£10k System Streaming Spotify

[Witterings]

Cheers for eveybody's answers ... I was actually asking for a friend who's about to buy a system and whilst he may play some viynl ...... 95% of it's use will be streaming and he only has Spotify at the moment ... I was really looking for some confirmation bias on what my thoughts were

I think with diminishing returns this post linked below covers a lot of my thoughts and it's not worth spending that much unless he's going to be listening for the subtle nuances which I think he'll be hoping for with an expensive system which Spotify may not bring them to the fore.

https://www.hifiwigwam.com/threads/£10k-system-streaming-spotify.123600/#post-2510132

I think I'd suggest he either goes for the £1000 system if he doesn't want to change streaming services but I think he'll probably just end up getting a 2nd subscription for when he wants more critical listening and keep Spotify family as a convenience for his Mrs / Kids.

On a personal level .... Interesting so many comments in favour of Qobuz.
I'm using Amazon Music Unlimited as I have a WiiM streamer and you can cast from the Amazon Music App ... I generally prefer the streaming service providers apps to the ones that come with the streamers, I did have a trial of Qobuz and as soon as they develop Qobuz Connect I'll be there.

Thanks for everyone's input, much appreciated

 

[m7rso]

Well, i have no tt at all and most of what I listen to is Spotify. I also have lots of flac on Imac, an Innuos Zen 3 and a couple cdps. But theres something about Spotify i really like. Without doubt it gives a bigger choice of music than any of its competitors, ease of use/ accessibility and music recommendations based on what I am listening to, so if it were my only choice available, I wouldn’t complain. I have a decentish system and when I have friends around we listen to flac, Spotify and cd. But it tends to be more of Spotify because when someone shouts something they want, its 99.9pc going to be there and maybe another 5 versions of the same song to compare. Its just another medium and I wouldnt be without it tbh.

 

[AndyCC72]

Spotify plays directly from my streamer, so I use Spotify as control point with all its benefit. If I want to use Qobuz it needs to be via the Linn app which unfortunately does not even close operates as smooth as Spotify.

Same issue I have with the Lumin. I prefer the SQ of Qobuz but the stress of having to use the Lumin app means Spotify isn’t going anywhere. Hopefully it goes Hires soon as has been promised.

 

[Hifimad1]

...the crackles and pops though (I prefer to reserve that for my breakfast cereal)...AND the cost of costly purchases to hear new music vs. 10 or 11 pound a month subscription for streaming... AND the cost of a new stylus or retip for a decent cartridge.
Whilst vinyl does usually have the best dynamic range of the various music formats, carefully chosen cd or sacd/DVD-Audio releases can be very, very close, without the snap, crackle and pop.

I don’t get hardly any noise from my LP system.Some stylus profiles do make it worse though.A poor phono stage design can also have problems with large transients (high voltages) which overload the circuit making the ‘pops and crackles’ louder .

 

[Gizza]

Same issue I have with the Lumin. I prefer the SQ of Qobuz but the stress of having to use the Lumin app means Spotify isn’t going anywhere. Hopefully it goes Hires soon as has been promised.

I watched the film about the creation of Spotify, how it evolved and the mistakes they made when creating the contracts/deciding on pricing, payouts etc. A really interesting watch.They seemed to have really got it wrong and I would be surprised if the company will ever be able to invest in Hlgher Res streaming.

 

[Lurch]

On a personal level .... Interesting so many comments in favour of Qobuz.
I'm using Amazon Music Unlimited as I have a WiiM streamer and you can cast from the Amazon Music App ... I generally prefer the streaming service providers apps to the ones that come with the streamers, I did have a trial of Qobuz and as soon as they develop Qobuz Connect I'll be there.

You've obviously enabled the Chromecast facility on the Wiim Pro as I have, so just like I did you can cast Qobuz direct from the App. I no longer do this as I control the Wiim Pro from the Innous Sense App which gives me the interactive RP streams as well as Qobuz etc.

 

[mnky]

You've obviously enabled the Chromecast facility on the Wiim Pro as I have, so just like I did you can cast Qobuz direct from the App. I no longer do this as I control the Wiim Pro from the Innous Sense App which gives me the interactive RP streams as well as Qobuz etc.

Hi Lurch .
..please elaborate re Innous app and the Wiim pro .....I'd like the interactive RP .....

 

[Witterings]

They seemed to have really got it wrong and I would be surprised if the company will ever be able to invest in Hlgher Res streaming.

Would it really cost that much to develop Higher Res and surely that'd be offset over time by charging more .... that's a genuine question not meant to be critical of what you're saying.

You've obviously enabled the Chromecast facility on the Wiim Pro as I have, so just like I did you can cast Qobuz direct from the App. I no longer do this as I control the Wiim Pro from the Innous Sense App which gives me the interactive RP streams as well as Qobuz etc.

Yes I did when I had the trial and could also cast directly to my Amp and whilst you probably can't hear the difference found it frustrating that Chromecast is limited to 24/96 when 24/192 was available and from memory (it was quite a few months ago I tried it) it wasn't gapless?
The bit that was really annoying though and not specific to Qobuz but for some reason my Laptop sometimes could and sometimes couldn't see any Chromecast Audio devices, although it could always see the video ones.
At the time I was using CCA's as hadn't upgraded to WiiM Pros, I checked they were connected to the same network, tried opening up all the network settings thinking that'd stop it happening but it didn't (just made my laptop more vulnerable) so gave up in the end.
I've subsequently tried it with WiiM Pros connected via ethernet and get the same result .... I appreciate this is something to do with me using a wireless laptop as it doesn't happened with my wired PC from where the Chromecast Audios are always available but it's frsutrating when you just want to listen to music but can't see the device you want to cast to.

