Regret

[Pieoftheday]

Who's moved from vinyl/CD to a server and is really happy , or do you have regrets? Not necessarily with sound quality but not using a physical media? I really like my cocktail audio x40 server, easy to use and good sound, i just miss using the silver disc and a CD player, still got my cds so I could go back at some point:)

[Macca]

I maybe buy 1 Cd a month but I enjoy it arriving with the mail, getting home, unwrapping it and putting it on with the volume up. I've seriously considered streaming but it all seems too easy and not special at all.

[Pieoftheday]

I maybe buy 1 Cd a month but I enjoy it arriving with the mail, getting home, unwrapping it and putting it on with the volume up. I've seriously considered streaming but it all seems too easy and not special at all.

Oh I still buy cds and rip them, steaming doesn't appeal at all, streaming even!! And yes too easy and not special is the same with a server IMHO ,

[Clive]

LPs for physical....wav/flac for other music. A mix of the two works for me.

[jandl100]

I'm close to 100% streaming these days.
I don't miss the physicality of disc media at all.
Very very happy with a virtual cloud-hosted music source - most music sessions are a voyage of exploration and discovery for me now. It's been a real revelation for me. Fantastic.

And all thanks go to Justin user211 for nagging me into trying it. :thumbsup:

[Frazeur1]

A couple of events in life helped to take my LP's and equipment away about 12 years ago(Divorce). I went hifi-less for a number of years after that. When I had saved enough money, I kind of took the streaming plunge. I bought a Naim Uniti, which does have a CD player built in, and one that I use more often than I thought I would. But streaming for me, or pulling my music from my NAS drive has been great. The biggest thing is that with Tidal and internet radio stations at my fingertips, I find that I am listening to a whole lot of new, as well as older music, some of which I would probably have never found-or even tried. I listen more and fuss less with the gear. I have had my Uniti now going on 5 years, and I can't think of anything I would rather have in its place!

I do understand the physical media bit though, very much so. I still buy a decent amount of music on CD, and I will always have the CD as a backup. As to vinyl, again, the physical media and the "ritual"-not to mention the sound, can be something I do miss at times, but at this point it becomes a rather expensive proposition to return to it, so I haven't. To me, most any of these formats work great, I am just over the general fuss about it and feel like what I have is plenty good enough for me.

[SLS]

CDs ripped and crated years ago. Still in the spare room, should be in the loft. Classical LPs will end up in the charity shop, after I've sifted out a few.

I have jazz and other non-classical LPs, mostly listen to the original pressing jazz stuff, plenty of it is mono.

Otherwise, streaming rules.

18217

[Joe]

I can't be arsed with ripping CDs; I did rip about 20 or so, then decided life was too short. I use Spotify for non-critical listening, but the whole computer-based music thing has basically passed me by.

[Audio Al]

the physical media and the "ritual"-not to mention the sound,

Its statements like this that keep me vinyl and R2R :)

[struth]

I can't be arsed with ripping CDs; I did rip about 20 or so, then decided life was too short. I use Spotify for non-critical listening, but the whole computer-based music thing has basically passed me by.

Just do a few at a time. It does its self tbh once set up once done and copied to a spare master drive, then its done for ever.

[Pieoftheday]

The ease of using a server appeals to my lazy side, Its why I bought one as well as clearing the clutter from the living room, I don't even have to rely on internet connection with this one,which is just as well as it drops out a fair bit, and yet I've no doubt I'll end with a disc spinner again:)

[brian2957]

I just went back to vinyl a couple of months ago , after a 27 year gap , and I'm thoroughly enjoying it . I'm trying not to get too OCD about it and just enjoying the experience .
I'm still using a music server and streaming music which TBH will be my main source of music and I use the turntable when I have the time to sit down and listen seriously :)

[Pieoftheday]

I just went back to vinyl a couple of months ago , after a 27 year gap , and I'm thoroughly enjoying it . I'm trying not to get too OCD about it and just enjoying the experience .
I'm still using a music server and streaming music which TBH will be my main source of music and I use the turntable when I have the time to sit down and listen seriously :)

I won't go back to vinyl because of the expense and lack of space,but a friend recently did and I liked using his system for a bit,vinyl certainly has some magic about it,i gave him the rest of my collection as I couldn't be arsed selling it

[RichB]

A mix of everything for me, streaming/FLAC, CD and vinyl. I stopped worrying about having everything on one format a while ago. I enjoy having a vinyl session every so often. When friends come round it's what we play.

[Pieoftheday]

Just realised. Using. upnp Affects the volume,,hmm, no wait on its my tablet that's doing it?

[Macca]

I have been tempted to go for some sort of streaming service. I don't have a massive collection and there is a ton of stuff I keep meaning to buy on CD bit never get around to it (all The Cure albums for example.) £20 a month is affordable to me.

The problems I have with it are:

1) involving a computer - knowing my luck it won't just work from the off and then there is all that tedious troubleshooting.

2) Wireless connection - doesn't it drop out occasionally or is it buffered?

3) You have no control over the recording - are they using the best version with regards to sound quality (what gen master was it made from, how much compression has been used ) - at least with CD or vinyl you know, even if you haven't got the best sounding version you are aware of it and can seek out a better one.

[jandl100]

I have been tempted to go for some sort of streaming service. I don't have a massive collection and there is a ton of stuff I keep meaning to buy on CD bit never get around to it (all The Cure albums for example.) £20 a month is affordable to me.

The problems I have with it are:

1) involving a computer - knowing my luck it won't just work from the off and then there is all that tedious troubleshooting.

What are you typing this post from at the moment?
I just use my ordinary laptop and a USB cable to my DAC. Sorted.

