GMG Classical Music Forum

I'm curious what way people are getting their music these days. 

Old fashioned here!
CD player/amp/speakers
None of this 'download' stuff for me  ;D

Most of the time, I listen to music via streaming. So that could mean through a streamer, a computer, a smartphone with headphones, or the car's audio system. I suppose all of that rather falls under the umbrella of "a computer."

Though perhaps the original question might have been better phrased as: Do you listen to LPs, CDs, or files.

None of the above.

(https://i.imgur.com/EHxuBiu.jpg)

FiiO MK3 player (FLAC, mp3)

Quote from: vandermolen on June 30, 2025, 07:07:20 AMOld fashioned here!
CD player/amp/speakers
None of this 'download' stuff for me  ;D

Almost as old fashioned here.

CD/DVD player/amp/speakers. Very rarely headphones.
Purchased downloads burnt to CDR and played in the CD player.

Too bad multiple votes aren't allowed, because I use a CD player and computer to playback recordings. But I've used my stereo system less and less over the years and this mainly stems from the fact that I live with two other people and I don't want to disturb them. So I've ripped a good portion of my CD collection to an external SSD and use the Music app on my Apple MacBook as a way to playback the media (which I also use it to organize my collection).

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 08:14:48 AMNone of the above.

(https://i.imgur.com/EHxuBiu.jpg)

FiiO MK3 player (FLAC, mp3)

I use a FiiO player too and they are very good I think!

I am another one where my option isn't listed! I use a streamer. A streamer isn't a computer, and a digital audio player isn't a smart device.

Quote from: AnotherSpin on June 30, 2025, 07:42:17 AMMost of the time, I listen to music via streaming. So that could mean through a streamer, a computer, a smartphone with headphones, or the car's audio system. I suppose all of that rather falls under the umbrella of "a computer."

Yes it is 2025, the question of "what device do you use?" is an odd one. I listen on my computer at work, my phone on the go, and my streamer at home. But all through Qobuz.

QuoteThough perhaps the original question might have been better phrased as: Do you listen to LPs, CDs, or files.

That would have been a better poll!

At work: laptop computer (MacBook Air) with Qobuz streaming, Audio Technica ATH-M50 headphones
At home: a Sony Blu-Ray/CD player connected to (bracing myself for some hardcore judgment here) a Samsung TV. I just use the TV speakers.
In the car: 16-20 minute commute each way each day, plus 3-4 additional drives per week to restaurants for meals, in a car with a CD player

I tend to work in the office 3-4 days a week and would usually stream about 14-18 hours of music in that time.

I listen to about 10 hours of music per week on the home CD player.

I probably listen to CDs in the car for about 3-4 hours a week. This is usually actually the "best" listening because, despite road noise, I can turn up the volume and focus on the music rather than focusing on working. The car stereo is also obviously better than my home setup.

This means my total listening is about 50% CDs, 50% streaming, for a total of about 27-32 hours of music per week or on average 4-5 hours a day.

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 10:25:57 AMI probably listen to CDs in the car for about 3-4 hours a week. This is usually actually the "best" listening because, despite road noise, I can turn up the volume and focus on the music rather than focusing on working.

How can you really focus on the music while driving? If you really manage to do that, I thank God we'll never be on the same road at the same time.  ;D

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 10:33:10 AMHow can you really focus on the music while driving? If you really manage to do that, I thank God we'll never be on the same road at the same time.  ;D

Given the horrible Dallas traffic, it's a wonder Brian can get to work at all!

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 10:25:57 AM...
At home: a Sony Blu-Ray/CD player connected to (bracing myself for some hardcore judgment here) a Samsung TV. I just use the TV speakers.
...
I probably listen to CDs in the car for about 3-4 hours a week. This is usually actually the "best" listening because, despite road noise, I can turn up the volume and focus on the music rather than focusing on working. The car stereo is also obviously better than my home setup.

Listening on a TV set explains why car listening is the best listening. :) I'm still astonished that you can listen to classical music in a car. When I was in Texas the car air conditioner was running on maximum at least six months of the year, simulating the experience of sitting inside a jet engine.

