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I use Apple Music, it works well and is totally integrated into my iPhone / Apple TV.
I'm trying Apple Music at the moment and not completely convinced:
- playing music from a phone to an Apple TV (or other Airplay device) is still streaming from the phone (so you gets interrupted if your phone rings or you use it to browse websites)
- using Apple remote on the phone to control iTunes on a Mac is better (and allows streaming to more than one Airplay device at the same time) but only allows you to play music you've 'added to your collection'. You can't then search for something new on Apple Music.
- Apple Music 'My New Music Mix' hasn't impressed me yet. A lot of music I really don't like (despite having access to my own music on iTunes)
- their servers seem surprisingly slow. Clicking on the "for you" tab in Music it takes a while to load. Search is slow and unintuitive. When you hit play on a track it takes a few seconds to start
Spotify has it's foibles as well but my main issue with it is that it will only play to a single Airplay device at a time. I've been using iTunes/Apple Music as my main interface for years but Spotify feels snappier and easier to use.
Spotify's Discover Weekly turns up a good playlist for me (though for some reason at the moment it's definitely not 'fresh' - it's almost all 60's related (it doesnt' seem to have taken any account of the stuff that's in my local files)
Another positive about Spotify: I've had a CD in my ebay watch list for a little while.. checked it out on Spotify and it's saved me £9, cos it's not worth buying. So that's good for 99p. 🙂
Dont get me wrong, i like Deezer but was rather annoyed at my own stupidity for not keeping an aye on the subscription. I'd rather have gone monthly that pay for the entire year, but the plus side is I'll have had 3 years premium for 145 quid....which isnt bad. just need to make sure I use it more 🙂
Except Spotify quality doesn't actually trump everything else since both Deezer and Tidal have lossless options that Spotify lack
I take it lossless streaming only makes a difference if you're listening to something directly to a speaker via WiFi (e.g. Chromecast), and not if you're streaming via Bluetooth from a device to a speaker?
It only makes a difference if you convince yourself it makes a difference.
Bluetooth is a lot better than it used to be, but it is still fairly heavily compressed and prone to interference.
Lossless is intended for when you are streaming to a DAC in your hifi and looking for CD quality (it is only lossless compared to CD, even CDs have limited dynamic range).
The 320 kbps most streaming services use has become somewhat standard because it's a point at which most people can't tell the difference from CD quality. I'm quite happy to believe that some people, on some equipment, can genuinely perceive a difference but mostly (as with much in the audio universe) it is primarily snobbery. A more grounded snobbery than unidirectional snake-oil cables because there is a physical difference, but still mostly snobbery.
If you want to know if you can tell the difference, you will find ABX tests you can do with a quick google. I mostly top out at 192 kbps depending on what I am listening with.
DezB - Member
It only makes a difference if you convince yourself it makes a difference.
Convinced of that, are you? 🙄
I take it lossless streaming only makes a difference if you're listening to something directly to a speaker via WiFi (e.g. Chromecast), and not if you're streaming via Bluetooth from a device to a speaker?
Lossless is only applicable on certain devices, and also probably only noticeable on certain devices. I only brought it up as the OP said he was listening on "high end hifi equipment", so lossless may well be worthwhile.
But even ignoring the inevitable lossless debate I stirred up, Deezer premium is 320k anyway, same as Spotify, so the suggestion that the quality of Spotify trumps anything else, is not true.
[i]Convinced of that, are you?[/i]
Well, as a drummer having spent a number of years performing live gigs, I'm sure your ears are much better attuned to fine sound details than anyone else's 😀
So, at 32kbps:
Chromecast to speaker = basically indistinguishable to CD
Bluetooth via device to speaker = not quite as good as CD
Have I got that right?
DezB - Member
Convinced of that, are you?Well, as a drummer having spent a number of years performing live gigs, I'm sure your ears
Nice try at sarcasm, but irrelevant.