I can listen to my music virtually anywhere, anytime. Conveniently picking up exactly where I left off on an album or playlist, when going from walking outside with headphones... to room-filling sound via Google Chromecast in whichever tv or bluetooth stereo in the car.

I realize that the sound quality isn't perfect. I can still hear the difference, yes. I don't have big speakers on the bookshelf anymore either. The Sony and Panasonic TVs both have decent sound.

It was just getting too difficult to care for and play all of those hundreds vinyl records that I had accumulated of the last 55 or so years. I will turn 65 next month, and I now have back and some other health problems. Our kids are grown. We sold our house and moved to a smaller, one-level home. I sold many of my records to a record dealer I know and gave as many away as my son wanted (He loves vintage viny).

I threw away lots of other vinyl records... Many worn out records.

And all my CD's -- "Compact" -- that filled several dozen 16"x6"x6" boxes. The boxes are still in storage, still sealed. Because of Spotify.

It's so very, very useful. Has changed my listening habits.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-05-30 12:01 by bv.

Nice to have Spotify on phone but I also still listen to my cds. I got 500+, I like to see the I insert , photos. I’ll keep mine for now.

I have a spotify account but haven't really "spotified" yet.

There's certainly the convenience but I still get the enjoyment out of vinyl and how else can I justify to my wife a turntable setup in virtually every room in the house?!

CDs can be ripped to FLAC and played digitally at 100 percent quality. So it's worth to build your own library from them, in addition to Spotify or other subscription service.
Also usually there is only one mastering available at those services. E.g. on Apple Music, which I use (and pay for), unfortunately mainly 2009 Stones remasters done by Marcussen are included. So I usually prefer listening to Virgin CDs done by Bob Ludwig I've got.

I've been ripping my DVDs and CDs for years. They are much handier having them ripped so the files can be played on my computer or iPhone. I'm getting rid of the clutter.

I have Spotify and I enjoy it. It's easy and whatever new Stones comes along, whoop, there it is! It was nice hearing El Mocambo as my friends were sending emails about waiting for their El Mocambo packages to arrive.

I can't add my own music is a big issue for me.

Quobuz has the same streaming music files BUT offers them in HD (24 bit). You would need a DAC to hear the higher definition.

Here's an interesting podcast about Qobuz:

[www.youtube.com]

I enjoyed the podcast and learned about sound quality.

Qobuz Podcast highlights:

Highlights:

DAC full hi-res 15.00

Bluetooth 22:00

28.40 Audiophiles want to DL



I'm a huge Qobuz fan. I can buy any song in HD without buying a whole album. Even without the DAC, they sound better than any other recording I have of the same song (and I have many).

Qobuz's streaming service is very reasonably priced.

Like any electronics that play music, the price of a DAC can range from about $20 for a dongle for your iPhone to much more money.

[www.whathifi.com]

Everything I have is on hard drives. I mostly listen to live shows but have extensive collections of both. I just got a new galaxy S22+ with 256GB of storage. I just put 150GB of music on my phone in FLAC format. That should hold me for awhile and when I get bored I will delete and swap out a lot of it. There are no commercials and no monthly costs.

I will use Spotify to listen to artists to determine who to record at a festival, but for everyday listening, no chance.

the sales pitch should be tried out on Keith before unleashing it on the general public

Quote
schillid

I realize that the sound quality isn't perfect. I can still hear the difference, yes.

Spotify wanted to start in 2021 lossless HiFi-Streaming, but it's still not available. Beside Qobuz there's also lossless streaming by Tidal, Amazon Music HD and Apple Music Lossless - [www.WhatHiFi.com] .

Qobuz is since 2022 available in 24 countries - [iorr.org] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-05-29 18:45 by Irix.

I'm a Mac and iphone user, what do you use to play FLAC files on computer or phone?

T@3

Quote
TeaAtThree

what do you use to play FLAC files on computer or phone?

All Music-files (incl. FLAC) on Mac with Audirvana Origin. You can also try e.g. HQPlayer or [JRiver.com] or [www.Foobar2000.org] or PureMusic.

For iPhone you could convert the FLAC-files to ALAC (Apple Lossless) or lossy AAC/MP4 with XLD. For HiRes see also here - [www.WhatHiFi.com] .

You can also use the Onkyo HF Player to play FLAC on the iPhone - [www.intl.Onkyo.com] . Or Player like VOX or FLAC Player+. Or Apple’s Files-App (since iOS 11).



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2022-05-30 00:30 by Irix.