Classical listening is almost always on a computer (Mac), either playing FLAC files (ripped from my CDs or purchased as download) or Apple Streaming Lossless. Apple AirPods Max, Sony WH-1000M4, or Shure SRH-1540.

Non-classical (jazz or pop/rock/folk) on a mobile device (iPhone) either files ripped from CDs or Apple Streaming. Usually Apple AirPods Pro.

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 10:33:10 AMHow can you really focus on the music while driving? If you really manage to do that, I thank God we'll never be on the same road at the same time.  ;D

Huh, I've never thought about this and don't really understand to be honest...I would guess something like 90% of people here listen a radio or podcasts in the car? At any rate, it prevents me from texting!!  ;D

I have a music server running Lyrion (https://lyrion.org/) in my loft that has all my music files on it (all FLAC).  Then I have a couple Raspberry Pi4 "endpoints" that can stream the music files, one in the living room that feeds a speaker system and another in the beedroom that feeds a headphone system.  Both are controlled via phone apps.

When I'm out I use some Airpods, which are adequate for long dull walks in suburbia, and stream Qobuz or podcasts.

To follow-up my last post, I don't really see how @Brian has time to do anything outside of eating. Here's a fun news segment with Brian, which I'm sure many of the other GMGers haven't seen before:

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 11:55:59 AMHuh, I've never thought about this and don't really understand to be honest...I would guess something like 90% of people here listen a radio or podcasts in the car? At any rate, it prevents me from texting!!  ;D

Oh, I too listen to music on my car, but the focus is much smaller tham at home. I mean, either you concentrate on music's subtleties or you watch your way through the traffic. Can't do both, can you? 😀

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 12:02:42 PMOh, I too listen to music on my car, but the focus is much smaller tham at home. I mean, either you concentrate on music's subtleties or you watch your way through the traffic. Can't do both, can you? 😀

Sure I can! But I also listen to music while working/writing, which seems to be different from many other people as well.

But the secret in a car is to pick unsubtle music. Loud is good  ;D

My drivers at work are the Sennheiser 660s2, and when the hvac kicks in the Shure 1540s.  I use a Topping dac and amp.

At home I have a stereo with Kef R11 Meta speakers. It is with a Topping dac, NAD power amp, a Bluesound Node streamer and an Audiolab CD transport.

I don't listen to music in the car or on my walks. When I visit my parents I bring the Apple AirPod Max.

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 12:26:50 PMBut the secret in a car is to pick unsubtle music. Loud is good  ;D

Wagner it is then.  ;)

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 11:55:59 AMHuh, I've never thought about this and don't really understand to be honest...I would guess something like 90% of people here listen a radio or podcasts in the car? At any rate, it prevents me from texting!!  ;D

I always have music playing in the car. If there's nothing on, I start feeling oddly unsettled, and may even begin driving with a bit less composure than is strictly advisable. Of course, not just any music will do behind the wheel; it's usually jazz, a bit of old rock, or classical recordings I know inside out, things I've already given a proper listen to at home.

The destination matters too, naturally. If I'm driving in the city, slowly, with frequent halts at traffic lights and the usual bouts of gridlock, then something more nuanced tends to work fine. Out on the open road, though, with higher speeds and a touch more engine noise, something simpler does the trick. Subtlety has a hard time competing with wind and asphalt.

Quote from: Brian on June 30, 2025, 12:26:50 PMSure I can! But I also listen to music while working/writing, which seems to be different from many other people as well.

But the secret in a car is to pick unsubtle music. Loud is good  ;D

I have a CD player in my car - I'm not distracted by it and can drive safely.

It's not so much the device, but the source that counts for me. Though I own some 5500 CDs, I mostly listen to them in their streaming form, i.e. via Spotify with my mobile & headset. The physical CD is in most cases the extra for its booklet.  :)

CD player (NAD C-565BEE)

Quote from: Christo on July 01, 2025, 12:57:20 AMIt's not so much the device, but the source that counts for me. Though I own some 5500 CDs, I mostly listen to them in their streaming form, i.e. via Spotify with my mobile & headset. The physical CD is in most cases the extra for its booklet.  :)

FYI Qobuz includes the booklet.

