All About Streaming Music Services

[Spotted Horses]

Whilst you still need a Qobuz account to do so, you can buy CD quality downloads and High Res downloads independently in the download store, without any ongoing streaming subscription.

However, if you have the top end "Sublime" streaming subscription, you can get some large discounts on the High Res downloads only, if High Res is available for the recording in question. Checking a few new releases just now on their shop homepage, they vary so far between 20 & 50% off the full price. That rebate does not apply to the standard CD quality at all (usually a discount on CD quality will only exist if the label or the artist in question is part of monthly "Current Promotions").

Thanks for the useful information. I suppose the discount of hirez downloads never brings them below the standard resolution version. Typically I do standard CD quality downloads. Maybe I'll register and see if I can poke around the download store. (Usually I get lossless downloads from Presto, but I am a bit suspicious of them, since on one occasion a download had defective encoding, and I wonder how that can happen if they are getting them from legitimate sources.)

[Todd]

Usually I get lossless downloads from Presto, but I am a bit suspicious of them, since on one occasion a download had defective encoding, and I wonder how that can happen if they are getting them from legitimate sources.

Because the labels themselves can provide bad files.  I've had to contact labels directly on two occasions to address just such issues.

[Papy Oli]

Thanks for the useful information. I suppose the discount of hirez downloads never brings them below the standard resolution version. Typically I do standard CD quality downloads. Maybe I'll register and see if I can poke around the download store. (Usually I get lossless downloads from Presto, but I am a bit suspicious of them, since on one occasion a download had defective encoding, and I wonder how that can happen if they are getting them from legitimate sources.)

Qobuz's streaming plans page advertises that the high Res discount can go up to 60% with a Sublime subscription. It can get equal or cheaper than CD quality in some instances. 2 examples from their homepage's new releases :

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/live-at-the-el-mocambo-the-rolling-stones/kga8chja8fqrb

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/dropout-boogie-the-black-keys/mukh5gqtoxv7a

Click on the "Buy the Album" black banner, you'll get the pop-up with the sale price options (I got it logged off, so you don't need the account at that stage anyway).


Bit weird about Presto. Had you contacted their customer service about the file issue ?

[Spotted Horses]

Qobuz's streaming plans page advertises that the high Res discount can go up to 60% with a Sublime subscription. It can get equal or cheaper than CD quality in some instances. 2 examples from their homepage's new releases :

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/live-at-the-el-mocambo-the-rolling-stones/kga8chja8fqrb

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/dropout-boogie-the-black-keys/mukh5gqtoxv7a

Click on the "Buy the Album" black banner, you'll get the pop-up with the sale price options (I got it logged off, so you don't need the account at that stage anyway).


Bit weird about Presto. Had you contacted their customer service about the file issue ?

I registered and visited the Qobuz download store. Seems like things I have in my Presto shopping cart and their downloads seem to slightly cheaper than presto FLAC downloads. Maybe I'll try purchasing them and see how smooth the process is. But one reason I have a preference for getting physical copy and ripping is because I prefer the single FLAC+cue sheet format, rather than individual FLAC files for each track.

The bad download was a set of FLAC files from a Philips release. There was a swish-swish-swish sound superimposed on the audio. I complained to presto and they immediately acknowledged there was a problem and notified me that the corrected downloads were available on the site and I should repeat the download. The problem was resolved. (It was Kocsis Debussy.)

[aukhawk]

My experience of Spotify Premium seems to differ from other recent posters here.
Obviously (at least, it's obvious to me) you have to go into the settings and take ownership, because the default install is unlikely to be optimal, for sound quality or anything else.  That done -

The search facility seems more than fine to me.  I type in a composer name and performer name and usually by the time I'm 3 or 4 letters into the latter the album I want is sitting there at or near the top of the results list.  If I type in 'dvorak belo' it gives me Dvořák Bělohlávek despite my lazy lack of diacritics.  It finds composer's pieces buried in themed compilations such as "Mindfulness in Blue"  even when that composer is not mentioned on the cover at all - horribly common these days, a ghastly trend.
The catalogue seems huge and sometimes includes new releases before they are available on sale generally.

Sound-wise - I have gone to some trouble to prove to my own satisfaction that I can't hear any significant difference between Spotify and a CD or redbook flac (or even hi-res flac), when played through my main system at reasonable listening levels, or through my best headphones.  And I care about these things just like any other audiophile.

