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Other Stuff => Archived Manufacturer Circles => Sonneteer => Topic started by: haiderSonneteer on 1 Nov 2013, 04:33 pm

Title: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 1 Nov 2013, 04:33 pm

Hi all,


(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=89149)

As is clear from the blogs, fora and media the number of ways to listen to music have been on an exponential growth curve for the better part of a decade. In the past ways would come then go away only to be taken over completely by something new. Now it seems when a new format comes along it is simply added to the mix. Some formats become small, niche players but rarely do they truly die.

The advent of small children means at home most of our listening is streamed via internet radio or from music stored on a server. My hat is tipped to high end a little still as I am using a Morpheus and a very nice pair of Concert 11s. My  3 year old daughter's play room and my former music recording room has a Byron and a Campion. Wind the bobbin up is more oft played than Hail to a Thief these days. So most of my serious listening is done in the office/workshop as we test and develop.

From Vinyl to DSD, we'd really love to hear how you do it.


Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: geowak on 1 Nov 2013, 05:14 pm

I like MOG. I have been exposed to so many musicians and genres that I might not hear. Its playable on my IPhone or Menu on my TV thru a Roku box. Sounds great to me....in a mobile world. I can take all my music...with me anywhere I go. For home, add a quality amp/preamp and DAC , throw in great speskers and your in!!

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 3 Nov 2013, 12:24 pm

Thank you,

So how do you have the system set up when you are listening at home? What plugs into the DAC?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: jimdgoulding on 3 Nov 2013, 01:37 pm

Music lovers like moi began collecting a very long time ago.  LP's and CD's continue to capture, er, enrapture me.  I even like the fuss it involves.  I am a romantic, I suppose.  Besides that, I have some music that isn't available otherwise.  For every CD I have, I have 10 or more LP's :dunno:.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 3 Nov 2013, 02:44 pm

Admittedly I have some old LPs and 12" 45s that are rare and not available on CD or otherwise yet as far as I am aware.  The sad thing is I have not heard them for some years as convenience and a toddler filled household has not allowed.

Totally get the romance thing. Every time we test a Sedley, lifting that needle on to the record just seems right. Maybe someone will come up with an app with a virtual tone arm lifting. they may also come up with virtual kissing, eating and breathing then we wont even need to be alive to live.

Jesting aside it seems you have the rhythm of life just right. And you've given me an idea.........

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: jarcher on 13 Nov 2013, 01:12 pm

You may want to create a poll which could generate more response from the lazy crowd.

For me it's probably 80% my music collection via my computer. Maybe 15% streaming (internet radio, pandora, etc) and 5% vinyl. Vinyl can create its own unique magic, but the convenience and quality of the remote controllable / sortable music on computer is really hard to beat.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: stlrman on 13 Nov 2013, 01:28 pm

I'm all Spotify all the time. From iPhone to amp to
Vapor Breeze speakers. Sounds fantastic !
  I do listen to cd every now and then, but rarely .

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 13 Nov 2013, 02:34 pm

Quote from: jarcher on 13 Nov 2013, 01:12 pm

You may want to create a poll which could generate more response from the lazy crowd.

Poll sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

regards your streamed music, what equipment do you use out of interest?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 13 Nov 2013, 02:35 pm

Quote from: stlrman on 13 Nov 2013, 01:28 pm

I'm all Spotify all the time. From iPhone to amp to
Vapor Breeze speakers. Sounds fantastic !
  I do listen to cd every now and then, but rarely .

Thanks for sharing. So how does your iPhone connect to your amp? Do you use a Dock or otherwise?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: jarcher on 13 Nov 2013, 02:43 pm

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 13 Nov 2013, 02:34 pm

Poll sounds like a good idea. Thanks.

regards your streamed music, what equipment do you use out of interest?

Haider

I use my iPhone or my Mac mini for streaming, either directly to a system or sometimes via AirPlay or Bluetooth for non critical listening.

By "direct" I mean for the iphone also using a pure i20 dock or a portable Logitech speaker. For the Mac mini a bel canto mlink USB to spdif converter to a bel canto 1.5 dac, or for my office Mac mini, an audioquest dragonfly.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: geowak on 13 Nov 2013, 02:57 pm

I have two audio systems. I have a Pure audio I20 dock on each one for my Iphone. The signal is sent on to a Bifrost Uber DAC and into my Parasound Halo preamp and amp. I also have an optical switch to chose between the Iphone or Sony Es Cd player with the DAC controlling one or the other.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: rollo on 13 Nov 2013, 03:06 pm

For now spinning LPs and the silver disc. No computer yet. Now that high rez DSD is becoming mainstream by Sony it may be time to indulge. Call me old fashioned and color me happy.



charles

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 13 Nov 2013, 03:11 pm

Quote from: rollo on 13 Nov 2013, 03:06 pm

For now spinning LPs and the silver disc. No computer yet. Now that high rez DSD is becoming mainstream by Sony it may be time to indulge. Call me old fashioned and color me happy.



charles

If we have happiness then we have all. :) Yes the DSD thing finally finding a way to market does sound promising.

