Spotify to launch 'Hi-Fi' CD Quality Tier.

[dkinric]

Don't mean to derail, but what's the current state of tech in terms of easily switching between streaming services?
I'm still stuck in flac file life mostly because i've got 1500 albums meticulously catalogued and I can even imagine that any streaming service will do justice to an old school 1tb+ library.

You sound like a perfect candidate for Roon. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? To many, yes. If you want to seamlessly combine your large collection with either Tidal or Qobuz, with the best UI and metadata in the business, you should check it out. Can usually get a free month trial.

 

[gvl]

Roon may provide seamless switching between Tidal and Qobuz but not others.

 

[voodooless]

Roon may provide seamless switching between Tidal and Qobuz but not others.

So then I have to pay for Tidal, Qobuz and Roon

 

[Sukie]

So then I have to pay for Tidal, Qobuz and Roon

Only if you want Tidal, Qobuz and Roon.

 

[Jimbob54]

Don't mean to derail, but what's the current state of tech in terms of easily switching between streaming services?
I'm still stuck in flac file life mostly because i've got 1500 albums meticulously catalogued and I can even imagine that any streaming service will do justice to an old school 1tb+ library.

I can answer that! I had over 1000 CD albums ripped to FLAC. If you ignore old CD singles (which realistically, you wouldnt expect a streaming service to have many of when they were released more than a few years ago- or even 30 years ago). Around 5% of the albums arent on Qobuz- Tidal has even better coverage. I'm not saying they will be exactly the same version of the album of course, the streamers tend to have only one, or maybe one plus a "deluxe" or "remaster".

As others have said, Roon is perfect as it allows you to seamlessly merge streaming and local files, it hiding any duplicates and defaulting to what it things is the highest quality version (assume thats bit depth and sample rate, not which actual version).

Moving between streaming services is very easy with a 3rd party app like Soundiiz- you can transfer libraries from service A to B for around $25 annual fee. Impossible without.

If it helps, like I said, I had over 1000 CD albums, then I started downloading new music not buying CD and got to around 2000 . Then around 2 years ago went to streaming and have over 5000 in my library.

 

[elliott]

I tried Roon, and I just feel like their business model is a little backwards. Like previous posters stated, I'm paying for music, and now i'm paying for a different want to view my music?

But my real intent, probably poorly stated before, was:

How can I "import" my 1tb of flac files into an online service so i no longer have to carry all those files around. For example, can a streaming service take the data of the 1500 or so albums with correct tags and just do a 1:1 match in their system? And then conversely can I export at least an excel file if I wanted to leave that had all of my albums and play counts etc?

My stance is that owning files on my machine is the safest way to maintain a music library. I still have files from the 90s. Will I still be using Spotify 30 years from now?

 

[elliott]

I can answer that! I had over 1000 CD albums ripped to FLAC. If you ignore old CD singles (which realistically, you wouldnt expect a streaming service to have many of when they were released more than a few years ago- or even 30 years ago). Around 5% of the albums arent on Qobuz- Tidal has even better coverage. I'm not saying they will be exactly the same version of the album of course, the streamers tend to have only one, or maybe one plus a "deluxe" or "remaster".

As others have said, Roon is perfect as it allows you to seamlessly merge streaming and local files, it hiding any duplicates and defaulting to what it things is the highest quality version (assume thats bit depth and sample rate, not which actual version).

Moving between streaming services is very easy with a 3rd party app like Soundiiz- you can transfer libraries from service A to B for around $25 annual fee. Impossible without.

If it helps, like I said, I had over 1000 CD albums, then I started downloading new music not buying CD and got to around 2000 . Then around 2 years ago went to streaming and have over 5000 in my library.

Thank You! So what would your strategy be if you ever wanted to go back to files?

 

[Jimbob54]

Thank You! So what would your strategy be if you ever wanted to go back to files?

I still have all my files- multiple back ups of course but plugged into laptop by a v small USB solid state harddrive. There is no (legal) way for me to acquire the thousands of albums I have added into my streaming library that I never had the CD/ download for . Once you embrace streaming, you really cant go back to local files and replicate the freedom you have with streaming to access (virtually) everything, all the time.