Quote from: Der lächelnde Schatten on June 30, 2025, 08:50:08 AMToo bad multiple votes aren't allowed, because I use a CD player and computer to playback recordings. But I've used my stereo system less and less over the years and this mainly stems from the fact that I live with two other people and I don't want to disturb them. So I've ripped a good portion of my CD collection to an external SSD and use the Music app on my Apple MacBook as a way to playback the media (which I also use it to organize my collection).

I was looking for which is your primary method rather than all methods you use.

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 08:14:48 AMNone of the above.

(https://i.imgur.com/EHxuBiu.jpg)

FiiO MK3 player (FLAC, mp3)

Interesting!

TD: Roughly equal distribution among CD player, computer and "smart speaker."

My ears...the other ends don't work as well  :P

(Otherwise, FLAC files on laptop  ;) )

Mainly streaming from the internet (Qobuz, Youtube) or from my own digital files so I chose computer.

Astell & Kern music player with headphones for classical - my wife doesn't like it  :-[ .

Quote from: steve ridgway on July 01, 2025, 10:59:54 PMAstell & Kern music player with headphones for classical - my wife doesn't like it  :-[ .

I've heard a lot of good things about Astell & Kern players — I'm sure the sound quality is excellent. At the moment, I'm listening to music from Qobuz on my iPhone with wireless B&W headphones during my daily walks around the village and along the seaside, and I'm really quite pleased with the sound.

Streaming all the way using different Hifi sets, presently I use a Esoteric DAC and all the rest of it, too long a list to name it all.

Sonos or Sony WH-100XM3 headphones streamed from Spotify via smartphone. Nothing fancy, but neither are my ears.

Stereo system plus sometimes via my iMac with B&W MMIs.  When in kitchen cooking (or doing dishes, etc.), I have an under-the-counter radio/CD player.  I mostly use it for listening to NPR programs.

K

Quote from: Florestan on June 30, 2025, 08:14:48 AMNone of the above.

(https://i.imgur.com/EHxuBiu.jpg)

FiiO MK3 player (FLAC, mp3)

I keep some 64 gig of music in a micro SD card on my phone. But someday, the phone will go kaput, and when I need to replace it the new phone will not have a card slot. So I have needed (in a non-urgent way) to solve that problem. I had tried two different devices earlier, both of them utter failures either in terms of ease of loading music onto them, or bluetooth connection, or the screen interface/design. So your post was very helpful. I've fetched in a new device which will support a 256-gig  micro SD card. I've now successfully tested the device with two different bluetooth targets, so I shall go ahead and break the seal on that new card (I held off in order to confirm performance of the device.) So, thanks!

Quote from: Karl Henning on July 19, 2025, 07:54:54 AMI keep some 64 gig of music in a micro SD card on my phone. But someday, the phone will go kaput, and when I need to replace it the new phone will not have a card slot. So I have needed (in a non-urgent way) to solve that problem. I had tried two different devices earlier, both of them utter failures either in terms of ease of loading music onto them, or bluetooth connection, or the screen interface/design. So your post was very helpful. I've fetched in a new device which will support a 256-gig  micro SD card. I've now successfully tested the device with two different bluetooth targets, so I shall go ahead and break the seal on that new card (I held off in order to confirm performance of the device. So, thanks!

You're welcome, Karl! I use a 256 GB card too and it's more than enough. Enjoy your new device!

Quote from: Florestan on July 19, 2025, 08:02:38 AMYou're welcome, Karl! I use a 256 GB card too and it's more than enough. Enjoy your new device!

I also use a 256 GB card on my FiiO player. I think those FiiO daps don't have any limit on how much storage they can take on the card.

Quote from: DavidW on July 19, 2025, 08:21:47 AMI also use a 256 GB card on my FiiO player. I think those FiiO daps don't have any limit on how much storage they can take on the card.

AFAIK they don't indeed. 256 GB, though, are worth months of listening hours, at least for me.