Stream or own?

[Liya]

IlApple Music is also integrated into the latest video game consoles, so I can even play my personalized radio stations or playlists while playing games.

Is it thru Airplay?

 

[sarumbear]

I don't think the Apple Classical app is available on Sonos. It looks like atm it is only iOS devices. Not even Mac.

Can’t you AirPlay to Sonos?

 

[Zensō]

Can’t you AirPlay to Sonos?

Yes, Airplay works great with Sonos. It even does multi-room.

 

[sarumbear]

Yes, Airplay works great with Sonos. It even does multi-room.

Then what’s the problem?

 

[Zensō]

Then what’s the problem?

I have no problem. You might want to address your question to @dari who originally made the statement about the unavailability of AM Classical on Sonos.

 

[sarumbear]

I have no problem. You might want to address your question to @dari who originally made the statement about the unavailability of AM Classical on Sonos.

I was posting to the forum.

 

[Zensō]

I was posting to the forum.

Got it. Misunderstood because I was quoted. It’s early here…

 

[Liya]

Then what’s the problem?

Matt Bell asked this:
"If someone knows of a streaming service with properly organised classical music metadata which is available on Sonos — I’d love to know!"
Apple Classical is not available on Sonos. Airplay is. In other words, Apple Classical is not integrated on Sonos like all other streaming services are.

 

[sarumbear]

Matt Bell asked this:
"If someone knows of a streaming service with properly organised classical music metadata which is available on Sonos — I’d love to know!"
Apple Classical is not available on Sonos. Airplay is. In other words, Apple Classical is not integrated on Sonos like all other streaming services are.

I think you are using the word Sonos as the Sonos app, I’m using the word as the Sonos speakers.

 

[Liya]

No, I am talking about integration.
Apple Classical isn't integrated into Sonos.
Airplay is integrated.
Anyone can send any audio to Airplay receiver, but that doesnt mean Apple Classical is available on Sonos.
Some manufacturers add Apple Music
logo to their products to say: "Look, Apple Music is available on our product". This tactic is similar to what you are doing and it is misleading.

 

[pseudoid]

I think you are using the word Sonos as the Sonos app, I’m using the word as the Sonos speakers.

No, I am talking about integration.
Apple Classical isn't integrated into Sonos.
Airplay is integrated.
Anyone can send any audio to Airplay receiver, but that doesnt mean Apple Classical is available on Sonos.
Some manufacturers add Apple Music
logo to their products to say: "Look, Apple Music is available on our product". This tactic is similar to what you are doing and it is misleading.

If I am not mistaken, this here is the EXACT problem with streaming that I (and possibly others) stray-away from.
If the ultimate object is music, then streaming becomes the proverbial tail that wags the dog, or a dog that chases his own tail.
I give due credit to Sonos and Apple (et al) for "simpler" reach for musical-bliss.
Unfortunately, there seems to be too much mucking around to attain it; as streaming appears to have become cumbersome and complex.
(Re: Streaming versus local/digital library.)

 

[sonitus mirus]

Is it thru Airplay?

No, the Apple Music app is integrated with the consoles. With my PS5, I cruise around in Gran Turismo 7 with my Fantec wheel and pedals and I can adjust the music volume while playing in the game. My Xbox Series X has similar integration since late last year.

 

[Zensō]

If I am not mistaken, this here is the EXACT problem with streaming that I (and possibly others) stray-away from.
If the ultimate object is music, then streaming becomes the proverbial tail that wags the dog, or a dog that chases his own tail.
I give due credit to Sonos and Apple (et al) for "simpler" reach for musical-bliss.
Unfortunately, there seems to be too much mucking around to attain it; as streaming appears to have become cumbersome and complex.
(Re: Streaming versus local/digital library.)

I think perhaps we "audiophiles" are the ones who over-complicate the situation and make it hard on ourselves. Almost every "normal" person I know happily streams music from their phone (mostly Spotify or Apple Music) to either wireless earbuds or a streaming speaker of some sort (Sonos, HomePod, or one of the plethora of portable Bluetooth speakers). It really couldn't be simpler.

 

[Dismayed]

Yes. I own a lot of CDs, and I ripped them all. Unfortunately the metadata for classical music was a mess. So I subscribe to both IDAGIO and Tidal. And I still play CDs.

 

[Sal1950]

I think perhaps we "audiophiles" are the ones who over-complicate the situation and make it hard on ourselves. Almost every "normal" person I know happily streams music from their phone (mostly Spotify or Apple Music) to either wireless earbuds or a streaming speaker of some sort (Sonos, HomePod, or one of the plethora of portable Bluetooth speakers). It really couldn't be simpler.

Not to slam anyones gear, but I wouldn't consider that path a High Fidelity one.
Call them audiophiles or normal but it's not about over-complication but about using a high quality component path..

 

[HCT-5808]

I still end up buying a lot of CDs and ripping them to use in Roon (and Roon ARC now). I defintely understand the convencince of streaming, but not everything is available on those services. Ryuichi Sakamoto died the other day and I was listening to some of the albums I have, and I noticed quite a few of his earlier stuff is not available to stream (Futurista and Media Bahn Live for example).

 

[RayDunzl]

For the most part of history, music has been a "free thing", it was just about 100 years ago (or so) someone got the idea to commercialize music and sell it to people.

BonziBuddy2023 says a ticket to a Mozart Concert (with him conducting in the late 1700's) was about $30 to $90 in today's dollars, and he sold Sheet Music, too.

In general, the invention of the printing press enabled sales of musical scores - mid 15th century.

 

[Zensō]

Not to slam anyones gear, but I wouldn't consider that path a High Fidelity one.
Call them audiophiles or normal but it's not about over-complication but about using a high quality component path..

I don’t disagree. My point was that it’s our audiophile pursuit of high fidelity that naturally complicates things, not streaming specifically, which I believe is not intrinsically more complicated than any other delivery medium.

 

[Matt Bell]

How about the new Apple Classical service?

Many thanks for the suggestion.

Obviously the lack of an app within Sonos isn't ideal, but accessing the service via Airplay could be viable, and I gather there's another workaround: anything saved as a playlist in Apple Music Classical will automatically appear in the Apple Music app in Sonos. Let's hope Apple decide to create an app for Sonos.

As far as the metadata's concerned, based on a quick test I can see Apple Music Classical is massively better than other classical streaming services. Search for "J S Bach" in Apple Music Classical and you do actually get all the music by "J S Bach", "Johann Sebastian Bach", "Bach, J S" and "Bach, Johann Sebastian" (and no doubt all the incorrectly spelled variants) ALL IN ONE PLACE. This isn't how things used to be and is hugely better!

The problem is when you then want to browse J S Bach's compositions, they're all listed in what seems an entirely random order -- all 1,224 of them. Not in alphabetical order, not in order of BWV number, and not in subgenres (which is what I'd prefer). Which makes browsing a real PITA.

But it's still a pretty good effort compared to other services, and I can see it being usable, if frustrating.

 

[KJohnM]

Paid ad free subscription is not unreasonably priced. I might do this.
View attachment 277361

That's what I've done. Tried all the others. This is good value.