Poll: Music Streaming Debate

[Andybtsn]

Meh, even added a poll.

So, who has decided on their music streaming platform? I feel like I've tried the majority, Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Youtube Music, Amazon and I've been with Apple for a while now, but I don't know why...

Gripes are:

No release radar, it really does my head in the way Apple Music doesn't notify you of music from your most like bands (bands in your library)
Notifications are just plain poor in general for tracks released by my favourite artists.
Also, no Windows App still, so I'm using a hacked jobby of the IOS app in Windows.

I keep using Spotify for the release radar, I love that damn playlist. But the inability to 1, play all my library and 2, just add albums I want to my library prevents me using this service other than the free one.
I also like having lossless audio with Apple, although I only use it with AirPod Pros, not sure it's worth it.

Anyway, what are you using and any of my gripes answered in another service?

 

[Subliminal Aura]

Primarily soundcloud

Rarely spotify and amazon music

 

[Things change I've changed]

Tried them all, and Spotify wins all the time for me due to the 'Made for you' playlists, I wouldn't have even half the albums on my rotation if it wasn't for those playlists, for me the most important thing is discovering new music and Spotify I believe allows you to do that better than the competition.

Regarding sound quality I would challenge anyone to blind test them and tell me they can tell the difference, and using Airpod Pro's there is no way would tell the difference, you'd struggle with a grands worth of desktop headphone setup.

 

[Rroff]

I use several of those - but as above so far nothing beats Spotify for discovering new music (Pandora was a close second when it was available in the UK).

I still tend to buy the stuff I listen to the most often on Spotify though (using one of the others).

 

[Armageus]

None of the above?

I still buy CDs and rip them to FLAC to play around the house via Emby, and then transcode to MP3 to stick on USB drives in the car.

 

[Things change I've changed]

I use several of those - but as above so far nothing beats Spotify for discovering new music (Pandora was a close second when it was available in the UK).

I still tend to buy the stuff I listen to the most often on Spotify though (using one of the others).

Agreed about Pandora, was gutted when that left the UK, was really good for finding alternative music.

 

[Space Monkey]

None of the above?

I still buy CDs and rip them to FLAC to play around the house via Emby, and then transcode to MP3 to stick on USB drives in the car.

Same here

 

[mid_gen]

Switched to Tidal from Spotify a few weeks ago. Spotify's discovery and new releases seemed to be getting more and more hidden every update....and there is no way to just see album releases from your artists.

Tidal's range of mixes and discovery seems better now. Plus my sub money is going to musicians, not podcasters.

 

[XeNoNF50]

Qobuz - it is the best sound quality streaming platform imo with the widest high res library for my tastes. It's downside vs how a lot of people use these streaming platforms are music discoverability and smart recommendations, however that is not overly important for me.

It's desktop app isn't great either but this is easily solved by Roon or Audirvana if you are that way inclined.

I would probably be with Tidal if they supported real masters/high resolution rather than MQA as I am a big fan of their UX, recommendations & Tidal Connect. Alas, I keep a throwaway Argentinian Tidal account as a back up.

 

[james.miller]

Google play music. Because it's about £1.60 for a sub and for that price it doesnt even matter if it comes up short against any others. sound quality is fine, selection is good etc. The rest of it, meh id rather pocket the difference in cost.

 

[Ayahuasca]

Qobuz - it is the best sound quality streaming platform imo with the widest high res library for my tastes. It's downside vs how a lot of people use these streaming platforms are music discoverability and smart recommendations, however that is not overly important for me.

It's desktop app isn't great either but this is easily solved by Roon or Audirvana if you are that way inclined.

I would probably be with Tidal if they supported real masters/high resolution rather than MQA as I am a big fan of their UX, recommendations & Tidal Connect. Alas, I keep a throwaway Argentinian Tidal account as a back up.

Pretty much my thoughts on it as well.

 

[And]

Soundcloud, buy wavs or buy vinyl.

 

[JasonM]

Amazon Music HD for me, FLAC quality and AI generated playlists.

 

[rids57]

Amazon Music HD here too - I keep hoping they will sort out their exclusive mode and set the sample rate automatically, as it is everything gets played at 384kHz as I don't want anything being down sampled by the Windows mixer

 

[JasonM]

Amazon Music HD here too - I keep hoping they will sort out their exclusive mode and set the sample rate automatically, as it is everything gets played at 384kHz as I don't want anything being down sampled by the Windows mixer

I was not aware of this issue. So even if it says Flac the music is still be down-sampled by the windows mixer?

 

[rids57]

The sample rate is displayed on my SMSL SU9 DAC and with exclusive mode selected the frequency shown is whatever is set in the Windows settings rather than what is shown within the Amazon app. I set Windows to 384kHz as I would rather Windows up-sampled and not down-sampled. It's a well known gripe about Amazon Music HD and it's been brought up many times in the thread on Head-Fi. I've reported it as have many others but it appears Amazon don't care about their streams not being bit perfect.

 

[JasonM]

The sample rate is displayed on my SMSL SU9 DAC and with exclusive mode selected the frequency shown is whatever is set in the Windows settings rather than what is shown within the Amazon app. I set Windows to 384kHz as I would rather Windows up-sampled and not down-sampled. It's a well known gripe about Amazon Music HD and it's been brought up many times in the thread on Head-Fi. I've reported it as have many others but it appears Amazon don't care about their streams not being bit perfect.

How are you setting the windows up to use 384kHz?

I'm using an Asus Essence sound card, and the only options I have are bit depth and sample rate, I just set to 24 192kHz that matches the highest settings in the card. The Amazon Music application always reports these settings in it's software, and depending on streaming quality will try and match them. So if I'm understanding correctly there is something else that's down sampling the quality?

 

[rids57]

The list for my STX only goes up to 24 bit 192kHz but for my SU9 it goes up to 32 bit 384kHz. The DAC actually goes up to 32 bit 768kHz but I can only use that from within JRiver Media Center.
If you have your device settings at 24 bit 192kHz in Windows that is what will be played, it doesn't matter what Amazon's app says. If you set the Windows settings to 44.1kHz then you can play a UHD track and the Amazon app will correctly report that it is playing at either 96kHz or 192kHz but the data stream then gets resampled by the Windows mixer and the end product will be played at 44.1kHz.

 

[TALON1973]

I’ve had Spotify premium via a mobile phone contract the last 3 years. Suits my needs. Cd / vinyl for when I need better.

 

[BMox81]

After being on Apple Music for a number of years, we moved over to Spotify because of its cross platform nature. Echo Dot? Plays on that. Google Nest Hub? Plays on that. Sonos speakers, etc... Spotify Connect is amazing. The playlists are second to none and to me, a lot more personal than the ones being created by Apple Music.

I was disappointed that Spotify didn't go through with their HiFi offering, but when Apple and Amazon went and gave Lossless to everyone at no extra cost, that put an end to them doing it I say. I agree that for the majority, most wouldn't notice a difference, but it was more of wanting each service to be on parity with one another and then people can choose accordingly.

I've dabbled with Tidal and find it to be very similar to Spotify in terms of UI so if I was to moved again, I'd probably go that route.