All About Streaming Music Services

[Mandryka]

Anyone had experience of googleplay streaming? Is the catalogue big? The reason I'm interested is that I've just bought a Chromecast audio, so I can send it to the Hifi, and it looks as though MDG is streamable - it's not clear.

[Madiel]

I've not personally experienced it. I can only tell you that I've seen a lot of good reviews.

The only thing that put me off it was that there wasn't an ongoing free (ad-supported) option - I don't use streaming services enough to want to be in a situation where spending money on a subscription is obligatory. Apart from that, everything else I've read about it has fairly consistently said it's a solid choice.

I should note that the commentary hasn't been focused on classical music.

[Mandryka]

I now have access to Qubuz, Googleplay and spotify. Googleplay on 14 days free trial. I will update this post as I find new information.

Albums on Spotify or Quobuz but not on Googleplay streaming.

De Labyrintho Josquin Missa Pange Lingue (spotify)
mode Xenakis (spotify)
Jean Charles Ablitzer L'ecole du nord (Qobuz)
Joseph Payne Pachelbel v. 10, 11 (spotify, Qobuz)
Orlando Consort Saracen and Dove (spotify, Qobuz)
Aolus Bach integral with Kooiman (Qobuz)
festetics haydn (spotify Qobuz)
Koopman Novalis (spotify)
Foccroulle complete Bach and Buxtehude (spotify, Qobuz)
gester Bach Partitas (Qobuz)
Olivier Vernet Bach, Buxtehude, Grigny etc

Albums on Googleplay streaming but not on spotify or Qobuz.

tetraktys Chatilly Codex II

[Mandryka]

Problems with Googleplay. My setup uses an iPad app to stream to a Chromecast audio device.

• You sometimes need to adjust the volume in the app to make a new album play
• It once just refuse to stream to Chromecast for about five minutes
• It once just seemed to chew up the whole wifi network, things reset themselves after a couple of minutes
• The Googleplay app on iPad crashes more frequently than you really want
• The Squeezebox server Chromecast app (chromebridge) sometimes loses the player. I believe there is a fix for this. I will explore Plex as a upnp server over the next week, it may be more stable. There is no fix.
• Using Plex search is not intuitive
• you can't rearrange the order of a playlist, you can only delete tracks
• on iPad, the keyboard in the Googleplay app crashes - you have to restart the tablet /li]
  
  • tagging is sometimes poor - a set of variations may just be tagged "variations" with no other details

[Mandryka]

General impressions of Googleplay

• Search is fine. 
• Sound is good, excellent in fact. Better than spotify and as satisfying as Qobuz
• the Quobuz app annoyingly steals the Chromecast stream as soon as it is opened, so searching while listening to something not streamed by quobuz is not possible if you leave the Qobuz app connected to the Chromecast, it automatically makes a connection when it is opened. Very annoying.

[/list]

[Johnll]

I have been a Google Music subscriber for the last year. I also find the SQ of it to be more appealing than Spotify. I felt the same (v Spotify) when I had MOG but I have no explanation why. I have some skills and time with Google Play that I do not have with Spotify my comment that search and content seem to be similar are .....this that.

I really hated to see MOG go because of its SQ and my time invested with then. I feel the same way about Google now and I suspect they have the resources keep it going.

[Mandryka]

Ok, decision made. I have now cancelled my spotify premium subscription and kept Google Play. The sound is so much better than spotify, the search function works, the software is reliable enough and the catalogue is adequate. I supplement it with Qobuz streaming at the moment, though I will revise that in a few months, it may not even be justifiable now. I hope Google will grow their catalogue.

I have learned to make these things work with Logitech Media Server on Windows 10 and a Chromecast Audio. I no longer use squeezebox. For anyone trying the same the important thing to know is to disconnect Googleplay from the Chromecast before streaming from LMS. LMS is the best Chromecast compatible music server I can find at the moment (Plex was hopeless for search!)

If anyone wants to buy some (3) squeezebox classics they can PM me.

[Madiel]

Has anyone tried any of the streaming services focused on Classical music?