If streaming all collapsed I would just use a free player like Musicbee to play my local files and buy downloads for anything else I wanted

 

[elliott]

Much appreciated. At this point I'm currently paying for a server to house all my flac files which are accessed by plex. The benefits are 1 I get the versions of albums I want, 2 I have peace of mind. But I'm paying almost 20 a month to be able to stream 1500 albums to my phone, which in terms of economics/and effort make no sense. Maybe I'll investigate some sort of export from these services so at least I'll have the peace of mind that I could also look back at un-purchased albums and buy them if steam collapsed.

Hilariously I think my hesitation to streaming is because I'm old enough to value owning something small over renting something large. The hilarious part is that I'm spending more on owning than renting, and the other hilarious part is if you asked the 16 year old me in the 90s which would I prefer, I would have taken streaming any day.

Much appreciated again. I think my logical brain is there, I just need to get the rest of me there.

 

[Jimbob54]

Much appreciated. At this point I'm currently paying for a server to house all my flac files which are accessed by plex. The benefits are 1 I get the versions of albums I want, 2 I have peace of mind. But I'm paying almost 20 a month to be able to stream 1500 albums to my phone, which in terms of economics/and effort make no sense. Maybe I'll investigate some sort of export from these services so at least I'll have the peace of mind that I could also look back at un-purchased albums and buy them if steam collapsed.

Hilariously I think my hesitation to streaming is because I'm old enough to value owning something small over renting something large. The hilarious part is that I'm spending more on owning than renting, and the other hilarious part is if you asked the 16 year old me in the 90s which would I prefer, I would have taken streaming any day.

Much appreciated again. I think my logical brain is there, I just need to get the rest of me there.

The hardest part of making the switch is somehow getting your local library into the streaming service. It will never be 100% but there are ways to export library files into .csv (or other file types) then importing into Soundiiz and then to streaming service of choice but its not a pleasant experience! And obviously you lose the ability to select which version/ master of an album you have.

My advice to you is ditch the $20 a month server, keep all the FLACs on a local NAS or even just a cheap 1tb solid state portable drive and do a free (or v cheap) trial of Qobuz/ Tidal/ Deezer (or even Spotify when it goes lossless sometime this year) and see how it works via your phone for you. Then see how you can best integrate streaming into your home set up/ "proper" hifi. Costs you nothing but a bit of time to acclimatise.

 

[tgray]

How can I "import" my 1tb of flac files into an online service so i no longer have to carry all those files around. For example, can a streaming service take the data of the 1500 or so albums with correct tags and just do a 1:1 match in their system? And then conversely can I export at least an excel file if I wanted to leave that had all of my albums and play counts etc?

My stance is that owning files on my machine is the safest way to maintain a music library. I still have files from the 90s. Will I still be using Spotify 30 years from now?

I'm guessing this won't work for you since you have FLAC files, but in the Apple ecosystem, you can load your music in the Music app and pay for an iTunes Match subscription ($25/year). Matches all your music to cloud versions/uploads files it can't find (bootlegs, live, etc.). Then all of your other Apple devices like your phone can stream those files while on a network.

It's what I do. I have about 1500 albums ripped as lossless ALAC files and carefully tagged. I periodically augment with a streaming service (Spotify right now) and just treat it as a separate thing from my music. All the files live on the network in the house so any streaming endpoint can serve them too. But, I have a mac and an iPhone...

 

[elliott]

Yup, trying that tonight! I can't believe I'm essentially going back to my setup 10 years ago. The other benefit is that I can stream ALAC uncompressed via airplay 2. And then 256 AAC for phone is fine.

 

[StevenEleven]

I'm guessing this won't work for you since you have FLAC files, but in the Apple ecosystem, you can load your music in the Music app and pay for an iTunes Match subscription ($25/year). Matches all your music to cloud versions/uploads files it can't find (bootlegs, live, etc.). Then all of your other Apple devices like your phone can stream those files while on a network.

It's what I do. I have about 1500 albums ripped as lossless ALAC files and carefully tagged. I periodically augment with a streaming service (Spotify right now) and just treat it as a separate thing from my music. All the files live on the network in the house so any streaming endpoint can serve them too. But, I have a mac and an iPhone...

I believe you can also get ITunes Match now as an integral (no extra cost) part of an Apple Music subscription, FWIW. Been that way for two or three years. I’ve been able to rip some LPs and put them in iTunes and then get free AAC ~256k AAC downloads drm-free from the music from Apple. I’m now wondering if and how Apple Match (which is now also available “free“ with Apple Music) will tie into Apple Lossless. But at this point it doesn’t really matter, it all seems kind of pointless—why download drm-free lossless, even if it lets you if it’s an upgrade, when you can stream it.

