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Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 6:40 pm
by joeinid
I confess, I have a TT but have not set it up yet. I am probably a little lazy. My newest listening service is Tidal at http://tidalhifi.com

While Spotify streams at 320Kbs and Pandora at 128Kbs, Tidal is 1400K/sec. or true CD quality. With a good dac, the quality is simply outstanding. Tidal costs $20 per month. I feel it is worth it.

Do you stream?

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:49 pm
by Joe Appierto
Once in a blue moon I'll listen to Pandora since it's a free service that comes with the Oppo 105D (all their machines actually). I like the fact that you can pick an artist or type of music and it then randomly varies what it plays. Exposes me to some stuff I might not otherwise have heard.

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:59 am
by joeinid
For Pandora, I pay the $36 or so subscription. I think they up the quality to 192Kbs and it does not suck. I've discovered many new artists and songs. I use a modified Sonos player for output to a dac and it's wonderful.

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:05 am
by admin
I will stream music into the house via shoutcast. They have 10,000's of stations. I find it really nice that they have a wide selection of music and many commercial free. The sound quality is not very good so I never play it in the listening room but for the small speakers around the house as background music it serves its purpose. I'll have to check out tidal, sounds interesting although a little on the expensive side for streaming services.

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:16 pm
by joeinid
Tidal does not have everything yet. Many titles are missing, but what is there sounds like I just put a cd in the player.

I'll look into Shoutcast. Thanks

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:42 pm
by admin
The only advantage of shoutcast is that it's free and they have a lot of content. However, it is internet radio so there is no control over what songs will be played (although you can request songs on some stations). I use winamp to play the streams but they have a web player and other players are available. As I said before, it is better for "background music" not so much for a serious audiophile listening session.

Re: Online streaming via Tidal, Spotify or Pandora ....

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 1:37 pm
by joeinid
admin wrote:The only advantage of shoutcast is that it's free and they have a lot of content. However, it is internet radio so there is no control over what songs will be played (although you can request songs on some stations). I use winamp to play the streams but they have a web player and other players are available. As I said before, it is better for "background music" not so much for a serious audiophile listening session.
I agree, I love to have music playing almost all the time. For those times I need to get work done or can't stand TV anymore, my stereo is on. I love variety and these stations seem like a great compromise. I don't have an FM antenna on the roof anymore, otherwise I'd invest in a decent tuner.