Haider

Title: at work I listen to ...
Post by: Jeffr1966 on 15 Nov 2013, 03:06 pm

a Sonneteer Morpheus!  8hrs a day of Internet Radio (mostly the station "Acoustic Alternative").  I keep a list by my desk of artists/songs I like that I hear throughout the day.  USUALLY I end up purchasing a CD of what I hear. 

HIGHLY recommend the Morpheus! (my shameless Sonneteer plug and NO I do not work or shill for the company ... in fact I had no idea they even HAD a circle on her til today)

Jeff

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: MaxCast on 15 Nov 2013, 03:39 pm

Didn't vote.  You may want to loosen the categories and allow more than one vote.
I listen to vinyl, streamer from computer files, CD and a good ole tuner.  In that order.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 15 Nov 2013, 03:48 pm

New to this Poll thing. Sure I will loosen it.

I also am interested in the priority order as per your answer. So not sure how to get that out.

Any ideas?

Always open to suggestions.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: artk on 15 Nov 2013, 06:21 pm

CD and vinyl only for me, Haider. CD primarily as I have an extensive library of CD's and no desire to spend even a moment ripping CD's. Too busy for that. In the not too distant future I will be adding some form of DSD player/streamer for the purchase and playback of new music. That is a year or two out but in the forefront of my mind. Meanwhile I continue to enjoy my Sonneteer Campion and through my Spendor A6R loudspeakers. CD will always remain an important part of my listening experience and I hope to one day add a Byron to my system. Cheers!!

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: HsvHeelFan on 15 Nov 2013, 06:32 pm

I ripped all my CDs to JRiver Media Center and a dedicated music server pc several years ago.

I rip to lossless FLAC files.  Backup to 2 separate Western Digital media drives.

HsvHeelFan

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 15 Nov 2013, 06:39 pm

Quote from: artk on 15 Nov 2013, 06:21 pm

CD and vinyl only for me, Haider. CD primarily as I have an extensive library of CD's and no desire to spend even a moment ripping CD's. Too busy for that. In the not too distant future I will be adding some form of DSD player/streamer for the purchase and playback of new music. That is a year or two out but in the forefront of my mind. Meanwhile I continue to enjoy my Sonneteer Campion and through my Spendor A6R loudspeakers. CD will always remain an important part of my listening experience and I hope to one day add a Byron to my system. Cheers!!

Thank you Art.

Your DSD player comment is a very interesting one. This format seems to be bubbling under the high end surface. In principle I love the idea as I always liked the thinking behind it. Shame SACD never really happened.

Any thoughts on this Pure Audio format that is piggy backing on Blue Ray?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 15 Nov 2013, 06:41 pm

Quote from: HsvHeelFan on 15 Nov 2013, 06:32 pm

I ripped all my CDs to JRiver Media Center and a dedicated music server pc several years ago.

I rip to lossless FLAC files.  Backup to 2 separate Western Digital media drives.

HsvHeelFan

Thank you for sharing.

Did it take you a long while to rip everything? How are you finding FLAC compared to CD? Oh and how do you play them back?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: artk on 15 Nov 2013, 07:05 pm

Two reasons I am waiting to move on DSD (or other Hi Res format). One, finances and the other the settling out of the delivery systems. It appears that the industry is ready to move forward in unison on Hi Res music playback. I will wait until the dust has settled and we have passed on through a couple of generations of playback equipment so that I get good quality, glitch free and affordable Hi Res playback.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: geowak on 15 Nov 2013, 07:11 pm

You could add cd to dac AND ipod/iphone streaming dock to dac AND computer based audio to dac. I do all three of these.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: artk on 15 Nov 2013, 07:42 pm

For me there is just no reason to do that (own a DAC). Never owned an "I" anything. I had a well regarded DAC for a bit but never found a use for it. My CD player sounded better without and I don't collect songs on anything (never will, albums or bust for me) so just sold the DAC and haven't missed it a bit. Hi Res audio with dedicated streamer/players hold out hope to add to my library without having to do anything (such as rip) to my current collection. I want to add to my collection and open the door to different and better ways to enjoy my music without closing the door on my present solutions. My reason for waiting, is to buy in to a new way of listening and/or collecting once, not over and over. I'm 53 and look forward to better music formats but also have lived long enough to see CD technology ripen to new and wonderful levels of playback.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: coke on 15 Nov 2013, 07:53 pm

When I care about the quality of sound:
-External hard drive with lossless files and a netbook running squeezebox server
-Logitech Squeezebox connected via wifi
-Eastern Electric DAC
This is all controlled with my cell phone

When I don't care about the quality of sound:
-Pandora on my cell phone
-Headphone jack to analog input of a receiver.

