Because I am an audiophile, I subscribe to various methods to allow me to listen to music. I have a CD player, I am able to stream Tidal ( and soon Qobuz if I so choose), a turntable and of course I have a music server. So which is my go to format? Music server by a large margin. I have assembled enough of a digital music collection that I can find something I have not heard in a long time with relative ease. If I look closely enough, I’m pretty sure I will find music in my personal library I have never heard, though I’m mostly at a loss to understand why. Overwhelmingly, however, I predominately use my server for listening session for one simple reason, sonics – the server just sounds so much better.
I do play around with Tidal on occasion despite it being a methodology to verify new music I can purchase and copy to my server. Most of my CD’s have only been played once, that being the process to copy it to the server. It might even be argued that process is not actually playing the disc, just copying. Regardless, my storage room has boxes upon boxes of CD’s that are essentially brand new.
John Atkinson, the editor of Stereophile remarked at AXPONA 2018 that “No one’s buying music anymore, they’re renting it.” I suppose I must be the exception to the rule.
What about some of our other members? Physical media or streaming?
And why?
I think we live in a time of great flexibility with good quality sources not only coming from vinyl but all form of High Res. I can no longer use a turntable due to Parkinson’s. In fact I just sold the turntable yesterday.
So now I am locked firmly in the digital world.
My listening sources change on a regular basis, but right now I am obsessed with discovering new music on Tidal. Tidal seems to be adding to their “Masters” daily, so there is always something new to discover.
So for now it is Tidal, followed by CD and then music server.
Vince from CAS
I was a road warrior from 2004-2012, so I relied on streaming services in my hotel room. During this time, I didn’t purchase many CDs or albums so I don’t have a huge investment in media or spent any time ripping. With the advent of MOG then Tidal, I adopted the “rent” rather than own mentality and it works for me. Decent sound quality, huge library and it doesn’t take up any physical space for $10 a month! If the internet ever went away I’ve got a collection of 25,000 songs a friend gave me on a small server; so i’m covered. I like the convenience of Tidal, but I’ve also tried Deezer and thought it was good too. I’m in the process of upgrading my SimAudio 280d to Mind2, so I can experiment with Tidal w/MQA. One thing I’ve learned about the streaming world; crap in, crap out! The source is key! Without a doubt, Sirius XM is the worst commercial music source out there.
In my current setup I listen to digital (Roon/Tidal/NAS) 75% of the time. All of my CDs have been ripped to NAS. My physical media is vinyl which is the other 25%. I find myself listening to digital mostly when I want to explore music. When I find something I love I tend to purchase it on vinyl if it is available. In my current setup my vinyl sounds better to me.