Will you stop using Spotify now? Vote

[voodooless]

I basically get Apple Music thrown in for free because of other services that my family and me use. The Atmos collection has grown quite a bit and while some mixes are really awful, many are really nice and add a lot to the music engagement. It’s frankly a more interesting feature than lossless, which admittedly I have enabled despite the fact that I can hear the difference, or actually care too little.

Yeah right, more than 1,5 years to late?

Sort off. The initial announcement was early 2021, with a launch later that same year. 2.5 years have passed since and we still have no definitive date. That’s just silly.

 

[Zensō]

I basically get Apple Music thrown in for free because of other services that my family and me use. The Atmos collection has grown quite a bit and while some mixes are really awful, many are really nice and add a lot to the music engagement. It’s frankly a more interesting feature than lossless, which admittedly I have enabled despite the fact that I can hear the difference, or actually care too little.


Sort off. The initial announcement was early 2021, with a launch later that same year. 2.5 years have passed since and we still have no definitive date. That’s just silly.

I have “free” Apple Music as well. Not a fan of Atmos/Spatial Audio, particularly how it’s being pushed on producers and engineers, but I am curious how others are using it. If you don’t mind me asking, do you have an Atmos speaker system in your house, or are you listening over Apple headphones? I haven’t heard much that has impressed me so far, but I’m open to the idea that it could sound better in different circumstances than mine.

Regarding Spotify, indeed 2.5 years is silly, but at least they’ve sort of admitted that Apple and Amazon offering lossless threw a wrench into their initial plans.

 

[voodooless]

If you don’t mind me asking, do you have an Atmos speaker system in your house, or are you listening over Apple headphones?

My primary listening area is in front of the TV in the living room. And for a while I tried to put together a full blown surround setup in my room, but I really didn’t have proper room for all the channels. So a compromise had to be found and my Genelec 8040 LRC was replaced by… a Soundbar … yes, you heard that correctly . It’s a Sennheiser Ambeo Max. I got it for a very good price and it actually offers excellent sound quality paired with a sub. The Ambeo processing is rather excellent and really fills the room with sound from all sides. Is it as good as a full surround system? Probably not, but it’s a lot more emersive than my Genelec LRC setup. And it gets really loud as well! Stereo up mix with Ambeo processing is also excellent and does a very good job at projecting a 3D soundscape. I still need to make some measurements.. misplaced my mic.. when I do, I may make a topic for it. It does come with a calibration microphone and it seems to work well.

I will add a stereo setup with larger speakers at some point in time (same room, other diagonal), but for now this will do nicely. For that the Atmos mixes are obviously not the best choice.

 

[Zensō]

My primary listening area is in front of the TV in the living room. And for a while I tried to put together a full blown surround setup in my room, but I really didn’t have proper room for all the channels. So a compromise had to be found and my Genelec 8040 LRC was replaced by… a Soundbar … yes, you heard that correctly . It’s a Sennheiser Ambeo Max. I got it for a very good price and it actually offers excellent sound quality paired with a sub. The Ambeo processing is rather excellent and really fills the room with sound from all sides. Is it as good as a full surround system? Probably not, but it’s a lot more emersive than my Genelec LRC setup. And it gets really loud as well! Stereo up mix with Ambeo processing is also excellent and does a very good job at projecting a 3D soundscape. I still need to make some measurements.. misplaced my mic.. when I do, I may make a topic for it. It does come with a calibration microphone and it seems to work well.

I will add a stereo setup with larger speakers at some point in time (same room, other diagonal), but for now this will do nicely. For that the Atmos mixes are obviously not the best choice.

Cool, thanks for the information. It’s good to hear there are decent sound bars out there, they get so maligned on the audio forums. I have a little Sonos sound bar (can’t remember the model) that is a big improvement over the built-in TV speakers, but is not very good for music. I may look into the Sennheiser if it will fit in the relatively tight space we have allocated for the TV.

 

[BN1]

We listen to music mostly via distributed audio as background noise. For me, the Spotify premium service at $10/mo is about right. I don't like the way Spotify has played their customers over the years about higher quality audio but, for now, I'm happy with their service and the integration of it into Yamaha MusicCast. If they raise the price for no-ad, I'll look elsewhere.

 

[voodooless]

I may look into the Sennheiser if it will fit in the relatively tight space we have allocated for the TV.

It’s an 18.5 KG beast. It does take up quite some space under the TV.. but it’s al relative

 

[DanielT]

A little OT but I avoid the virge and bluumberg as well as numerous other “news” outlets especially the myriad “inzider” ones ugh! Reuters, PBS and maybe a little BBC for me.

You can have a point there. As long as no official person from Spotify has commented on the state of affairs, it is only speculation. By statement I mean some NEW type of information. Something concrete. Not the same old waffle talk.

 

[DanielT]

About hearing the difference between 320kbps and lossless. I very much doubt that I would do so, for that reason Spotify's non-launch of lossless matters less
for me. BUT the principle. They have promised something but then nothing happens. Better to then either shut down the project or set up new timeframes for the launch.

Choosing a streaming provider for me mostly boils down to functionality, ease of use. However, I could imagine having both Spotify and maybe Qobuz or Apple Music for a year. Fun to compare over the course of a year. Then it could be a natural phasing out if I were to leave Spotify. IF I were to experience the other streaming provider as better. The extra cost may be worth it if you think it's fun to listen to music. In comparison, there are far more expensive hobbies to pursue.

