YouTube Music Premium

Scam · 8 Feb 2019 at 10:12

I think the LG phones are supposed to have good DACs. So I hear any way.

It gets very complicated when talking about quality audio out of a phone. All I know is that I'll stick to my wired 'phones for quality and simplicity. I did not want to go down the road of relying on some cheap usb-c DAC or cheap DAC built-in to Bluetooth headphones. Meh.

I keep getting vaguely interested in trying Tidal mainly for my home set-up but seen as I use Chromecast to send music to my amp I believe it re-encodes anyway? :confused:

james.miller · 8 Feb 2019 at 10:26

too much emphasis is put on the codecs used when we have zero control over the masters used, the ripping or the encoding process. I have experience many times where the same songs sound completely different on youtube music and google play music and the better version could be on either platform. I'll give you one example, Coming Home by TQ. The audio on the youtube is better than GPM. It shouldnt happen. Until this is better controlled, the 256k/320k lossless debate is pointless IMO.

jpaul · 8 Feb 2019 at 10:34

james.miller said:
the codecs used when we have zero control over the masters used

indeed - I have still not found any information on where Tidal source their 96/24 'premium'/MQA stuff, which sounds as though it is not run of the mill digital copies from the music distributors ?

Scam said:
I think the LG phones are supposed to have good DACs.

Yes LG v30 is supposed to be good, however the camera was not, maybe that's an acceptable compromise,
new v40 still costs $$$, sony's seem to get good comments.

Scam said:
Chromecast to send music to my amp I believe it re-encodes anyway?

chromecast audio receives the original bitstream/encoded audio when you cast to it from a music app eg plex. not sure about casting a utube tab though in chrome.

Scam · 8 Feb 2019 at 11:00

You've set me on a dangerous path by the way. I'm now looking at portable DACs for my phone, and a DAC to bypass the one on my Chromecast

Some initial reading seems to suggest that contrary to what I previously thought, 320kb/s files (GPM highest quality) can sound almost identical to lossless (to most ears) and would actually benefit from using a superior DAC. So, um, thanks for making me want to spend money now... lol.

BMox81 · 18 Oct 2019 at 11:23

How are people still finding the service?

Thinking of subbing up as most of my viewing is done on YT these days and seems like a no brainer to get rid of the ads and get a bit more value using the music app as well.

Matteysan · 18 Oct 2019 at 12:40

BMox81 said:
How are people still finding the service?

Thinking of subbing up as most of my viewing is done on YT these days and seems like a no brainer to get rid of the ads and get a bit more value using the music app as well.

Can't even remember the last time I opened Youtube Music to be honest, Much prefer Google play music & I've been dabbling with Amazons high quality service which I've got free for three months.

FishLicker · 18 Oct 2019 at 16:40

Interesting thread, I fancy adding some new music to my collection. I have some old stuff I have downloaded from years (decades even) ago but haven't really bothered much in recent years. I have some pretty good quality audio kit but quite often just stream off Youtube, now I realise I'm often listening to 128K streams on some pretty audiophile grade stuff, which seems crazy really.

From what I know, I would only benefit from FLAC / Lossless on my main rig - computer/DAC/amp/speakers/wired headphones, but then from past experience of codecs 320K can be very nearly as good if not virtually indistinguishable to most users.

Other than that I often listen to my phone/tablet with my wireless headphones (Bowers & Wilkins P7s) which is also an excellent setup but I'm aware AAC only goes up to 256K and AptX 384K (the headphones don't support Aptx HD or LDAC).

My understanding is basically this:-

- Spotify has the most choice
- Apple Music best choice for Apple users (straight AAC stream without re-encoding?)
- Tidal best choice for audiophiles (how much benefit over the others in reality)
- Youtube Music / Amazon - perhaps not the best at any one thing? I already use some of the Amazon service via my Prime membership.

So, if you were going to pick from this lot, where would your money be headed?

glenimp617 · 18 Oct 2019 at 16:42

Forgot I made this thread

I stuck with Spotify and added a YouTube premium family membership via Indian VPN for £2 a month

FishLicker · 18 Oct 2019 at 17:09

Is that how much it costs over there?! Any drawbacks?

BMox81 · 18 Oct 2019 at 19:39

TheOracle said:
Forgot I made this thread

I stuck with Spotify and added a YouTube premium family membership via Indian VPN for £2 a month

Nice one for that-did the same and a family sub comes to £2.05 so happy days.

glenimp617 · 18 Oct 2019 at 19:51

FishLicker said:
Is that how much it costs over there?! Any drawbacks?

No, none

It's brilliant. Added my sister's family and my parents to it. Can't grumble for a couple of quid.

Using the Google rewards app I don't think I've ever actually paid for it.

GMac11 · 18 Oct 2019 at 20:41

By using the VPN is that just to get signed up for Indian price or do you have to have the VPN enabled every time you want to use the app?

BMox81 · 18 Oct 2019 at 20:53

GMac11 said:
By using the VPN is that just to get signed up for Indian price or do you have to have the VPN enabled every time you want to use the app?

I used the VPN on my Mac to set up the sub, using YT and YTM on my phone normally and coming up as Premium.

GMac11 · 18 Oct 2019 at 21:37

Cool might give that a go. So recommended to set it up on computer?

BMox81 · 18 Oct 2019 at 22:24

GMac11 said:
Cool might give that a go. So recommended to set it up on computer?

Don’t see why you can’t do it on your phone if it’s an Android. I had to do it on my Mac as subbing on my iPhone would have meant it going through iTunes and increased charges.

Lakeland · 18 Oct 2019 at 22:32

I pay it just for ad free YouTube, the amount I watch makes it worthwhile

b00merang69 · 18 Oct 2019 at 22:33

How do you tell if it actually is Hi-Res (this is on PC so a webpage not my Mobile App).

HD-Musik 24 Bit 96KHZ und 192 KHZ > "Acoustic Guitar Sound Quality Test" does sound very nice though.

Acoustic Guitar - Sound Quality Test

glenimp617 · 18 Oct 2019 at 22:44

GMac11 said:
By using the VPN is that just to get signed up for Indian price or do you have to have the VPN enabled every time you want to use the app?

No only to sign up. It's a doddle

BMox81 · 19 Oct 2019 at 10:40

Early thoughts are that it’s pretty good! Lots of old skool stuff available to download.

Unfortunately with having got the service from India, some of the stuff suggested is geared towards that region. I don’t know if and when I use it as time goes on I’ll see less of it, but I guess for £2, I can’t really complain, as I mainly got it for getting rid of the ads on YouTube.

b00merang69 · 19 Oct 2019 at 16:44

lol

P.S i never seen ads in Youtube to start with there is multiple ways to avoid them.