 

[dhansak]

A well produced and mastered track with high dynamic range at 320kbps will sound better than a poorly mastered, compressed track in high res. Spotify is pretty good, I know a lot of people with really high end systems that still use it, some have it as well as Qobuz to gain access to the larger library.

 

[silkie]

I am doing this. Primary source is a Linn Selekt Edition and I have a Spotify Family sub as my only internet streaming source. I do the roon thing also.

Also I've ditched Qobuz:
1) To help pay off the Linn!!
2) The family are into Spotify on all other devices in the house so I started investigating it. I only stream to help CD/HD download purchases and Spotify is more than capable of that. It really wasn't worth having Spotify for the family and Qobuz for my snootiness.

Once you're get used to the interface, Spotify is just fine. Hell even Planet Rock sounds good through the Linn, (most the time). At least you'll know a good streamer will present Spotify as well as it can be done. If it sounds shit but you love the tunes, by the CD/HD download. Might still sound shit on CD but at least you've supported the artist all the way and you'll know it wasn't Spotify that let you down, it was the production.

 

[Lurch]

Hi Lurch .
..please elaborate re Innous app and the Wiim pro .....I'd like the interactive RP .....

Since the latest software upgrade I was able to add the Wiim under upnp. I then select the speaker icon and select the Wiim as the speaker and all is good, with full control of Wiim Pro in a 2nd room.

 

[mnky]

Ah .....thank you ....I'll go fiddle now ....

 

[mnky]

Ah ok ....it looks like I need a running innuos system then I'll be able to add the wiim ....I don't have one ...so the start screen is asking for a server ...

Never mind. ..

 

[MartinC]

Whilst Qobuz is clearly better, I'd personally much rather listen to Spotify Premium on my current system than on something much cheaper. It's not somehow awful.

That said, Qobuz costs essentially the same as Spotify if paid for annually (individual is cheaper; duo and family the same).

 

[Gizza]

I've just read more rumblings that Spotify cd Res will be available this year in the US for $19.99 per month. If that does happen, I guess it would be £19.99 here in the UK. The question would then be, would people prefer it enough to pay that amount, over Qobuz? I guess I'd give it a trial as I did find it to have a broader selection of music.

 

[MartinC]

I've just read more rumblings that Spotify cd Res will be available this year in the US for $19.99 per month. If that does happen, I guess it would be £19.99 here in the UK. The question would then be, would people prefer it enough to pay that amount, over Qobuz? I guess I'd give it a trial as I did find it to have a broader selection of music.

Zero chance of me paying almost double for Spotify.

 

[dhansak]

I've ditched streaming altogether for TV, movies and music. I was spending £150 a month on stuff I wasn't using. Between discogs and CEX I spent that money on a lot of stuff that I can keep, loan or trade in.

 

[Ceko]

I have a 10k+ system and I enjoy listening to Spotify a lot. It’s the user interface that’s unparalleled. SQ is just fine by me. When friends come over they can just connect to it too and join in on the playlist.

If Spotify would bring us a premium subscription with cd quality playback for 19€ instead of the 12€ or so it’s now, I’m not even sure I’d go for that.

 

[StingRay]

Cheers for eveybody's answers ... I was actually asking for a friend who's about to buy a system and whilst he may play some viynl ...... 95% of it's use will be streaming and he only has Spotify at the moment ... I was really looking for some confirmation bias on what my thoughts were

I think with diminishing returns this post linked below covers a lot of my thoughts and it's not worth spending that much unless he's going to be listening for the subtle nuances which I think he'll be hoping for with an expensive system which Spotify may not bring them to the fore.

https://www.hifiwigwam.com/threads/£10k-system-streaming-spotify.123600/#post-2510132

I think I'd suggest he either goes for the £1000 system if he doesn't want to change streaming services but I think he'll probably just end up getting a 2nd subscription for when he wants more critical listening and keep Spotify family as a convenience for his Mrs / Kids.

On a personal level .... Interesting so many comments in favour of Qobuz.
I'm using Amazon Music Unlimited as I have a WiiM streamer and you can cast from the Amazon Music App ... I generally prefer the streaming service providers apps to the ones that come with the streamers, I did have a trial of Qobuz and as soon as they develop Qobuz Connect I'll be there.

Thanks for everyone's input, much appreciated

He should try various streaming services, they all do free trials.

Going back to missing albums on Qobuz, yes there were a few gaps, but I have just checked out a few albums that were missing and I was surprised they are now all on Qobuz, in fact one is missing now from Deezer. Some are not available on cd or very difficult to find.

 

[RobsterD]

Spotify streaming on a 10k sytem is rubbish only good for looking for new music connected my Lumin U2 mini to Spotify connect via an Audio Note DAC 2.1 sig
44.1kHz 16 bit 320kbps compared to Qobuz FLAC 96kHz 24 bit 4608Mbps for the same track and I’m trying Spotify free on 2 month trial