£10k System Streaming Spotify

[DomT]

I think Spotify gives a better experience then we audiophile snobs are willing to admit..

As I have written many times on here before the Spotify app constantly crashed when I used it. Apart from that I can’t think of much that it does that Innuos or Tidal don’t do. The key differences seem to be library and sound quality.

 

[tuga]

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

As far as I know sending 24-bit into your DAC will result in truncation and that produces distortion.
Are you able to downscale the stream to 18/96?

 

[tuga]

As I have written many times on here before the Spotify app constantly crashed when I used it. Apart from that I can’t think of much that it does that Innuos or Tidal don’t do. The key differences seem to be library and sound quality.

No issues here, either on my Macs or iPhone. And I'm using a very old Macbook Pro, so old that Spotify always tells me on startup that my Windows version needs updating.

 

[Gizza]

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.

It's amazing how much we'll spend on entertainment subscriptions 'just in case there's content we may want to listen to/watch'. The latest Netflix Premium increase of an extra £2 per month, taking it to £17.99 has done me a favour. It prompted me to move to their £4.99 plan.

 

[Pennypacker]

It's amazing how much we'll spend on entertainment subscriptions 'just in case there's content we may want to listen to/watch'. The latest Netflix Premium increase of an extra £2 per month, taking it to £17.99 has done me a favour. It prompted me to move to their £4.99 plan.

Funny that you mentioned this, the other reason I had adding a NAS is that not all content I would like to us is always available on either of the platforms. For instances Rammstein is/was not available on Qobuz and my audiophile worm insists that I listen to it in FLAC, so the “need” for ripped CD copy on the NAS was born, steering me in that direction.

Furthermore, depending on the weekend we have 3 teenagers and (I think) 1 adolescent in house who would like to stream from all the vendors… I really need to scrap some of those subscriptions as this is becoming ridiculous and I barely watch myself.

 

[Heckyman]

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.

You seem to be equating using Spotify with not listening "critically", and therefore it not being worth spending much money on hifi.

A good (£10K for the sake of argument) system will sound very good with lossy files including Spotify, even if it sounds ever-so-slightly better with lossless. It will sound good whether it's playing in the background or whether you're pulled up in your favourite listening chair in a deep state of reverie.

The point to me is more whether £10K on a hifi constitutes "a lot of money" to the individual concerned. IMO, no one should spend "a lot of money" on a hifi. Such a sum spent eventually tends to detract from the music (and thus the enjoyment). Buy the best you can without it feeling too subjectively expensive.

Take the trials and compare. Use Spotify exclusively if you like the whole package, use something else or in addition if you prefer. Choice of streaming service is really not a big deal.

 

[Witterings]

You seem to be equating using Spotify with not listening "critically", and therefore it not being worth spending much money on hifi.

A good (£10K for the sake of argument) system will sound very good with lossy files including Spotify, even if it sounds ever-so-slightly better with lossless. It will sound good whether it's playing in the background or whether you're pulled up in your favourite listening chair in a deep state of reverie.

The point to me is more whether £10K on a hifi constitutes "a lot of money" to the individual concerned. IMO, no one should spend "a lot of money" on a hifi as such a sum spent eventually tends to detract from the music (and thus the enjoyment). Buy the best you can without it feeling too subjectively expensive.

Take the trials and compare. Use Spotify exclusively if you like the whole package, use something else or in addition if you prefer. Choice of streaming service is really not a big deal.

I'm not "equating it" as such .... I don't use Spotify myself but I have seen many, many comments about it being poorer quality, low res / lossy / not as good as CD over the last year so and was questioning how bad it is and if it was worth having a decent HiFi if that was the primary source.

Personally I consider £10k a lot to spend on HiFi but for him it's a drop in the ocean, I thnk your advice is good though as he wants a system anyway and when he has it can compare and see if the change / an extra subsription is worth it.

Cheers to everyone for their help / input!