At work:
-160GB Ipod
-Nuforce Icon Ido

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: KevinCorr on 15 Nov 2013, 10:43 pm

Hi, I am new here. I love my Orton!

I listen to CD, vinyl and FM. Someday I will get around to streaming.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 18 Nov 2013, 05:20 pm

Thank you guys,

It seems there are so many ways to skin this cat so to speak. I take your point Art in waiting for the dust to settle. I am wondering, though, if it ever will. It would  of course be easier for us if it did.

My gut (not my heart) tells me the days of removable media are numbered. Though I think the ownership issues of digital media need to be clarified and fast.

I think we are only scratching the surface of this debate so far.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: MtnHam on 18 Nov 2013, 06:13 pm

The poll only allows a vote for one. I listen in multiple ways. LP for absolute best sound, focused listening.. iTunes/Wavelength Crimson DAC for excellent sound and convenient no hassle secondary listening, CD's sometimes.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 18 Nov 2013, 06:25 pm

Hi Thanks.

Sorry I thought I had loosened the Poll. Technical glitch. Let me get my tool kit and have a look.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: MtnHam on 18 Nov 2013, 07:15 pm

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 18 Nov 2013, 06:25 pm

Hi Thanks.

Sorry I thought I had loosened the Poll. Technical glitch. Let me get my tool kit and have a look.

Haider

Just added my multiple vote- it worked.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 18 Nov 2013, 07:21 pm

Excellent and thank you very much.

So when you listen to your iTunes do you simply plug your PC/laptop into the DAC and through your hifi?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: MtnHam on 18 Nov 2013, 07:28 pm

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 18 Nov 2013, 07:21 pm

Excellent and thank you very much.

So when you listen to your iTunes do you simply plug your PC/laptop into the DAC and through your hifi?

Haider

Yes, it is a dedicated MacBook with external HD (300GB of music) and a quality USB cable to the DAC, then Teo liquid IC's to the preamp. Very satisfactory, even though my analogue source (SME 20/2 table, SME V arm, Dynavector XV-1s cart) is superb, and beats everything else..

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: toocool4 on 18 Nov 2013, 09:42 pm

I use Vinyl, Tape and FM tuner.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: soundbitten1 on 18 Nov 2013, 10:23 pm

Mainly cds, sometimes computer & dac or ipod.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: SteveFord on 19 Nov 2013, 01:30 am

Tuner while the tubes warm up and when there's a good program on during the weekends
Vinyl when everything is warmed up
CD when I'm walking around doing something else
Tape when I use headphones.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Guy 13 on 19 Nov 2013, 02:09 am

Quote from: SteveFord on 19 Nov 2013, 01:30 am

Tuner while the tubes warm up and when there's a good program on during the weekends
Vinyl when everything is warmed up
CD when I'm walking around doing something else
Tape when I use headphones.

Hi Steve and all Audio Circle members.
So many different sources you have:
FM, CD, vinyl and cassette.
I just hope all those will continue or should I say:
Survive all the audio changes.
After 30 years of loyal service my Nakamichi BX-100 is now dead and not repairable,
after a short look on Amazon,
I saw many different makes of cassette deck at prices around 200 $
I might (If budget permit) buy one, maybe a TEAC.
I have so many C90 cassettes (Sony - TDK) that it would be a shame
to let them gather dust some corner of the house.
Just wanted to share, sorry if I drifted away from the original post.

Guy 13
By the way, one thing that I miss a lot is all the good FM stations from Montreal,
especially the classical 24/7/365.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 11:27 am

Wow! Thanks guys for sharing that. Cassette is clearly still very alive. I am glad haven't dumped my 3 head Technics deck which is proudly sitting in the middle of my Dads stack system. I might bring it back home sometime and introduce it to the kids. We are moving house and we have been discussing the huge boxes of tapes we still have under the stairs. Also my couple of hundred fourtrack recording tapes and 'Metal' tape 'Masters' courtesy of Fostex from the days when I used to force my parents to turn the TV up loud just so they could hear it. Something i am expecting our children to pay me back for sometime.

