How many folk now use streaming and have sold all their other audio equipment?

[User211]

I used to use Spotify but the SQ sucked on my system. I had to buy CDs of anything I liked, really. TIDAL stopped the need to do that.

Lower bit rates can be weird. Some recordings can actually sound better, as presumably the compression has killed unpleasant sounding artifacts. That is rarely the case, though.

These days my record player is in storage. It is a good setup but I just prefer digital overall.

[Minstrel SE]

Couple of points, wait till you have well over 4,000 CDs and around 350 LPs, the real estate they take up is significant and to be honest I would rather have some nice art on the walls, than a load of ugly racks.

I store my CDs in IKEA boxes which are just the right size, in plastic sleeves to save even more space. The jewel case gets recycled, I do however keep ones which have been signed by the artist, got a fair few of those.

If you sold them you would need to delete the file as it would be illegal to have a ripped copy without the original.

I don't need 'stuff' to appreciate music, I know some do which I personally don't get, just as those that do like to collect things don't get why it's not important to me - each to their own

Yes Im fully aware when it gets overwhelming. I helped a guy who had half a million LPs in a basement and much of that ended up in a skip with flood damage. He is now reportedly storing 50,000 cds somewhere.

Most of us have peaked at a level we can comfortably store and display. I can put doors on my shelving units so I dont even have to see the cds on open shelves. I do have some nice art on the walls.

I dont see the problem with owning nice turntable like a Roksan or a good cd transport. Its called enjoying yourself. What else are we going to spend it on because I have everything I need at present

You've got "stuff" to appreciate music just very little of it. Weve all got stuff to appreciate music as you will obviously have some speakers etc.

This really is about the minimalist brigade getting on their high horse and feeling clever or superior about a one box solution. Its not an aim I have. Your argument is suggesting we have a problem we dont have. Your minimalist solution is just an extra shelf for me

I like the ability to play what I find in whatever format I like. I can also stream if I want to and there is no harm to me having a couple of extra hi fi racks. So we have covered what you do and left the option to do much more...wheres the problem?

Theres only a problem if you seek maximum living space and minimalism as a top priority

Streaming hasnt fully grabbed me yet ...I dabble but dont feel its going to take over anytime soon.

The other jibes we are getting is that we are having a love affair with the equipment like we are sad, lonely, square or misguided. Where is the problem with appreciating well made equipment which designers have put their heart and soul into

Its your choice but do you all want a medal for saving one wall of shelving and a couple of rack spaces. The weird argument is the minimalist one. The rest of us are quite happy... leave us alone thanks

[Boyse6748]

Yes Im fully aware when it gets overwhelming. I helped a guy who had half a million LPs in a basement and much of that ended up in a skip with flood damage. He is now reportedly storing 50,000 cds somewhere.

Most of us have peaked at a level we can comfortably store and display. I can put doors on my shelving units so I dont even have to see the cds on open shelves. I do have some nice art on the walls.

I dont see the problem with owning nice turntable like a Roksan or a good cd transport. Its called enjoying yourself. What else are we going to spend it on because I have everything I need at present

You've got "stuff" to appreciate music just very little of it. Weve all got stuff to appreciate music as you will obviously have some speakers etc.

This really is about the minimalist brigade getting on their high horse and feeling clever or superior about a one box solution. Its not an aim I have. Your argument is suggesting we have a problem we dont have. Your minimalist solution is just an extra shelf for me

I like the ability to play what I find in whatever format I like. I can also stream if I want to and there is no harm to me having a couple of extra hi fi racks. So we have covered what you do and left the option to do much more...wheres the problem?

Theres only a problem if you seek maximum living space and minimalism as a top priority

Streaming hasnt fully grabbed me yet ...I dabble but dont feel its going to take over anytime soon.

The other jibes we are getting is that we are having a love affair with the equipment like we are sad, lonely, square or misguided. Where is the problem with appreciating well made equipment which designers have put their heart and soul into

Its your choice but do you all want a medal for saving one wall of shelving and a couple of rack spaces. The weird argument is the minimalist one. The rest of us are quite happy... leave us alone thanks

Yes indeed, I do have a love affair with my Hi-Fi equipment, and yes I do live on my own, but I am neither lonely or sad. Being a Vinyl freak doesn’t mean that 2018 software like Roon/Tidal is a bad thing.

For me it’s an education on what’s available....... regardless of the bit rate numbers.

Roon has educated me in available music that makes me happy. If I so choose, perhaps I will purchase what I hear on Vinyl..... or perhaps not!

Having an almost unlimited selection at you fingertips can’t be a bad thing.

Quality is another matter..... for me, Roon has the edge.... but that just my opinion!

Don’t knock it until you try it!!


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[mikmas]

If it was just about music we might just give up all our equipment and listen through a pair of ear buds via a phone at the lowest sound quality possible either MP3 or streaming free Spotify.

