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How do you listen to music?

davidebond

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Hi. CD aside, how do you listen to hi res music? Do you buy bd audio? If yes, how do you manage It? Or do you download hi res FLAC or dsd files?

Thanks and best regards,

Davide

P.S. The system PC + dac + amp does not take in consideration the problem of Reading diverse CDS, as the music were stored in the PC.
 

Doodski

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I used to P2P file share and download flac files but after a catastrophic PC breakdown I lost about 34,000 flac files and after that I just stream my music and movies. It's better and more fair to those that make the music and movies.
 
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davidebond

davidebond

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That Is the problem. How do you stream your music? Do you use only CD? I use Foobar2000.
 

Doodski

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I stream from YouTube. I like watching the music videos while playing the music. I've been watching music videos since the early to mid 80s when I used to retail satellite TV systems with the VideoCypher for decryption and watched MTV when it actually played music videos 24 hours a day. So I am addicted to them I suppose... Lol. I had subscriptions to other music streaming services but I find YouTube keeps me pretty busy and I don't need anything more.
 

Doodski

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It Is very nice, but the quality?
I compared some flac files to YouTube tracks and I found that I could not differentiate them apart. So even though the audio is compressed it is sufficient enough to match flac quality unless it gets up to maybe around 2666 kbps. I have a Pink Floyd track at that rate and I compared it to the YouTube audio and yes the flac is better but generally most flac files are not that high of a rate.
 

ernestcarl

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Streaming depends on the quality of the internet service... sometimes quality suffers, but this is more true now of HD video content. When we used to have DSL internet, I could not reliably stream at certain times of the day without interruptions etc. So I downloaded full music videos for later offline viewing.

With cable/fiber and unlimited bandwidth it's almost never a problem so I almost never bother with a download copy from either discs or the internet -- unless I want something for archiving. Even though I stream a lot, I do rely on a personal NAS to access my own stuff rather than put all my eggs into some other company's cloud basket e.g. Amazon, Disney, etc. BTW, storage is so cheap now... I was recently surprised that I could get 20 TB WD red hard drives for my NAS. I only have been using an 8 TB raid drive the past ten years and wouldn't really know what to do with so much data anymore.
 

MarkS

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If by "hi res" you mean CD quality, I use Apple Music. Higher res I don't bother with.
 

OnLyTNT

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I use stream %95, a few albums are not available on streaming platforms, these are stored locally as flac. I can't distinguish 320kpbs Ogg from flac but somehow when streaming on Spotify I sens a hair of difference at high frequencies and I can't put my finger on it, may be it is just psychologic.
 

Liya

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I download flac's. Always copy them to a second drive. The main drive is connected to Macmini (just bought the M2, waiting for the delivery guy). Mac is out of sight and I am using Audirvana to manage the library, playlists etc. Audirvana comes with nice and functional remote app (I don't like to have computer's monitor on while listening to music) From there RME and Genelecs. Simple system.
 
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davidebond

davidebond

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It Is curious. You own the best audio equipment and for the most part you stream. I downloaded the 24bit/96khz version of Nielsen' symphonies conducted by Luisi. The sound and the Power of the double basses Is terrific. No comparison with a CD of Bruckner conducted by Thielemann. Sometimes, the pizzicato of the basses Is not audible. In hi res format also the most pp pizzicato Is strong.

Therefore, no one use the blu ray with the mshuttle to navigate...

I don't download much because I fear to lose my music.
 

Killingbeans

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It Is curious. You own the best audio equipment and for the most part you stream.

Recording and mastering are almost infinitely more of a bottleneck than the delivery method. It's just not worth obsessing over.

I don't download much because I fear to lose my music.

Statistically, the next planet-killing asteroids impact is way overdue. And there's always the risk of house fires and other localized disasters. Nature is ruthless.

Fearing loss of material things gives nothing but stress. Just enjoy it while you have it ;)
 

fpitas

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I hook up the laptop sound card and feed test tones right in.

/What?
 

walt99

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Roon with Qobuz and Tidal have permanently changed the way I listen, CD/album collection are in the back room gathering dust.
 
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davidebond

davidebond

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Your last two sentences are poetry. Unfortunately, I suffer from anxiety.
 
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davidebond

davidebond

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I must listen to music every day with headphones and absolute silence. And I want study a CD. So, I listen to It a Number of times, possibly with the score. I gather a lot of scores: for piano (my instrument), for orchestra or other. And I own more versions (Urtexte) of the same piece. Music Is my Life.
 

ernestcarl

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To @ernestcarl: what do you mean with NAS?

Network attached storage. It’s basically an external storage device that’s made up of multiple drives accessible anywhere in a local home network or the internet. So I can access my stuff and media server while I’m at home, at work, or abroad another country. I’ve even been able to play blu-rays (normal un-recompressed from original disc copy) while at my sister’s house which has a fiber connection.
 
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