Spotify is great value - I've felt no need to explore the more expensive alternatives such as Quobuz even if they are somehow 'better'.

[SonicMan46]

My experience of Spotify Premium seems to differ from other recent posters here.
Obviously (at least, it's obvious to me) you have to go into the settings and take ownership, because the default install is unlikely to be optimal, for sound quality or anything else.  That done -

The search facility seems more than fine to me.  I type in a composer name and performer name and usually by the time I'm 3 or 4 letters into the latter the album I want is sitting there at or near the top of the results list.  If I type in 'dvorak belo' it gives me Dvořák Bělohlávek despite my lazy lack of diacritics.  It finds composer's pieces buried in themed compilations such as "Mindfulness in Blue"  even when that composer is not mentioned on the cover at all - horribly common these days, a ghastly trend.
The catalogue seems huge and sometimes includes new releases before they are available on sale generally.

Sound-wise - I have gone to some trouble to prove to my own satisfaction that I can't hear any significant difference between Spotify and a CD or redbook flac (or even hi-res flac), when played through my main system at reasonable listening levels, or through my best headphones.  And I care about these things just like any other audiophile.

Spotify is great value - I've felt no need to explore the more expensive alternatives such as Quobuz even if they are somehow 'better'.

Well, thanks for the Spotify support - I've been a user for several years on my son's family plan (we're not in the same household nor even in the same state, so somewhat ambiguous but have not been questioned yet - SO, don't tell on me -  ).  I have the Spotify app on my TVs, other i-Devices, and Sonos bedroom speakers - have setup dozens of playlists; for a 'streaming service' the sound has been fine to my ears - I like their playlist offerings that have been obviously geared toward my interests.  My only complaint is that on the playlists the sound levels are not always equalized which can be irritating but have been to lazy to see if that is even adjustable.  The only other audio streaming service I have is Pandora which I could/should cancel (rarely use w/ my newer options).  So I don't have much to add except that I'm happy w/ Spotify, especially since it's free to me (at the moment!).    Dave

[Madiel]

I grant you, the top picks for Samuel Barber no longer include The Barber of Seville, so something about Spotify's search function has improved over the years.

[foxandpeng]

I've deliberately not commented, because I'm fairly certain that I shared my preference a while back. Spotify Premium works really well for me. Inexpensive, simple, well-designed navigation, functionality and settings, almost everything I want is on there, and the sound quality is more than satisfactory.

Add in access to podcasts and non-classical music, and I am a very happy Spotify user.

[DavidW]

Curiosity got the better of me, I signed up for Spotify Premium as they were offering 3 months free with a charge of $9.99 afterwards for each month. I ran some tests through them: Shostakovich 11th with Haitink/RCO on Decca (the second movement The Ninth of January) and also played Debussy's Images, Book I with Seong-Jin Cho on DG. My final verdict was: it sucked. It sucked big time. I was incredibly disappointed with the audio quality, which I read is 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis. Honestly, it pales in comparison to what I'm ripping through the Music app on my Macbook, which is 288 kbps AAC. Also, there wasn't any way I could fool around with the EQ settings as I'm using my laptop and I read further that the EQ is only available through their app on an Android or iPhone. I'm sorry, but this is just stupid. I also hated their search engine. Extremely clunky. To people who have to rely on streaming services (for whatever reasons), best of luck to you! But it's definitely not for me.

I agree that the search engine sucks I but will tell you some tricks to know since you have already paid for three months.

Improving SQ:
Set streaming and download quality to VERY HIGH.
Turn off "Auto Adjust quality"
Turn off "Normalize volume"

That should dramatically help.  The settings are set poorly by default.

[DavidW]

Sound-wise - I have gone to some trouble to prove to my own satisfaction that I can't hear any significant difference between Spotify and a CD or redbook flac (or even hi-res flac), when played through my main system at reasonable listening levels, or through my best headphones.  And I care about these things just like any other audiophile.

I agree whether on my stereo or my Beyerdynamic dt1990s.

[Mirror Image]

I agree that the search engine sucks I but will tell you some tricks to know since you have already paid for three months.

Improving SQ:
Set streaming and download quality to VERY HIGH.
Turn off "Auto Adjust quality"
Turn off "Normalize volume"

That should dramatically help.  The settings are set poorly by default.