So you FM listeners, how do you find the quality of internet radio? Does any of it cut the mustard for you?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Guy 13 on 19 Nov 2013, 11:52 am

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 11:27 am

Wow! Thanks guys for sharing that. Cassette is clearly still very alive. I am glad haven't dumped my 3 head Technics deck which is proudly sitting in the middle of my Dads stack system. I might bring it back home sometime and introduce it to the kids. We are moving house and we have been discussing the huge boxes of tapes we still have under the stairs. Also my couple of hundred fourtrack recording tapes and 'Metal' tape 'Masters' courtesy of Fostex from the days when I used to force my parents to turn the TV up loud just so they could hear it. Something i am expecting our children to pay me back for sometime.

So you FM listeners, how do you find the quality of internet radio? Does any of it cut the mustard for you?

Haider

Hi Haider and all Audio Circle members.
Beleive me or not, when I was in Montreal, Canada
I've listen to classical music on FM as back ground music all night long.
Therefore qulality was not a priority, however,
when listening seriously to the FM
I can say quality was quite good, however,
I did not use my best stereo system.
Here in Vietnam FM is useless.
Even with a good antenna, reception is not good
and the quality of the sound is terrible,
too much bass and you cannot find a FM station that plays good music
for more than 30 minutes,
they keep switching from traditional Vietnamese to pop to talk show
and rarely classical.
I wish I was back in my civilised home country Canada.

Guy 13

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: toocool4 on 19 Nov 2013, 12:01 pm

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 11:27 am

Wow! Thanks guys for sharing that. Cassette is clearly still very alive. I am glad haven't dumped my 3 head Technics deck which is proudly sitting in the middle of my Dads stack system. I might bring it back home sometime and introduce it to the kids. We are moving house and we have been discussing the huge boxes of tapes we still have under the stairs. Also my couple of hundred fourtrack recording tapes and 'Metal' tape 'Masters' courtesy of Fostex from the days when I used to force my parents to turn the TV up loud just so they could hear it. Something i am expecting our children to pay me back for sometime.

So you FM listeners, how do you find the quality of internet radio? Does any of it cut the mustard for you?

Haider

Cassette is still very much alive, i will never part with my Nakamichi CR7. I It goes in evey 2 years or so for a full service. I have a stockpile of TDK MA-XG 90's, SA 90's and other good quality metal and chrome tapes which are unopened.

While i am out and about i use a combination of Sony D6C, DC2 and DD9. :thumb:

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: pumpkinman on 19 Nov 2013, 12:01 pm

Quote from: jimdgoulding on  3 Nov 2013, 01:37 pm

Music lovers like moi began collecting a very long time ago.  LP's and CD's continue to capture, er, enrapture me.  I even like the fuss it involves.  I am a romantic, I suppose.  Besides that, I have some music that isn't available otherwise.  For every CD I have, I have 10 or more LP's :dunno:.

I'm with Jim here although my LP to Cd ratio is 3:1. Cleaning and getting up to flip an LP is alright with me.  :D

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 02:46 pm

In our house it takes just as long to find a remote control as it does to walk up to the unit and switch it on. So i never saw why lifting a needle onto a record was such of a hassle for some. I mean considering the pleasure that follows surely it is worth the small effort. My three year old finds it exciting just to get her little step(as she cant quite reach) and walk upto the hifi and turn up the volume. To her it's an event or even a journey filled with thrill in anticipation. There is no App that can do that.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 06:44 pm

So does anyone have a view on where things are going? Or at least where you may like things to go?

I can't imagine Vinyl collections or CD ones for that matter are going to disappear from any of your households. I do however see availability of new material diminishing longer term despite the current revival of the vinyl presses.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: geowak on 19 Nov 2013, 07:53 pm

I used to think, when CD's first arrived on the scene back in the 80's that record albums were a thing of the past. Boy was I ever wrong!
Got rid of my Thorens turntable and albums as the CD format was getting better. I thought albums were dead.
At some point I though CD's were dead, as the digital age and the internet came into it's own. Music sharing and Hi-rez files and formats have changed the music landscape. But nothing ever really dies from the past. I heard that many Audio shows have had tape machines for playback. So EVERYTHING has it's own merit and can sound fabulous. There is nothing more organic, simple and musical as an analog system. Nothing complex, just place the album on the platter and drop the needle. WOW that still sound fantastic. But you cannot take it portable and have thousands of recordings like MOG gives me on my Iphone. And I can listen while I am running at the gym, or in the car. Digital audio on my computer and Hi-rez files are sounding very refined, but it will not be the end all format.