2) Wireless connection - doesn't it drop out occasionally or is it buffered?

Mine works flawlessly.

3) You have no control over the recording - are they using the best version with regards to sound quality (what gen master was it made from, how much compression has been used ) - at least with CD or vinyl you know, even if you haven't got the best sounding version you are aware of it and can seek out a better one.

It is what it is. Don't obsess, just enjoy the music. It really does sound good! :)

See purple bits. :)

[struth]

should be able to stream from a tablet to a chromecast using any of the big ones at red book..and, yes, its buffered normally. can obviously do it via pc too. If youve got a tablet then £30 foe chromecast. and a months free trial on each lol

[Macca]

I have a Lenovo notebook. Windows 10. It has hardly any storage space on it so need to get something better after Xmas.

So I would need a Chromcast and a DAC plus the notebook?

Jerry I know there is no issue with the SQ, I've heard Tidal. Spotify Premium too. Now that was less impressive, and with Steely Dan, which is unacceptable of course.

[rdpx]

The ease of using a server appeals to my lazy side.....yet I've no doubt I'll end with a disc spinner again:)

I'm guessing that your server is probably a spinning disc.

:)

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[vinyljunky]

No argument here I have a 1st press gentle giant octopus I have listened to other formats of this album cd flac files and the vinyl gives the best reproduction by a mile it draws you into the music plus you have that glorious sleeve to look at.i hear things in the vinyl master that I don't in the other formats.

[martian sunrise]

Great album. I had 'a cry for everyone' on the headphones this evening! Alas, not a 1st pressing though...

That's a rare album

[Zoidburg]

I'm a recent convert to steaming using tidal which I like in terms of catalogue and SQ. I really don't think I will ever stop buying vinyl though it's just such a lovely medium. If anything I buy more vinyl now as I know that I'm going to like what I buy as I've generally given it a few listens first on tidal.

[Andy831]

I use all three, I tend to stream (sbt) if I want background music, stuff to just waft about, but if I want a proper music session I tend to use vinyl or cd if I don`t have a vinyl copy of the album. It works well for me.

[nortot]

I'm a recent convert to Tidal, have about 300 original cd's and 300 burned ones, plus 200 odd Lp's. Sold Turntable 5 years ago upon getting SBT and never missed it, still have Marantz 73 on the go for comparison. Now I mostly run Tidal through Beresford SEG plus CD's through same directly to amp. Tidal and Spotify and Tunein radio plus BubbleUpnP (for 600 Gb's of Flacs on the NAS) run through a Chromecast and this has been the revelation. I cannot believe the SQ of Tidal through Chromecast into SEG and onwards etc, particularly when I can switch almost instantaneously to the other sources to compare- Listen to any of the above sources and identify the track, then instantly switch to the Tidal stream of the same piece, and it's night and day. It cannot be true, but it is!!. Now , I know the only true comparison is between cd and Tidal and the CD73 is maybe not the greatest spinner , and the other sources are compromised in some way, but to my ears I have realised some sort of plateau. Thanks to Stan's DAC in the chain (through which everything passes) I now have extraordinary resolution , and an analogue presentation.
Now, in another move, I have finally banished the silver discs to the attic for archeology maybe sometime, and am just about to flog the LP's for decent money to a dealer. The WAF is (almost) complete.

[RichB]

Haven't changed my view, a bit of everything when I fancy it, many media formats. If I see something I like I buy it. Don't really do paid downloads as it's all there on Spotify so no need. These days you often get a download or rip when you buy CD or vinyl so I tend to grab them than have Google music add them to my library for when I'm on the go. The fact I can stream these things to my many Chromecasts is also a bonus. Really life is too short to be completist in anything, let alone music formats so I just mix it all up.

I recently found an old ipod I'd had since 2007 with a heap of downloads on it from the wild west days of the Internet, via napster etc. On discovering it still worked it's been doing sterling service in the car and I swear I've never heard half these tunes before. It is on permanent shuffle and any car journey with me these days is a perpetual game of guess the band/artist.

[SLS]

I'm close to 100% streaming these days.
I don't miss the physicality of disc media at all.
Very very happy with a virtual cloud-hosted music source - most music sessions are a voyage of exploration and discovery for me now. It's been a real revelation for me. Fantastic.

And all thanks go to Justin user211 for nagging me into trying it. :thumbsup:

Pretty much me too, been on Qobuz Sublime for 18 months.

Also buy a few downloads that are not available for streaming, mainly from Hyperion (classical) and Highresaudio (jazz).

Haven't played a CD in years, but still enjoy vinyl occasionally.

[ReggieB]

I've always used a range of media - so LP, CD and cassette for many years. The main criteria was getting the music on the media that was available. Nowadays my main system has LP, CD, Stream from hard drive, Stream via Chromecast. I had stopped listen to LPs, but have recently fallen back in love with the medium (thanks to a Hana cartridge and Record Doctor). Saying that - I still rarely buy LPs as they seem expensive to me nowadays - even second hand.

I really like the fact that I can read about a piece of music, or sample it online (record store site or youtube) and then buy it, download it and play it within minutes.

I'm not a fan of subscription services. All that money invested in a system that can disappear over night. I'd rather download - it's then my responsibility to ensure I have my music backed up - but then it is mine to keep. I always know it will be compatible with the kit I bought to listen to it through - not the case with subscription.

However, it is still often cheaper to buy the CD than it is to download it. That together with greater range of music on CD, and the fact that I like to go to concerts and get signed copies from the artist afterwards, means nowadays I'm roughly 50/50 CD to Downloads purchases, with the very occasional LP.