i didn’t do this earlier is beyond me as the SQ is pretty good (not quite CD) and is certainly acceptable for background listening. It's also nice to be able to control the volume without getting up
Which leads to a few questions..

Is Tidal’s lossless really that much better than Spotify’s premium?
Is there any real reason to spend more than £10 on an optical cable? No please
And, is there a reasonably cost effective way to better the airport express/DAC for SQ?

[George Hincapie]

I still haven't sent the AE to whomever I promised it to. Sorry. I haven't forgotten, my admin is just up my own arse.

[George Hincapie]

Which leads to a few questions..

Is Tidal’s lossless really that much better than Spotify’s premium? YES. Spotify sucks big fat balls.
Is there any real reason to spend more than £10 on an optical cable? No please Only you can answer that. I spent almost £200 on mine. Is it better than a £20 one? Of course. Is it 10x better? Of course not. Spend what you feel appropriate and be at peace with yourself.
And, is there a reasonably cost effective way to better the airport express/DAC for SQ? I'd say a Pi would destroy it, but others can comment from a more informed standpoint than I.

[BillyBones]

Spotify Premium is ace, £9.99 p/m has been the bargain of the year for me and my family for years now.

I free trialled Tidal a while back but the music choices were limited compared to Spotify at twice the price, and I wasn't prepared to pay for both (seeing as it's dad who has to pay for it).

I personally find Spotify Premiums quality excellent and really struggle to tell differences between FLAC quality and Spotify Premium (320).

Edit: I use my Squeezebox Touch to stream Spotify in the house.

[Jonty2547]

Spotify Premium is ace, £9.99 p/m has been the bargain of the year for me and my family for years now.

It's the first service i've ever used to stream, but if it wasn't on a free trial i'd have had my moneys worth just today
I've been all over the musical spectrum today and back again. Just great

[SteveTheShadow]

I use Apple Music via either my Mac-Mini or Apple TV.
My aging ears can tell absolutely no difference whatsoever between CD rips at AIFF standard and 256K AAC Apple Music streams.
There is a difference with hi-rez files played through the Mac Mini and 256K AAC conversions of the same file, but not enough to consider forking out vast sums for hi-rez digital music.

I love discovering new stuff with Apple Music. I used to spend far more than £9.99 a month buying, so as far as I'm concerned, streaming subscription services are a no-brainer.

[BillyBones]

I've lost count of the number of CDs I've bought on the back of listening to them on Spotify first. I can honestly say that in my circle of family and friends I am literally the only person who still buys music, my kids think I'm really weird .

By the same token I've listened to loads of stuff I've had a mind to buy but one listen on Spotify has convinced me otherwise.

You get lots of great (and not so great!) suggestions to listen to on this forum and others, and it's fun investigating.

Re: Tidal. It's been a year since I did their 30 day free trial so their catalogue may well have increased and be more extensive these days.

[savvypaul]

I stream Qobuz 'HiFi' version which is all at CD quality. Very, very good for Classical, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Country. Now catching up quickly with Spotify for rock & pop. £19.99 per month or £220 annually, the latter also gives you discounts on studio master 24 bit downloads.

I don't buy CDs anymore, unless it's something really obscure that I can't find on Qobuz (very rare nowadays)...but I do buy vinyl, both new and secondhand.

[George Hincapie]

I stream Qobuz 'HiFi' version which is all at CD quality. Very, very good for Classical, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Country. Now catching up quickly with Spotify for rock & pop. £19.99 per month or £220 annually, the latter also gives you discounts on studio master 24 bit downloads.

I don't buy CDs anymore, unless it's something really obscure that I can't find on Qobuz (very rare nowadays)...but I do buy vinyl, both new and secondhand.

I'll be the same soon hopefully. I think streaming generally is a solid way forward. Not the only way obviously.

[Stemcor1990]

I was pleasantly surprised by the advantages of streaming. There is always the option to listen to music via YouTube and no need for a subscription. Sound quality is variable but it's a great way to discover new music. I also have Spotify as part of my mobile phone package so the best of both worlds. Streaming also gives you the benefit of internet radio. BBC radio 3 is rather good and now you can listen to that mysterious Uzbek country and western station that you heard about but could never pick up on your tuner......

I use a squeezebox touch with a Teddy Pardo psu and it walks all over the Naim NDX I previously owned.

By the way Doc, what happened to the dac/psu thingy you were working on. Is this now a dead duck ?