One would hope the main benefit is that they handle metadata properly (which general services often spectacularly fail with... I still can't get over Spotify's claim that the most popular work by Samuel Barber is The Barber of Seville).

There's Grammofy, there's Idagio. Another one called Melome is only in beta at the moment, not generally available. I had a brief look at Muzik Air which was advertised here on this forum a while back, but personally did not like what I saw.

[Daverz]

Sadly, Naxos has shut down ClassicsOnlineHD.  However, I could never figure out an easy way to integrate it into my squeezebox-based system.

I'm still using Tidal.  They have a huge catalog, with some omissions like Hyperion and ECM.  They do not provide any useful way to browse records, so I usually search for things I see in Fanfare or on MusicWeb.  They are not consistent: sometimes things are listed by title, artist, conductor or orchestra.  Still, I find more than enough new and old stuff to keep me busy.

[Madiel]

They do not provide any useful way to browse records, so I usually search for things I see in Fanfare or on MusicWeb.  They are not consistent: sometimes things are listed by title, artist, conductor or orchestra.

This is exactly why I'm specifically asking about services focused on Classical music. Tidal does not fit the bill.

[Daverz]

This is exactly why I'm specifically asking about services focused on Classical music. Tidal does not fit the bill.

I put up with the limitations because I want at least CD quality.  I'd go with Qobuz if the were available in the US.

[Madiel]

It feels like you're determined to ignore my question and have your own conversation. Thanks all the same.

[Daverz]

It feels like you're determined to ignore my question and have your own conversation. Thanks all the same.

Understand the frustration of not getting your original question answered, but was honestly not trying to antagonize you.

[Mandryka]

I've started to explore Tidal.

Can someone explain the limitations? So far I'm finding mostly everything I could find on spotify that I want, with the exception of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France recordings. But I've inky had it for a day!

[Brian]

Anybody heard of a new premium service called Primephonic? I can't figure out who's behind it.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Just wading into the streaming waters for the first time: I just signed up for a free Spotify acct and am very happy so far. They seem to have a very good selection of classical CDs I want to sample. I think streaming will never replace CDs (or LPs) for me, but I do think it will be very useful in helping me to decide which disks I want to buy.

I am very surprised there are no links to buy CDs from Amazon or wherever--but then again, I suppose that promoting the purchase of CDs/physical media is kind of at odds with the goals of a music streaming business.

[Holden]

I've started to explore Tidal.

Can someone explain the limitations? So far I'm finding mostly everything I could find on spotify that I want, with the exception of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France recordings. But I've inky had it for a day!

I'm assuming that you're using the FLAC streaming. How does it compare with Spotify premium?

[GioCar]

Anybody heard of a new premium service called Primephonic? I can't figure out who's behind it.

I've been using Primephonic for a while to download hi res music. Very recently they have started their streaming services (CD quality) as well.
They offer classical music only, so browsing/search facilities are very well tuned for classical music. They also have a very good choice of labels but no majors (Universal, Warner).
They are based in the EU, the Netherlands. One of the founder/executive director and the platform manager are from Pentatone, so I guess there could be a strong relationship between the two companies.

[Mandryka]

I'm assuming that you're using the FLAC streaming. How does it compare with Spotify premium?

The sound on tidal Flac is much much better than the sound on spotify premium, the classical catalogue is not quite as good. I've abandoned spotify mainly because we expect the software which makes the link to the Logitech squeezebox will be disabled some time this year. I now use Tidal and Qobuz.

The tagging on tidal seems particularly poor, but it's not a deal breaker.

[Holden]

Based on the comments in this thread I downloaded the premium version of Tidal for a sample while I waited at the airport for my flight. I've always been of the opinion that you can't really hear the difference between 320kbps MP3 and FLAC. Well, I stand corrected. A quick A/B comparison between three different recordings brought this to light. I used the Golub/Kaplan/Carr Schubert piano trios, Anima Eterna's Carmina Burana and Deadmau5's "Album Title Goes Here".

All have excellent modern sound and I could definitely hear quite a difference but quantifying it is a little bit harder. The downside is that Tidal's premium service is three times the price of Spotify's. Something to ponder when the months free trial runs out.