 

[Heckyman]

I'm not "equating it" as such .... I don't use Spotify myself but I have seen many, many comments about it being poorer quality, low res / lossy / not as good as CD over the last year so and was questioning how bad it is and if it was worth having a decent HiFi if that was the primary source.

Indeed, your question is totally reasonable, people do say that at lot on forums. But rarely do they mention how they compared or how big the difference was.

FWIW, I do have a "£10K system" and I find the lossy/lossless (or Spotify vs lossless service) differences, whilst real, are exaggerated by most people and/or there are other reasons for the observed difference in sound quality than purely the audio codec. For example, different mastering, different playback apps in the OS, wrong Spotify quality setting, bad streaming setup vs good CD player, expectation bias in sighted test etc etc.

But that's audiophila I suppose!

 

[Witterings]

FWIW, I do have a "£10K system" and I find the lossy/lossless (or Spotify vs lossless service) differences, whilst real, are exaggerated by most people

Certainly I've compared Amazon Music Standard Res (which I believe is CD quality) to High Res / Ultra HD and there is a difference / more "warmth" to the High Res BUT it's not chalk and cheese .... I use the analagy you wouldn't walk into a friends house playing music on a decent system and instantly notice / ask why he'd got the high res switched off

 

[wainwj]

I use Alexacast between the Amazon music app and Wiim streamer, as I believe this allows higher res than Chromecast.

I'm very happy with this as my only source into systems of at least this value and beyond.

 

[Witterings]

I use Alexacast between the Amazon music app and Wiim streamer, as I believe this allows higher res than Chromecast.

I'm very happy with this as my only source into systems of at least this value and beyond.

This is what I do as well .... I was only experimenting with the lower res / high res when I had Minis which wouldn't multiroom Hi Res and deciding whether to upgrade to Pros. which I've subsequently done.

 

[RobsterD]

As far as I know sending 24-bit into your DAC will result in truncation and that produces distortion.
Are you able to downscale the stream to 18/96?

Lumin is down sampling anything not native to 96k 16bit

 

[StingRay]

You seem to be equating using Spotify with not listening "critically", and therefore it not being worth spending much money on hifi.

A good (£10K for the sake of argument) system will sound very good with lossy files including Spotify, even if it sounds ever-so-slightly better with lossless. It will sound good whether it's playing in the background or whether you're pulled up in your favourite listening chair in a deep state of reverie.

The point to me is more whether £10K on a hifi constitutes "a lot of money" to the individual concerned. IMO, no one should spend "a lot of money" on a hifi. Such a sum spent eventually tends to detract from the music (and thus the enjoyment). Buy the best you can without it feeling too subjectively expensive.

Take the trials and compare. Use Spotify exclusively if you like the whole package, use something else or in addition if you prefer. Choice of streaming service is really not a big deal.

I tried Spotify for a month, free trial, glad when it was over, I did not enjoy listening to the music, everything had a harsh edge to it. Ok some albums are not great on other streamers but Spotify was generally worse than Deezer and Tidal. The cost is about the same now. I have got Deezer for £5.99 pm, with a special offer.

 

[Phyztech]

General criteria is 16/44, there’s no point to go for lossy and no neсessity to go higher. This “cd golden standard” is still great for not so expensive systems imho.

 

[JANDL100]

I tried Spotify for a month, free trial, glad when it was over, I did not enjoy listening to the music, everything had a harsh edge to it.

A harsh edge on Spotify?

That's the exact opposite of what I hear.
To me, Spotify smooths things over a bit and slightly dulls the treble.

I'm not doubting what you hear, but it supports my long-held suspicion that the sound from streaming is dependent on the specifics of the streamer setup being used.
So recommendations of what to use in other people's systems are dubious at best and often useless.

 

[Linear]

General criteria is 16/44, there’s no point to go for lossy and no neсessity to go higher. This “cd golden standard” is still great for not so expensive systems imho.

CD quality is just about good enough imo. But I wish they had gone for 24/44 or even 24/48 right from the start. I guess we have to remember that red book comes from a time before online streaming and when a CD had a maximum capacity of 650MB.