Now I am of the mind, it's all got a place. Old and new, just sit back and enjoy. And it's ever changing. No time to sit back and wait, where will the dice fall. Just pick a format, or two, or three and enjoy.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: MtnHam on 19 Nov 2013, 08:13 pm

I jumped on the CD bandwagon in 1985, thinking it was "indeed perfect sound forever." Fortunately, I did not dump my extensive LP library which started in 1961. My vinyl equipment was inferior, thus CD's sounded better. Today, my table/arm/cartridge/phono-stage are superb, and my extensive LP library is a treasure I enjoy daily. I do have a very good collection of CD's, an extensive HD library and a great DAC which is very enjoyable. I continue to buy used LP's, a fantastic value and exciting treasure trove of historic recordings, many of which are superior to anything being produced today. New music will most likely be Hi-Rez downloads.Thus, it all has it's place.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Devil Doc on 19 Nov 2013, 08:20 pm

Where are things going, you ask? To hell in a hand basket is my answer. I require hard copies of everything from records and CDs to newspapers and books, to gold and silver. I need to be able to touch the things I own. Let's face it, as far as I can see, when you down load a Hi-rez  music file, and pay whatever they're asking, you don't really own anything.

Doc

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: maxboy00 on 19 Nov 2013, 08:54 pm

So continues the steady death spiral of the CD, and the march to digital down loads and streaming as physical media is sweep into the dust pan.  However, I continue to buy and collect CDs and play them often on my CD player and I have no plans to end this practice. No doubt CDs are going the way of CRT TVs and flip phones but the CD media will not disappear as fast as those and will live and thrive as a cottage industry.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: SteveFord on 19 Nov 2013, 11:00 pm

Internet radio - I dunno. 
I'm really stuck in the stone age and just plug a set of Grados into my laptop so it's not really any sort of a fair comparison to what I normally use (tube tuners from the 60s).  I can't see the independent FM stations going away as there will always be colleges with their radio stations.
Where things are headed? 
Neal Young keeps threatening to revolutionize digital so that may be the way of the future as he has a good ear.
I think that tape will make a modest comeback over the next few years and vinyl will continue to grow in the market place.
CDs will be around but will continue to decline in sales as something about them just couldn't capture that particular sound quality that analog has.  Is it the medium, the recording and manufacturing techniques, the playback equipment or a little of each?
Whatever the case, it just never reached out and grabbed me despite owning a gazillion CDs and players at one time.
In all fairness,  I never splurged on a real expensive CD player so maybe a cost no object piece would have me feeling differently. 

I could be wrong about all of this but one thing I'm sure of: the 8 track tape will NOT make a resurgence anytime soon!

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 20 Nov 2013, 10:31 am

Quote from: maxboy00 on 19 Nov 2013, 08:54 pm

So continues the steady death spiral of the CD, and the march to digital down loads and streaming as physical media is sweep into the dust pan.  However, I continue to buy and collect CDs and play them often on my CD player and I have no plans to end this practice. No doubt CDs are going the way of CRT TVs and flip phones but the CD media will not disappear as fast as those and will live and thrive as a cottage industry.

Thanks Max, Yes indeed I am still buying CDs and it remains a strong and convenient testing format for developing hifi products. In Audiophile terms I think CD has been let down by a lot of the reproduction equipment available. Too many technicians focus on the extremities of the spectrum and forget that the music has a middle and a soul. The Sonic success of Vinyl has a lot to do with its perceived technical failings in a purist high fidelity sense. This little bit of humanity is often, and not deliberately, designed out of CD players. We as designers are often limited by our own knowledge. It only takes a little bit of research to understand more. This is probably why many say the Sedley and the Byron sound quite similar.

I also love having a physical booklet to read when I buy a CD. I am sure there is an app for that, but I quite like turning pages.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 20 Nov 2013, 10:36 am

Quote from: SteveFord on 19 Nov 2013, 11:00 pm

Internet radio - I dunno. 
I'm really stuck in the stone age and just plug a set of Grados into my laptop so it's not really any sort of a fair comparison to what I normally use (tube tuners from the 60s).

Wow! we are associating laptops with the Stone age already!  :o

I'd hate to see the demise of FM but I think the governments want the spectrum. Also as we head towards Gigabit broadband streaming at high resolution become a possibility. Some of the European Classical stations are already transmitting some decent quality. If we consider that most FM broadcasts are dynamically compressed we may see a quality crossover quite soon.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 20 Nov 2013, 05:40 pm

Quote from: MtnHam on 19 Nov 2013, 08:13 pm

I jumped on the CD bandwagon in 1985, thinking it was "indeed perfect sound forever." Fortunately, I did not dump my extensive LP library which started in 1961. My vinyl equipment was inferior, thus CD's sounded better. Today, my table/arm/cartridge/phono-stage are superb, and my extensive LP library is a treasure I enjoy daily. I do have a very good collection of CD's, an extensive HD library and a great DAC which is very enjoyable. I continue to buy used LP's, a fantastic value and exciting treasure trove of historic recordings, many of which are superior to anything being produced today. New music will most likely be Hi-Rez downloads.Thus, it all has it's place.