Thanks, Dave. I tried all of this as it is a natural inclination of mine to get into the settings and see what I can change. I was still dissatisfied with the fidelity. Also, I didn't pay for three months as they were free, but the minute I cancelled, I lost all of the benefits included with Spotify Premium. Oh well.

[Madiel]

I've deliberately not commented, because I'm fairly certain that I shared my preference a while back. Spotify Premium works really well for me. Inexpensive, simple, well-designed navigation, functionality and settings, almost everything I want is on there, and the sound quality is more than satisfactory.

Add in access to podcasts and non-classical music, and I am a very happy Spotify user.

If you can tell me how to make Spotify stop after a podcast episode instead of immediately beginning the next one, I will become a slightly less disgruntled forced user of Spotify for an exclusive podcast.

[DavidW]

If you can tell me how to make Spotify stop after a podcast episode instead of immediately beginning the next one, I will become a slightly less disgruntled forced user of Spotify for an exclusive podcast.

Did you turn off autoplay in the settings?

[San Antone]

Re: Spotify - "the search engine sucks"

This has not been my experience.  In fact, I have found the search engine to be excellent. 

As someone whose experience and training was in online research and search engine optimizing, these complaints are almost always the result of deficient user skill.

[foxandpeng]

I agree that the search engine sucks I but will tell you some tricks to know since you have already paid for three months.

Improving SQ:
Set streaming and download quality to VERY HIGH.
Turn off "Auto Adjust quality"
Turn off "Normalize volume"

That should dramatically help.  The settings are set poorly by default.

This ⬆️⬆️

[Mirror Image]

Re: Spotify - "the search engine sucks"

This has not been my experience.  In fact, I have found the search engine to be excellent. 

As someone whose experience and training was in online research and search engine optimizing, these complaints are almost always the result of deficient user skill.

Yeah, you're a genius and everyone else who doesn't like Spotify's search engine is a dumbass. I know perfectly well how to use a search engine and Spotify's is far from excellent, so I disagree with you.

[San Antone]

Yeah, you're a genius and everyone else who doesn't like Spotify's search engine is a dumbass. I know perfectly well how to use a search engine and Spotify's is far from excellent, so I disagree with you.

I have no idea why you fail to get the results you wish from a search.  It is unfortunate that you do not, but I am almost never dissatisfied with the results.  I just did the search "schumann piano quintet" and the screen filled up with dozens of recordings of that work.

It doesn't take a genius to accomplish the same thing. 

Spotify has other problems but the search engine is not one of them; at least in my experience.

[Mirror Image]

I have no idea why you fail to get the results you wish from a search.  It is unfortunate that you do not, but I am almost never dissatisfied with the results.  I just did the search "schumann piano quintet" and the screen filled up with dozens of recordings of that work.

It doesn't take a genius to accomplish the same thing. 

Spotify has other problems but the search engine is not one of them; at least in my experience.

Well, I just went there and typed in "Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 Haitink" and it brought a whole lot of recordings besides the Haitink. For example, it brought up Petrenko's 10th on Naxos, Rostropovich/Ormandy in the Cello Concerto No. 1 and all sorts of other recordings that didn't belong in my specific search. So this is what I mean by clunky and this is just one simple example out of many. Anyway, I don't like what it brings up and I still think it sucks. But, hey, you probably don't have the same problems since you apparently don't have deficient user skill like I do.

[foxandpeng]

If you can tell me how to make Spotify stop after a podcast episode instead of immediately beginning the next one, I will become a slightly less disgruntled forced user of Spotify for an exclusive podcast.

I must admit that I haven't tried, but toggling the autoplay does sound like a solution. Good luck!

[San Antone]

Well, I just went there and typed in "Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 Haitink" and it brought a whole lot of recordings besides the Haitink. For example, it brought up Petrenko's 10th on Naxos, Rostropovich/Ormandy in the Cello Concerto No. 1 and all sorts of other recordings that didn't belong in my specific search. So this is what I mean by clunky and this is just one simple example out of many. Anyway, I don't like what it brings up and I still think it sucks. But, hey, you probably don't have the same problems since you apparently don't have deficient user skill like I do.

I would never use that kind of a search since it includes too many terms. 

I tried "shostakovich haitink 11" and the first recording was Royal Concertgebouw with Haitink of the 11th symphony. The second recording was the complete symphony set of Haitink with the London Symphony Orchestra. After that the results became less relevant, but I got two recordings of what I was looking for at the top of the screen.