I quit Spotify after they invested 100 million Euro into weapon defense tech. I dont want my money to go into that sort of thing.

Quote
schwonek

I quit Spotify after they invested 100 million Euro into weapon defense tech.

Normally I also don't like weapons - but how should this certain smaller country in Eastern Europe defend itself now?

Quote
TeaAtThree
I'm a Mac and iphone user, what do you use to play FLAC files on computer or phone?

T@3

I use Poweramp on my phone. gapless playback of flac

I have one of the last generations of iPods with 256G and I thought that would be enough as I started ripping my cds but it is nowhere near enough room. I see the new iPhones finally have 1TB storage but they’re over $1000. As the prices come down with new versions I might consider buying one and using it solely as an iPod. I have thousands of cds. I’d prefer my own music to having a streaming subscription. Plus I’ve found a home audio component that I hope to buy one day that you can upload all of your music to and it will store and you can hook it up to a receiver and play your music any which way you like from it. It’s about $800 and you have to give it your own storage drive but I like the idea of that because then you can control the storage capacity.

I got rid of Spotify. For personal and professional reasons.

It pays next to nothing to artists. Just like You Tube and YouTube Music. No matter how popular something is, it doesn't pay. "Exposure" on Spotify is no different than wearing one's pants down in public.

The amount of playlists I had on Spotify was stupid.

Enjoy your Spotify experience. If you care about the artists you enjoy you won't listen to them on Spotify and YouTube.

A majority of the younger generations don't live in a hurricane zone. I found out the hard way. Where it's easy, like the Midwest in Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, flyover country, Spotify is probably supreme.

But have no wifi for over a month and data payments through the roof?

Thank you CDs, DVDs and Blurays.

Never again with Spotify.

Thanks, Irix!

T@3

i could never imagine using one these services myself

i've invested to much time and energy into collecting, organizing, hoarding and enjoing my collection of every form of phisical media (audio and video) made in the last hundred years that i can get my hands on since i was 5

they are displayed on shelves running all thru my home in every room except the kitchen and bathroom

there's nearly 400 vhs tapes in my hallway alone

i have stereo and video eqiupment salvaged from thrift stores, yard sales and literally the trash set up in 4 rooms and the carport outside

spotify is the best thing ever

now that everyone's getting rid of there physical media i can swoop in and grab up some great stuff

right now i'm listening to downtown by petula clark on an ampex cassette from the 60's

and later i'll watch a recent find buckaroo banzai on beta

Quote
Irix

Quote
schwonek

I quit Spotify after they invested 100 million Euro into weapon defense tech.

Normally I also don't like weapons - but how should this certain smaller country in Eastern Europe defend itself now?

Just a reminder - this investment was done long time before the war on Ukraine. It has nothing to do with it.

Quote
daspyknows
Everything I have is on hard drives. I mostly listen to live shows but have extensive collections of both. I just got a new galaxy S22+ with 256GB of storage. I just put 150GB of music on my phone in FLAC format. That should hold me for awhile and when I get bored I will delete and swap out a lot of it. There are no commercials and no monthly costs.

I will use Spotify to listen to artists to determine who to record at a festival, but for everyday listening, no chance.

I still by the cd's I like but the rest of my family loves Spotify, so I put those cd's I like in our collaborative playlists, and rip and download those not on Spotify to our playlists.

A bit if a complicated mess but keeps the family happy since I have 10X the cd's of my wife and son and they got tired of only hearing their songs about once an hour.

Plus I only agreed if we got rid of SiriusXM which I absolutely hated dealing with everytime my contract was up (they'd essentially double the rates unless you called and spent 45 minutes on the phone with them to negotiate them back down).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-06-01 16:18 by kovach.

I love Spotify. When I listen to music, 95% of the time it's from Spotify. The soundquality is good enough for me. I stream it to my receiver and to my in-car audio system. My CD's are in a box in the attic since a few years and I hardly take one out. I love vinyl, so I play a record now and then mostly because of the nostalgia and to display the covers on my tiny easel on top of my record player...


I'm not getting rid of my physical records 'cause I can imagine some situations in which I could turn my back on Spotify. When the Stones (or other major bands) break up with them or when they start raising their montly fee's over and over again, for example.

But I read an article about 'bit-decay' recently, so I'm not intending on buying a lot of CD's in the near future. When I buy physical records, vinyl is my choice.

Not getting rid of my 2000 CDs just yet as I believe they will make a come back. I kept my vinyl and that is in storage but yes, I mainly listen to MP3s, streaming from my computer to my hifi system in another room.