Yes indeed Vinyl playback equipment is better than it has ever been. In fact I could also say the same of CD. Though I think we will see record players and phono stage head amps available on shop shelves for a while yet. The stand alone CD player on the other hand may not be so fortunate. To paraphrase the Stones it's just a RIP away.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: JohnR on 21 Nov 2013, 07:03 am

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 19 Nov 2013, 11:27 am

So you FM listeners, how do you find the quality of internet radio? Does any of it cut the mustard for you?

It works for me, I think it's a pretty good trade for the vast amount of content you get access to, not to mention the much higher degree of control you have over what you listen to. Bitrates are only going to get higher. FM has always sounded slightly strange to me, although to be fair I've never had a high-end tuner.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: JohnR on 21 Nov 2013, 07:33 am

Quote from: Devil Doc on 19 Nov 2013, 08:20 pm

Let's face it, as far as I can see, when you down load a Hi-rez  music file, and pay whatever they're asking, you don't really own anything.

I think the way to look at it is that what you own is the right to play it. As a related example: software downloads are pretty much the norm now, and it's always been the case that the physical media is not what you own, what you own is the right to run the software. I've also been somewhat attached to the physical media but I'm becoming less so. I suppose (now that I think about it) this is the natural evolution of digital content.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 21 Nov 2013, 11:34 pm

Quote from: JohnR on 21 Nov 2013, 07:33 am

I think the way to look at it is that what you own is the right to play it.

Yes, a big debate that's getting the legal profession's juices up. I can pass my CDs, LPs and cassettes to my children when I'm gone, but digitally downloaded media seems to be a grey area. Amazon giving the MP3s of any CD or LP bought via them to you for free is an interesting twist on that one though. I am not sure but it does suggest you actually own these ones in the same way an LP or CD.

The all you can eat subscription media is probably where it is heading. For good or ill.

At least we will always need amplifiers. :-)

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: HsvHeelFan on 26 Nov 2013, 04:02 pm

Quote from: haiderSonneteer on 15 Nov 2013, 06:41 pm

Thank you for sharing.

Did it take you a long while to rip everything? How are you finding FLAC compared to CD? Oh and how do you play them back?

Haider

It took me a month of evenings to rip the 1000 CDs or so that I have. 

My system has an ASUS Xonar Essence XTS sound card that is sending analog to a Parasound pre-amp.  The pre goes to a Bryston 4B-ST.  Speakers are a 2.1 system with KEF Q70's running full range and a late 90's vintage Velodyne sub covered the very bottom freq.

The music server, running FLAC, has improved channel separation and instrument placement compared to the 2 CD players that I replaced (a Yamaha and a Denon).

In JRiver, I'm running in WASAPI Event mode and the ASUS is running in direct Hi-Fi mode.   I tried resampling in both systems (the ASUS bloatware) and JRiver.    Running direct was the cleanest sound out of the system. 

As soon as I started adding re-sampling, I found that to be noticeable and not in a good way.  Straight out of the box, the music server was worse than my standalone CD players.  It was because I hadn't found the correct setup and with JRiver and the ASUS control center, there are a LOT of options.


HsvHeelFan

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: HsvHeelFan on 26 Nov 2013, 04:07 pm

All of my CDs go into storage in plastic bins in a closet.  I only own 2 albums that I don't have original physical CD.  I purchased both from Amazon and they were delivered as MP3's.    I'm not a fan of MP3s and both have been had a physical CD created and stored as well.

I'm going to purchase Frank Sinatra's "Sinatra and Company" CD this week via Amazon download here in the next week or so.  I really dislike downloaded purchase copies, but when a CD is out of production or unavailable, I will go that route.

HsvHeelFan

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Mortsnets on 26 Nov 2013, 09:11 pm

35% Radio (Sherwood vintage tuner)
30% CDs (Modified Playstation 1)
20% LPs (Two turntables vintage and more modern)
15% Computer (AQ Dragonfly DAC + Headphones)

I love FM radio and luckily there are a lot of good shows locally on non-commercial stations.  I have quite a few CDs and LPs I listen to  For gifts I ask for CDs, LPs I buy mostly used.  Computer is for Album previews and distant radio shows in MP3.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 3 Dec 2013, 02:48 pm

Thanks guys,

i have to say the poll results are shaping up quite nicely. If we polled again in six months to a year would we see computer music surge into the lead I wonder?