I can think of a lot worse quality to listen to than MP3 or free Spotify, even through 'ear buds' - a lot worse in fact !!

Compared to a lot of the shitty sound reproduction regularly encountered in the pre-digital era, we are now living in an audio golden age with almost limitless possibilities (and at a fraction of the cost...)

[Pieoftheday]

I don't have a problem with that.
Fill yer boots.
When your library gets above a certain size, its size becomes a hindrance in itself to using it.

I recall seeing John peels home studio /music library, wonderful.ofcourse we don't all have the space

[Pharos]

I think that there is perhaps some ego/dominance going on sometimes in Hi-Fi discussions.

On another forum a propounder dismisses 'legacy HI-Fi' because it is old, complicated and involves having a rack which gets dusty and which is very 'old fashioned'; he says that we should all have actives, and stream, because it is so simple.

My order of priorities is formed from the great impact music has had on me, and my resulting passion for it.
It was formed in a vinyl age, and now I find that too messy to use, though I keep all my records as a reference because they are still good music and special to me.

CD is to me a high quality source, but I will at some time stream because of the amount available to sample, and it may be that its quality becomes the best, but I don't care about having a rack of stuff as looking archaic, or a shelf of CDs on a wall, these are to me very important things in my life, and a part of my everyday activities and experiences.
I also love high quality possessions and good engineering, and this applies to all I own.

My house is not a show house for minimalism, it is my home and to me the home is the workshop of the body, and it has functions, one of which is to support my love of music.

I cannot bear soulless homes which seem to depict a lack of involvement in life, this often reflecting the lack of commitment to life itself by the dweller, and there being no indication of involvement in anything much.

Three doors away a lady used to have a potters wheel and kiln, and I know of people who fine-art paint.

To me this desire to express a minimalist home for others to see is a waste of opportunities to enrich experience, and maximise life itself.

[montesquieu]

Compared to a lot of the shitty sound reproduction regularly encountered in the pre-digital era, we are now living in an audio golden age with almost limitless possibilities (and at a fraction of the cost...)

Yes but the down side of limitless music is a cheapening of the experience. When I was in my teens I maybe had 30 or 50 LPs, each a treasure costing a week or more's pocket money, each of which when I play I can recall to this day as they come up, every word, every splash symbol, every variation as a hook comes back with or without backing vocals and so on, in classical records where there's a buzz in a pizzicato section or where the conductor's baton hits the music stand.

I doubt youngsters on spotify listen with the same level of attention or focus, or through the same amount of repetition acquire the same deep familiarity with a small number of recordings that become a benchmark for how they might subsequently listen and respond to everything.

Where something becomes so cheap it's almost free, it loses value and loses significance. Call me an old fuddy duddy if you like but I think this is a bad thing for music and for music appreciation.

[mikmas]

On another forum a propounder dismisses 'legacy HI-Fi' because it is old, complicated and involves having a rack which gets dusty and which is very 'old fashioned'; he says that we should all have actives, and stream, because it is so simple.

Whilst I agree with a lot of your points about the sterility of 'minimalism for minimalism's sake' I have to also concede that I think the propounder has some valid points. There is so much very good stuff in small packages available now that the full blown hifi rack topped with an obligatory 'legacy' TT does seem a tad overkill, unnecessary and decidedly out-of-time.

That said, I have such a rack next to my computer desk and it ain't going anywhere - even though I hardly ever pull an LP out its cover any more (too busy scouring the interweb for tracks to play....)

[struth]

Yes but the down side of limitless music is a cheapening of the experience. When I was in my teens I maybe had 30 or 50 LPs, each a treasure costing a week or more's pocket money, each of which when I play I can recall to this day as they come up, every word, every splash symbol, every variation as a hook comes back with or without backing vocals and so on, in classical records where there's a buzz in a pizzicato section or where the conductor's baton hits the music stand.

I doubt youngsters on spotify listen with the same level of attention or focus, or through the same amount of repetition acquire the same deep familiarity with a small number of recordings that become a benchmark for how they might subsequently listen and respond to everything.

Where something becomes so cheap it's almost free, it loses value and loses significance. Call me an old fuddy duddy if you like but I think this is a bad thing for music and for music appreciation.

inclined to agree. I was probably more avid with my records when I only had a handful. Appreciated them more too. But, times have changed and I, alas have too, but I often hanker for those days again. Maybe I should pull out 20 or so and sell the rest.

[mikmas]

Yes but the down side of limitless music is a cheapening of the experience. .

Only if you wish to make it that. I can see no reason why the availability of music has any real impact on one's appreciation of its qualities. In fact I find that quite absurd and also more than a tad condescending - leaving aside the decidedly glib and patronising comments on 'youngsters' which quite frankly make my blood boil.