Apple Music if it is now possible to stream it lossless via Android? With the same music selection as for apple users? I think that possibility exists now. However, I could be wrong because it is not something I have investigated more closely.

Question: In Spotify, there is the possibility to use a device as a player (streamer) while at the same time being able to change songs on that player via another device (mobile-tablet or vice versa). I really appreciate that feature. Do other streaming providers offer this type of service, feature?

 

[sergeauckland]

Question: In Spotify, there is the possibility to use a device as a player (streamer) while at the same time being able to change songs on that player via another device (mobile-tablet or vice versa). I really appreciate that feature. Do other streaming providers offer this type of service, feature?

It's what I do with my Squeezebox, which uses LMS as the server software. I play Spotify or any streaming and control it from my 'phone or tablet. Works perfectly.

S

 

[Chrispy]

Just searched "lossless" on their support page and got "no results"

 

[SKBubba]

Do other streaming providers offer this type of service, feature?

Only Tidal, as far as I know. And only on a more limited number of devices. And not with their desktop player, which Spotify has.

With roon, you get all that and more, for Tidal and Qobuz. But it costs more, and it doesn’t expose all of Tidal's features. Qobuz doesn't have any features to expose, and in fact is better with roon.

 

[pablolie]

It's what I do with my Squeezebox, which uses LMS as the server software. I play Spotify or any streaming and control it from my 'phone or tablet. Works perfectly.

S

Moreover, the LMS corrects a few of the playlist and queue peculiarities that are programmed into the Spotify app. A very important one of me is to add albums to a queue that *still* shuffles songs. The Sportify app will plan entire albums sequentially as soon as you play one and then add another one to your queue. Yes, you can create a playlist and shuffle that, but that prevents one from managing a spontaneous queue.

 

[Slayer]

Over the past five years or so, i've bounced back and forth between Spotify and Amazon music.
Currently using Spotify but I have never been so close to giving up Spotify, as I am right now.
Last week my music saved/play list, went from 7600 songs to 3600 songs. That's right, 4,000 songs just gone, and Spotify still has not figured out why or what happened. So, as you can guess, I'm a little pissed about the situation.

 

[Philbo King]

I tried Spotify, and it lasted almost 35 minutes before I deleted the app.
The compression was fatiguing to listen to, but the last straw was playing some stupid-ass Mariah Carey christmas song after I selected blues & jazz to listen to. Nope, not for me!
(Disclaimer: I have one album up on Spotify. I'd take it down if I could...)

May the company go down in flames sooner rather than later. And may the CEOs 7th son of his 7th son flunk 7th grade 7 times...

 

[pablolie]

Moreover, the LMS corrects a few of the playlist and queue peculiarities that are programmed into the Spotify app. A very important one of me is to add albums to a queue that *still* shuttles songs. The Sportify app will plan entire albums sequentially as soon as you play one and then add another one to your queue. Yes, you can create a playlist and shuffle that, but that prevents one from managing a spontaneous queue.

Yes, music disappears, but that's something that consumers should know: it can and will happen with any of these services. Music labels get acquired and the agreements get revised or voided. Artists can also change their minds about where and how to publish, provided I guess they have the rights to their own music, etc etc. That's why I still buy music and keep a library I 100% own.

 

[beagleman]

I tried Spotify, and it lasted almost 35 minutes before I deleted the app.
The compression was fatiguing to listen to, but the last straw was playing some stupid-ass Mariah Carey christmas song after I selected blues & jazz to listen to. Nope, not for me!
(Disclaimer: I have one album up on Spotify. I'd take it down if I could...)

May the company go down in flames sooner rather than later. And may the CEOs 7th son of his 7th son flunk 7th grade 7 times...

First....

1. Tried it on WHAT exactly?
2. What bitrate were you using?
3. What speed was your internet?
4. What "compression" are you referring to??

On my modest regular Hifi Stereo system on relatively fast internet it sounds great all the time.......

There are so many variables you do not even mention, it could be you or your set up, whatever it is, causing or limiting the sound.....

 

[Trell]

Spotify is great if you don’t mind not owning what you buy but just rent it, subject to be changed or removed at any time.

 

[beagleman]

Spotify is great if you don’t mind not owning what you buy but just rent it, subject to be changed or removed at any time.

I look at it like having access to the biggest music library I could ever imagine, and simply paying a few bucks to enter the front door and have access, to 10s of thousands of albums. Nearly limitless.

Renting to me, is more of a pre-determined time limit.
I have not seen much be removed or changed all that often. In fact, it seems quite stable playlist and artist wise.


But I get your sentiments completely. At first I was not sure about it, but find myself drifting further and further from physical media.....
I find so much new stuff randomly it boggles my mind!

 

[sonitus mirus]

Spotify is great if you don’t mind not owning what you buy but just rent it, subject to be changed or removed at any time.

I think it would be great despite any of those relatively minor caveats. Anyone that had their own collection of music would probably still benefit greatly from subscribing to at least one of the streaming music services. If money was the main concern, I would always side for getting the streaming service over purchasing a material collection. Skip a month or two of streaming service and put that money towards some music you can't live without, in some pathological situation. If someone is unable to spend the money on a subscription, how much music can they purchase?

 

[Trell]

I find so much new stuff randomly it boggles my mind!

This is for sure one huge plus with these streaming services.