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 6 Mar 2015, 04:38 pm

Quote from: geowak on  1 Nov 2013, 05:14 pm

I like MOG. I have been exposed to so many musicians and genres that I might not hear. Its playable on my IPhone or Menu on my TV thru a Roku box. Sounds great to me....in a mobile world. I can take all my music...with me anywhere I go. For home, add a quality amp/preamp and DAC , throw in great speskers and your in!!

To wake this up again. It has been a while since we asked this question.

Has anything changed? How does your Partner/spouse, son, daughter, nephew, niece etc. listen to music. How much do they care and what do they about?

If you are on this forum we assume you already care a great deal. So how have(if at all) your listening habits changed? What's next?

Thanks for all the feedback once again.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: stlrman on 6 Mar 2015, 04:48 pm

100% Spotify , via iPhone to Shure 846 iem. Very happy with the sound, and all the music I could ever want.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: simoon on 6 Mar 2015, 05:09 pm

Vinyl, CD's and now (just got a high res music player), High res music files.

I hardly ever listen to music where I don't care about sound quality. Only when exploring new artists and composers on Youtube do I not care about sound quality.

When I listen to music, it is my primary activity. I do not use music as background while doing something else.


No lossy formats for me.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 6 Mar 2015, 05:19 pm

Quote from: stlrman on  6 Mar 2015, 04:48 pm

100% Spotify , via iPhone to Shure 846 iem. Very happy with the sound, and all the music I could ever want.

Thank you. That's enlightening. So do you no longer buy music to own?

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 6 Mar 2015, 05:22 pm

Quote from: simoon on  6 Mar 2015, 05:09 pm

When I listen to music, it is my primary activity. I do not use music as background while doing something else.

Thank you.
I wonder for how many people, this is a fact? I have to admit rarely having the time to just listen to music (outside of product development that is). Listening to music in good quality does make the things I am doing, otherwise, much more pleasant.

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Alco on 7 Mar 2015, 08:28 am

Quote

When I listen to music, it is my primary activity. I do not use music as background while doing something else.

Same here!  If I'd use music mostly as sonic wallpaper while doing something else I could probably do fine with something simple like a Tivoli radio.

For the last 4 years or so now, I'm only using a Squeezebox Touch (with better PSU, but no external dac so far!) as my only source.
Every now and then I'm considering getting a turntable (have about 70 LP's left), but I can't seem to get over the more practical issues.
(storage space, hassle, cleaning, very few new albums coming out that I really like, the price of LP's vs CD, etc)

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Guy 13 on 7 Mar 2015, 10:55 am

Hi Haider,
First and more often, I listen to music as background or mood music via my Grace Mondo Internet radio, it's 50/50 classical (CJPX-FM 99.5 Montreal) and Radio Hart relaxing music.
Second for serious listening it's CDs via my main system (Decware/Omega/Rega)
Then third it's vinyl for nostalgia mainly The Ventures, Vangelis, James Last...
Thanks.

Guy 13

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 12 Mar 2015, 10:52 pm

Quote from: Guy 13 on  7 Mar 2015, 10:55 am

Hi Haider,
First and more often, I listen to music as background or mood music via my Grace Mondo Internet radio, it's 50/50 classical (CJPX-FM 99.5 Montreal) and Radio Hart relaxing music.
Second for serious listening it's CDs via my main system (Decware/Omega/Rega)
Then third it's vinyl for nostalgia mainly The Ventures, Vangelis, James Last...
Thanks.

Guy 13

Thanks Guy,

I'm finding it interesting that people are using different systems for  so called serious listening and background.

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk (http://sonneteer.co.uk)

Title: Update: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 7 Oct 2015, 02:05 pm

Just a quick note on this old topic:

We are talking Google Chromecast Audio here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=137735.0

Could this be thrown into the pesto? Will it dominate the flavour in future?

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: HsvHeelFan on 7 Oct 2015, 02:18 pm

I have around 1200 CDs.  It took about 30 evenings of 2-3 hours each to rip them to FLAC.   

The audio quality is fine.  I can't tell any difference between FLAC and CDs.

The computer has the ASUS Essence STX II sound card in it and I send analog to my Parasound pre/Bryston 4B-ST rig.

I also tend to not listen as background music since I find I can't work and listen at the same time.  The music keeps tugging at me, when it's playing.

HsvHeelFan

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: charmerci on 7 Oct 2015, 11:34 pm

When you started this - it was almost all CD only. Now, it's almost all JRiver through laptop and USB DAC to my system. I will listen to the radio via a stereo receiver for variety. (HD digital radio quality is bad.)


Interestingly, I used to listen to my albums all the way through but now I mostly use shuffle on all my music.


