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- Oct 25, 2019
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- #21
After a few weeks trialling I have reached the following conclusions :
1 . Amazon Music is great and contains two of my key requirements. It allows a comprehensive shuffle of all my music (local and streaming combined) other streaming apps dont seem to have this (or even a "shuffle all" for the streaming library, nevermind local too). So two birds with one stone there. Its nowhere near as slick as Roon with Tidal or Qobuz but it works and is going to be about £4 a month including HD as Im sharing it with family and buying an annual sub. No brainer.
2. AM doesnt work with the library integration / management services ( I use Soundiiz)- they have locked down their APIs- so lots of manual migration
3. AM has terrible apps - just bad. But on PC its just about enough but when I start doing whole library shuffles its a CPU/RAM hog
4. Spotify is great, especially in car for integration with Google maps etc - good if playing via bluetooth when mobile too. But, again, no full library shuffle I can find and poor integration of local files. So I am keeping it as an add on to my wife's account and will use when driving. Great for recommendations (I find the Release Radar playlist works well)
5. I couldnt really get on with Spotify/ Wavelet on mobile to allow EQ. The Auto EQ integration on Wavelet is clever but I want more flexibility in the parameters
6. Given the above, I have gone back to Tidal (but only the lossy service) for integration with UAPP on my Android phone. When using my dongle DACs I love the integration , 10 Band PEQ, Crossfeed etc.
So, all in all, for my use cases, there really isnt one streaming service to rule them all. Tidal Hifi is too expensive- I can get Amazon, the spotify "duo" bolt on AND Tidal lossy MP£ thing all for about the same monthly cost as Tidal Hifi, and I dont really want to support MQA. Also, Tidal also lack the local file integration and whole library shuffle so not a full use solution.
Qobuz without Roon providing the front end is woeful and not a whole use solution.
In short- the software provider that builds the following will clean up (for me):
1 . Amazon Music is great and contains two of my key requirements. It allows a comprehensive shuffle of all my music (local and streaming combined) other streaming apps dont seem to have this (or even a "shuffle all" for the streaming library, nevermind local too). So two birds with one stone there. Its nowhere near as slick as Roon with Tidal or Qobuz but it works and is going to be about £4 a month including HD as Im sharing it with family and buying an annual sub. No brainer.
2. AM doesnt work with the library integration / management services ( I use Soundiiz)- they have locked down their APIs- so lots of manual migration
3. AM has terrible apps - just bad. But on PC its just about enough but when I start doing whole library shuffles its a CPU/RAM hog
4. Spotify is great, especially in car for integration with Google maps etc - good if playing via bluetooth when mobile too. But, again, no full library shuffle I can find and poor integration of local files. So I am keeping it as an add on to my wife's account and will use when driving. Great for recommendations (I find the Release Radar playlist works well)
5. I couldnt really get on with Spotify/ Wavelet on mobile to allow EQ. The Auto EQ integration on Wavelet is clever but I want more flexibility in the parameters
6. Given the above, I have gone back to Tidal (but only the lossy service) for integration with UAPP on my Android phone. When using my dongle DACs I love the integration , 10 Band PEQ, Crossfeed etc.
So, all in all, for my use cases, there really isnt one streaming service to rule them all. Tidal Hifi is too expensive- I can get Amazon, the spotify "duo" bolt on AND Tidal lossy MP£ thing all for about the same monthly cost as Tidal Hifi, and I dont really want to support MQA. Also, Tidal also lack the local file integration and whole library shuffle so not a full use solution.
Qobuz without Roon providing the front end is woeful and not a whole use solution.
In short- the software provider that builds the following will clean up (for me):
- Good PC and Android apps
- Built in 10+ band PEQ with other DSP
- Integrates multiple streaming services, not just Tidal and Qobuz . I appreciate UAPP/ Roon have only managed to integrate Qobuz/ Tidal as Spotify, AMazon etc dont WANT to play with them- this is very frustrating being limited to their homegrown apps.
- Works well with USB DACs- hardware volume etc
- Integrates local files seamlessly and allows full library shuffle