Music Streaming

JonathanRyan

JonathanRyan

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Which music streaming service would you recommend?

[I'm using it with a Sonos system so NOT the free version of Spotify.]

Spotify Premium is 9.99/month, Amazon Prime Unlimited is £7.99. Realistically, is there much difference between the 2?

And then there's always Deezer or Tidal. Or even Apple.

Which would you recommend and why?
 
I use Apple Music. Love how it is a seemless part of your iPhone/iPad music app. Easy to create playlists, huge range of curated playlists and radio stations, unlimited downloads.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I use Apple Music. Love how it is a seemless part of your iPhone/iPad music app. Easy to create playlists, huge range of curated playlists and radio stations, unlimited downloads.
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Hmmmmmmmm, I was really close to going with this. I have a couple of iPods and thought it would be an easy way to sync music. But no, none of the iPods I own are supported by Apple Music :( they aren't supported by any other streaming service either - but I didn't buy them from them :)
 
Not been left wanting for content on Spotify premium so far.

Was toying of the idea of going to Tidal but there doesn't seem to be a huge selection of lossless for double the price. (I mean Masters, plus Masters only available on PC app)
 
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Bonus with Amazon Prime is Amazon Video, Unlimited photo storage, books and next day delivery on top the music.
 
Tidal seems to be quite highly regarded, especially if hi-res audio/MQA is important to you.

I still can't get my head around paying for music and not owning it though, so CD's for me.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Tidal seems to be quite highly regarded, especially if hi-res audio/MQA is important to you.

I still can't get my head around paying for music and not owning it though, so CD's for me.
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I can’t get my head round being able to download any music I want for the cost of 1 CD a month.
 
I use Apple Music as I'm embedded in the Apple ecosystem and nothing else works as well.

I tried Tidal and really liked it but didn't allow me to upload my old CDs and I have quite a penchant for 90's trance, of which there is little on any of the streaming services.

If I wasn't embedded with Apple I would use Spotify as it is most supported across other devices / hifi systems and I like its recommendations for new music.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
Bonus with Amazon Prime is Amazon Video, Unlimited photo storage, books and next day delivery on top the music.
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I already have Prime with all of that - they want *more* money :)

bass_junkie83 said:
Tidal seems to be quite highly regarded, especially if hi-res audio/MQA is important to you.
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I did one of those online tests and apparently on my equipment I can't tell the difference - which has saved me loads of money :)

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...ll-can-you-hear-audio-quality?t=1542006600966

Graham W said:
Don't you have a gramophone?
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Yes. And it does BOTH speeds.... :D
 
Nawty said:
I tried the Tidal Masters with an Audioquest Dragonfly Red DAC and some fairly decent headphones and I could tell the difference but decided that difference wasn't enough for me to care about.
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Exactly. I'm sure I *could* hear the difference if I sat in a dark room with headphones and focussed on the music and nothing else. I know some people do that and love it and Tidal is for them. But not worth the ££ for me.
 
I use Spotify, got premium free with my bill phone a while back. It's rare that a search comes up empty for me and I don't listen to any mainstream pop. I'm not sire when my freebie runs out but I'll probably just pay from there on. When I think about how much I used to spend on albums, I think €9.99 p.m is nothing. Was a time I was spending 50/60 p.w on Cds.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Tidal seems to be quite highly regarded, especially if hi-res audio/MQA is important to you.

I still can't get my head around paying for music and not owning it though, so CD's for me.
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JonathanRyan said:
I did one of those online tests and apparently on my equipment I can't tell the difference - which has saved me loads of money :)

https://www.npr.org/sections/therec...ll-can-you-hear-audio-quality?t=1542006600966
Click to expand...


Nawty said:
I tried the Tidal Masters with an Audioquest Dragonfly Red DAC and some fairly decent headphones and I could tell the difference but decided that difference wasn't enough for me to care about.
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I've heard TIDAL/MQA on a few different set ups, and to me, the difference is clearly audible. Obviously, the better the equipment used; the greater the improvement yielded by MQA.

On a top end MQA set up; the improvement is breathtaking. The old cliche of 'being in the audience of the performance' frequently applies with a good recording given the MQA treatment. That said; MQA will not turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

IMHO, If you consider yourself to be an audiophile and have MQA compatible equipment, then TIDAL/MQA should certainly be considered.
 
Apple for me. We are an Apple family so phones, iPads etc... made sense to stick with them.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
I still can't get my head around paying for music and not owning it though, so CD's for me.
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(y)

It seems if it doesn't have an "i" in front of it, or even resembles some old fruit, these days its not worth having :rolleyes:
 
BTW, currently trialing Apple Music (because 3 months free). I also picked up a really cheap pair of MPow headphones yesterday. All I can say is "wow". I'm not sure I could actually take Tidal on decent kit :D
 
I had both spotify and deezer free trials for a bit. I found deezer had better playlists and I preferred the songs selected by it when in “flow” mode. But I’m too tight to pay for either as I don’t always have time to listen and the free version of spotify is less annoying than the free version of deezer.
 
cambsno said:
Maybe TP needs a rebrand? iTalkPhotography ??
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I'll have a word, but I think the answer maybe 1 word,
hyphenated, begins with "F" and ends with "F"

:D
 
If you're thinking the same way as me, it's 2 separate words - no hyphen.

Unless you're thinking "FooF"! :D
 
I think there are probably a LOT of photos of "foo-foos" on the web...
 
I have SPpotify as it is included with my Vodafone SIM card plan; however I was notified last week its finishing, and since I have Amaazon music anyway, I may well give this ago. I'm not fussed about Apple Music, from what I gather, it is not as well integrated on Sonos, which is my primary use nowadays for music listened to in a "smart" way (AKA other than simply opening my iPhone and paying music etc)
 
stickytape said:
I have SPpotify as it is included with my Vodafone SIM card plan; however I was notified last week its finishing, and since I have Amaazon music anyway, I may well give this ago. I'm not fussed about Apple Music, from what I gather, it is not as well integrated on Sonos, which is my primary use nowadays for music listened to in a "smart" way (AKA other than simply opening my iPhone and paying music etc)
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According to their website it is.
 
stickytape said:
I have SPpotify as it is included with my Vodafone SIM card plan; however I was notified last week its finishing, and since I have Amaazon music anyway, I may well give this ago. I'm not fussed about Apple Music, from what I gather, it is not as well integrated on Sonos, which is my primary use nowadays for music listened to in a "smart" way (AKA other than simply opening my iPhone and paying music etc)
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I'm trialing Apple Music on Sonos at the moment. IMO it's at least as well integrated as Spotify.

The only real difference is that you initially have to add Apple Music from an iDevice or Android device. Once done, it appears in all controllers as a music source. All my playlists from iTunes appear in Sonos along with curated and auto generated lists. If you already have iTunes, I would say it works better with Sonos that Spotify.
 
J River Media is well worth a look. If you have the bandwidth then it sets up your entire music video etc collection as a personal online streaming service in a matter of minutes. TBH its the class leader for most audio files and cheap for what you get.
 
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