Why is computer based music mostly "close but..."?

[ChrisG]

On 8/16/2018 at 1:13 PM, Avenging Fool said:

@H-Man

 

  Bluesound Node2.  Each unit runs about $500 American and I think that you would need 3.  It will be able to recognize all of your NAS and PCs and and provides for every streaming service except maybe Apple.  It plays Hi Rez and provides acontrol app that runs on iOS and Android.  It does MQA.  I'm not sure about Roon--if that is a priority I strongly advise purchasing Roon's own Renderer (Nucleus) although I am not sure if Roon supports streaming services other than Tidal.

Bluesound devices are Roon endpoints, so you don't need additional hardware if you go this route. FWIW, I replaced my Sonos system with Bluesound and haven't looked back. However, I still use Roon to control my Bluesound players, not the BluOS controller. 

[H-Man]

Thanks for all the replies. I did a bit of a test over the weekend. Picked up one Chromecast, one Nvidia Shield and two Google Home Mini speakers for control. Now I have voice control playback for anyone in the house using Google Music. Practicality is fantastic. SQ obviously took a hit, but not as much as I thought it would. Now i have to seriously consider whether to keep or sell the Allo USBridge and UltraRendu or not.

[Ralf11]

We need voice & gesture controlled playback built into our HiFi systems

[AudioDoctor]

Hey Siri, open ROON.  All I need it to have is the ability to tell ROON to play as well.

[Ralf11]

How about  big paddle shaped switch?  When you bang your head into it, that opens Roon and plays head banger music.

 

(useful for surgeons)

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

How about  big paddle shaped switch?  When you bang your head into it, that opens Roon and plays head banger music.

 

(useful for surgeons)

 

Thats what the med students on rotations are for. I don't know how anyone can concentrate on anything with that "music" playing.

[Ralf11]

that "music" helps drown out the noise of the Shop-Vac during brain surgery.. 

[fas42]

3 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

How about  big paddle shaped switch?  When you bang your head into it, that opens Roon and plays head banger music.

 

(useful for surgeons)

 

Coming right up, sir ...

 

 

[Sonicularity]

Great song.  I need to go shopping for some pre-washed jeans before they are all gone.

[semente]

On 8/18/2018 at 5:14 AM, GUTB said:

Michael Fremer says it’s the sense of "reality" that vinyl has over digital. In my view it seems that vinyl has a much better sense of dynamic performance, like looking at a scene through a large picture window as opposed to a slit.

 

You are both mistaken.

[semente]

On 8/18/2018 at 5:14 AM, GUTB said:

The problem is that most of the posters here have no idea what high end audio sounds like. If you have no experience aside from some laptop  running through some consumer grade system, than upgrading to a real DAC and good music sever/streamer would seem like a huge improvement — and it IS a huge improvement, but you still don’t know what high end audio sounds like. If you don’t know what high end audio sounds like, you can’t offer advice on reaching it; but since you have no frame of reference for high end audio you think you’ve already arrived.

 

I've just realised that you address yourself as "you" and have been talking to yourself all along.

Sorry if I was ever harsh to you but it's not easy to grasp this unless we put some effort to it...

[Ralf11]

Snap, Crackle and Pop say it’s the sense of "reality" that vinyl has over digital.

 

 

[zacster]

"Alexa, turn on the tubes".  "Hey Siri, play Radiohead's OK Computer on Audirvana"  and music starts to play.  The only thing not voice controlled is the volume as that is still only IR and I don't have an IR blaster.

 

Does the above work?  Nope, Alexa turns on the tubes but I can't get Siri to control my phone that way.  Still tryingl . It'll work with Apple music but not Tidal or local stored.

[mordante]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 8:09 PM, Albrecht said:

Hi,

I hear your point. You didn't list the rest of your system so I am not sure what hardware you have. The most important part of digital audio playback is still hardware.

I too think that Tidal sucks. It's poised to become the Netflix of streaming, and has very little music that I like, and the variety and amount of available music is only going to go down....

IMO, - one still has to burn CDs to digital files, create and maintain a database on a NAS/Computer repository in order to achieve the balance between the music that the whole family likes, as well as ease of use.