Been kicking the tires on apple music this afternoon—gapless is great, the Apple TV experience is quite good, I like the browse sub-menu with many dozens of music categories, the new release classical music playlists seem really nice, each song has a sub-menu to take you to the album containing the song or a station based on the song, it has FM and Internet radio stations, shows lyrics for many songs—they’ve really progressed since ITunes was a running joke.

Spotify may well lose some market share.

 

[Ata]

You sound like a perfect candidate for Roon. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? To many, yes. If you want to seamlessly combine your large collection with either Tidal or Qobuz, with the best UI and metadata in the business, you should check it out. Can usually get a free month trial.

How do I get a month trial? Current offer is 14 days. I got the Black Friday offer of 3 months trial for a fee, but then life happened and I could not complete my trials.

 

[Ata]

I believe you can also get Apple Match now as an integral (no extra cost) part of an Apple Music subscription, FWIW. Been that way for two or three years. I’ve been able to rip some LPs and put them in iTunes and then get free AAC ~256k AAC downloads drm-free from the music from Apple. I’m now wondering if and how Apple Match (which is now also available “free“ with Apple Music) will tie into Apple Lossless. But at this point it doesn’t really matter, it all seems kind of pointless—why download drm-free lossless, even if it lets you if it’s an upgrade, when you can stream it.

Any references for that? I have Apple Music and have been paying for Music Match for years, in fact next yearly payment is due in a couple of weeks. Would love to get rid of that.

Been kicking the tires on apple music this afternoon—gapless is great, the Apple TV experience is quite good, I like the browse sub-menu with many dozens of music categories, the new release classical music playlists seem really nice, each song has a sub-menu to take you to the album containing the song or a station based on the song, it has FM and Internet radio stations, shows lyrics for many songs—they’ve really progressed since ITunes was a running joke.

Spotify may well lose some market share.

As you say, UI-wise iTunes and Apple Music has been stuck in the ways past for many years. Then something happened in the last few months, and the UI improved in noticeable leaps and bounds. Someone at Apple has finally noticed the world has moved on, and has the funding to steer the ship in the right direction. And now Apple Music Lossless/HR/Surround, they are on fire...

 

[StevenEleven]

Any references for that? I have Apple Music and have been paying for Music Match for years, in fact next yearly payment is due in a couple of weeks. Would love to get rid of that.

Sure thing. Reference:

From the link https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146:

Scroll down a little to just underneath the picture of a MacBook Air and it says: “If you have an Apple Music membership, you get all of the benefits of iTunes Match, plus access to the entire Apple Music catalog. You can also get a Family Membership to share the catalog with your family members. Learn more about joining Apple Music.”

 

[Ata]

Sure thing. Reference:

From the link https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204146:

Scroll down a little to just underneath the picture of a MacBook and it says: “If you have an Apple Music membership, you get all of the benefits of iTunes Match, plus access to the entire Apple Music catalog. You can also get a Family Membership to share the catalog with your family members. Learn more about joining Apple Music.”

Thank you! Far out, why is Apple charging me for both, then? I need to call Apple support on this.

 

[Sal1950]

If it helps, like I said, I had over 1000 CD albums, then I started downloading new music not buying CD and got to around 2000 . Then around 2 years ago went to streaming and have over 5000 in my library.

You need to edit your signature to add "too many albums" LOL
Just kidding, I got around 3000, nothing from streamers.

 

[Sal1950]

For example, can a streaming service take the data of the 1500 or so albums with correct tags and just do a 1:1 match in their system?

No, not if your library contains many specialties like MFSL and others remaster, high rez file, etc.

My stance is that owning files on my machine is the safest way to maintain a music library. I still have files from the 90s. Will I still be using Spotify 30 years from now?

IMO, always keep your files, and well backed up to boot.
If your a Classical music fan, Roon might be something you'd like
I'm not and a free music server like Strawberry suites me perfectly.
I use a streamer strictly for listening to new music I've never heard to decide if I want to add it to my library.
YMMV

 

[Jimbob54]

The latest Darko podcast notes include this footnote regarding Spotify. It's the first time I've seen anyone discuss a price for the lossless service. A no cost upgrade would be great for the customer...

"Spotify Premium strikes me as the best choice for those not interested in hi-res streaming as Spotify’s CD-quality service is due to launch before the end of the year, reportedly with no price increase from the current $9.99/mo. rate, and the Spotify Connect app makes playback a breeze."