But plan to get the vinyl out soon.

I love listening my 500+ cds on my boom box or telly. I plan to keep them for a long time.

Quote
TeaAtThree
I'm a Mac and iphone user, what do you use to play FLAC files on computer or phone?

T@3

FLAC files and video files I play on the computer with VLC Media Player.




I have been converting FLAC files to an Apple friendly format. I read Apple has an app now to play FLAC.


What type of music files does iPhone use?



What music files can your iPhone play? Let's start with what the iPhone can do out of the box. According to
Apple's own specs, it can play MP3, AAC, ALAC, WAV and AIFF audio files. The iPhone also supports FLAC files,
but only through Apple's Files app.
MORE: [www.whathifi.com]



I use Spotify in the car. I'm not in the car much anymore. Spotify is free, however, my son has a subscription for $10/month.

It's nice having the latest release as soon as it's launched. I was listening to El Mocambo while my friends were sending emails about waiting for their physical media to arrive. Same thing with Goats Head Soup Deluxe, Mr. Luck, etc... Spotify notified me about these releases!

I enjoy streaming services to use a voice command to play whatever song I want on Spotify.

I like making my own play lists on Spotify. I can share my playlists (or anybody's playlist) by sending a link.

I made my son a few nice play lists when he wanted a Pink Floyd playlist for example.

About what artists get paid from streaming services, idk. I head it's not much but does something else pay better? I don't think the Stones are headed for the Poor House anytime soon.

The artists could band together and demand more money for streaming but then your subscription price goes up.

In the digital age, physical media demand had gone way down when the CD burner became popular. Now the $7.50 concert ticket is now $600.00!

Qobuz is the best! Qobuz has 24 bit quality and purchasing songs can be done without buying the whole album.

Quote
exilestones

About what artists get paid from streaming services, idk. I heard it's not much but does something else pay better?

Spotify pays $0.003 to $0.005 per stream while Apple Music pays $0.01 per stream - [iorr.org] . See also here about the streaming-costs - [iorr.org] . Some Stones streaming-numbers - [iorr.org] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-05-31 09:25 by Irix.

I had a Spotify account, but I hardly used it. Never got into it.

For discovering new music, the thing just doesn't work for me.

"Old" releases, I think that most of the stuff that interests me, I already have a hard copy of it (CD or vinyl)

Note that a good chunk of it is not available on spotify (mainly bootlegs, but not only)

Along the years I have ripped everything to lossless files.

Files are uploaded to my cloud drive, and streamed to my devices via VLC. Not as handy as a proper streaming service, but it works just fine for me, quality is way way better, and it is free.

Still buy new releases in physical formats - and love doing so.



C

Love Spotify. Bought my last cd back in 2012. El Mocambo almost changed that...almost...

Spotify vs. more classic media is not an either/or situation. I listen to both frequently. Spotify is great for trying something out to see if you like it. With the price of vinyl now I'm not just going to take a chance and I hope I like it. Spotify is also great for things I'll just never find or be able to afford on vinyl.

Question though for the flac users. I still rock a 1970's stereo. I have a chromecast audio hooked up which is great for a lot of streaming. For FLAC I would prefer to have something directly wired to my receiver. Preferably something I can control with my phone or laptop. Does anyone have a setup like this and, if so, what hardware are you using?

Quote
downagain

For FLAC I would prefer to have something directly wired to my receiver. Preferably something I can control with my phone or laptop.

Maybe the iFi ZEN Stream (LAN/WiFi/USB to S/PDIF) could be a solution - [iFi-Audio.com] . There's also an appropriate DAC with analogue outputs - [iFi-Audio.com] .

If you don't mind a direct USB -> Dongle -> Analog-cable connection then a USB-Dongle like the AudioQuest DragonFly (with fixed output for preamp/receiver) could be a solution too - [www.AudioQuest.com] .



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-05-31 13:50 by Irix.

If I use any music service, it's generally YT.

Quote
exilestones
About what artists get paid from streaming services, idk. I head it's not much but does something else pay better? I don't think the Stones are headed for the Poor House anytime soon.

The artists could band together and demand more money for streaming but then your subscription price goes up.

That's a vague assumption.

But about your "not much" - that's like saying someone stopped breathing instead of saying they died.

Here's why Amazon Music, Spotify and YouTube Music suck:

Amazon pays out $.004 per stream
Spotify pays out $.0033 per stream
YTM pays out $.008 per stream


[www.headphonesty.com].