 

I have no Netflix nor do I have Tidal.

 

But I am interested in getting streaming service in the future. So why do you say that Tidal sucks? As far as I know Deezer, Qobus and Tidal are the best there are. But Deezer and Qobus have very poor support for streaming devices like Auralic and Aurender.

[Albrecht]

8 hours ago, mordante said:

 

I have no Netflix nor do I have Tidal.

 

But I am interested in getting streaming service in the future. So why do you say that Tidal sucks? As far as I know Deezer, Qobus and Tidal are the best there are. But Deezer and Qobus have very poor support for streaming devices like Auralic and Aurender.

Hi,  IMO.....

It has a very, very, poor selection of music. Simply put, no one is there. And it's only going to get worse as they proceed along the path of cutting variety in order to appease USA subscribers. They will cut everything that doesn't rate high in popularity, and favor artists that are American Idol-like. Plus, - the quality is lower than uncompressed files from a local network.

Just my take: I hate American music. If someone likes Michael Jackson, and USA 70s roots music, and all their myriad of copy, so called artists, - then a streaming service like Tidal definitely has it's conveniences.

[Blake]

9 hours ago, mordante said:

But I am interested in getting streaming service in the future. So why do you say that Tidal sucks? 

 

Hi Mordante,

 

I disagree with Albrecht's characterization of the limited music database on Tidal (but I appreciate his passion and I like it when people are opinionated when it comes to music-  I also hate 70's roots music and most of the music from the 70's in general, and I also dislike blues music played by white dudes, dude with guitar music, or most pop hits, and generally the music they use to demo systems at audio shows).  I sometimes listen to 50's and 60's jazz or classical/symphonic stuff, but I wouldn't be a good judge of whether Tidal has a good database of those genres and perhaps that is the deficiency Albrecht is noting.

 

I love Tidal, it has a huge music database of great music that I like from the well-known to the very obscure acts (alternative/electronic/experimental/metal/new wave/punk/goth/authentic reggae/ska/world).  Sound quality is terrific.

 

What type of music do you listen to?

[trappy]

I listen to pretty much anything, and I don’t find Tidal limited at all, although there are sometimes inexplicable omissions — inexplicable by me anyway. What do you not find on there?

[mordante]

On ‎8‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 9:57 PM, Blake said:

 

Hi Mordante,

 

I disagree with Albrecht's characterization of the limited music database on Tidal (but I appreciate his passion and I like it when people are opinionated when it comes to music-  I also hate 70's roots music and most of the music from the 70's in general, and I also dislike blues music played by white dudes, dude with guitar music, or most pop hits, and generally the music they use to demo systems at audio shows).  I sometimes listen to 50's and 60's jazz or classical/symphonic stuff, but I wouldn't be a good judge of whether Tidal has a good database of those genres and perhaps that is the deficiency Albrecht is noting.

 

I love Tidal, it has a huge music database of great music that I like from the well-known to the very obscure acts (alternative/electronic/experimental/metal/new wave/punk/goth/authentic reggae/ska/world).  Sound quality is terrific.

 

What type of music do you listen to?

 

I mostly listen to pop music. My play list of last night

Atlantis - Omens (post rock)

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away

Simon and Garfunkel - Sound of Silence

My Dying Bride - Like Gods of the Sun (doom metal)

Strauss -  Alpine Symphony

 

At home I like stuff like post rock, post metal, doom metal, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen etc.

 

[H-Man]

I had Tidal for three years and over the last two years I have had Tidal and Spotify. The issue with the streaming services are that even though the libraries are large they are not complete. The result is that one starts using multiple streaming services but then you have a problem with compatibility between all the parts of your system and more or less constant re-configurations required when switching between the services. Now if I drop my sound quality requirements I can get a system that works pretty easily but then why should I pay for Tidal Hi-FI? 

 

In any case I have dropped Tidal and now use Google Music and Spotify. I have it all working with Google Assistant without re-configurations required and it is easy for everyone to use. But SQ is lower and the formats are lossy. For serious listening I turn to vinyl and that is where I spend my money.