I was using an mp3 player when I traveled but I just bought a Fiio X1 so I can listen to FLAC files.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 8 Oct 2015, 09:08 am

Quote from: charmerci on  7 Oct 2015, 11:34 pm

When you started this - it was almost all CD only. Now, it's almost all JRiver through laptop and USB DAC to my system. I will listen to the radio via a stereo receiver for variety. (HD digital radio quality is bad.)


Interestingly, I used to listen to my albums all the way through but now I mostly use shuffle on all my music.


I was using an mp3 player when I traveled but I just bought a Fiio X1 so I can listen to FLAC files.

Interesting, yes. Are we witnessing the change through this thread?

Has or will Chromcast audio broken/brake the resistance?

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: GentleBender on 8 Oct 2015, 09:24 am

Dedicated room is vinyl only. I did pick up a DAC, but haven't spent much time tweaking it. Did not impress me so I will continue improving the vinyl setup and might return to improve the digital after. One front at a time. I stream Spotify from my iPad to a Big Jambox around the house the rest of the time while cooking or working.

At work and in the car it is Spotify, MP3 or flac. The only CD players I have are in computers!  :o

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 8 Oct 2015, 09:30 am

Quote from: GentleBender on  8 Oct 2015, 09:24 am

Dedicated room is vinyl only. I did pick up a DAC, but haven't spent much time tweaking it. Did not impress me so I will continue improving the vinyl setup and might return to improve the digital after. One front at a time. I stream Spotify from my iPad to a Big Jambox around the house the rest of the time while cooking or working.

At work and in the car it is Spotify, MP3 or flac. The only CD players I have are in computers!  :o

Thank you for that.

So would you ever want to stream Spotify to your dedicated room or is that sacred?

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: GentleBender on 8 Oct 2015, 09:40 am

I would once I get the digital up to par with the analog. I've been following your post on the chromcast, but after reading the guide I am more confused. I don't want something that converts everything to MP3 quality.

One of the best things about vinyl is that I turn on the phono stage, throw on a record and drop the needle. I can look at the cover and sit back to enjoy. Not spend the time troubleshooting. I'm not saying there are no problems with vinyl or that digital has to be problematic, but I work with computers all day and my patience with them is spent.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 8 Oct 2015, 09:49 am

Oh indeed, I take your point. The Chromecast thing is curious but not a high end utopia by any means. I don't think it converts everything to MP3. If a DAC is attached, i believe, it's poo in poo out. But as it's Tosslink it is limited to 24bit 96kHz which not that long ago was the song of the digital gods.

You are then, of course, at the mercy of the DAC. Keep your needle firmly on the records for now. :-)

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 25 Jul 2016, 01:20 pm

Looking for any Updates on this topic from anyone please. Time has moved on, has the world of music?

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: quibus on 9 Sep 2016, 09:30 am

I listen on two systems:
- living room with Bluesound, connected to local NAS and access to Qobuz/Tidal, and hooked up to CD
- desktop through computer with Audirvana, connected to DAC and amp, also with SACD-player
Furthermore I listen with headphones to a portable DAC/AMP. In the kitchen I hook up the computer or even my phone to a simple portable speaker.

I have a preference for DSD as I find it smoother, more detailed than CD-quality PCM (hi-res PCM is mostly indistinguishable).
MQA does seem to sound like hi-res PCM and/or DSD, I would like to see more MQA-music available.

I do like the facilities of a streamer such as the Bluesound Node (with app control functionality; to me it is important that also has a desktop app as I control it mostly from my laptop). The thing I currently miss most is DSD-compatibility of the Node.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 9 Sep 2016, 10:20 am

Thank you That's interesting and helpful information there.

I wonder if you have any further thoughts on how you listen to things could be made easier. Thinking beyond what is currently available perhaps.

Haider
Sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: dpatters on 9 Sep 2016, 02:45 pm

I spin CDs on a dedicated transport through an outboard DAC about 80% of the time. The other 20% is vinyl rig.  I do not stream or use any type of file playback.

Don P.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: bummrush on 9 Sep 2016, 02:51 pm

As above spin cd's.  But it seems the little stereo i set up in living room sounds good and its a great room to have a stereo in also,that i find it so convenient  i listen out here instead of my main system. I should have said i still listen vrry much to main stereo.  Nice to compare, but really they are may miles apart, little stereo s very god, but no comparison to main stereo

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: bacobits1 on 9 Sep 2016, 03:18 pm

CD's on a dedicated Transport to an outboard DAC. Vinyl 30% of the time, although not lately. Stream music from computer to the DAC no downloads don't need or want DSD etc.. I like things simple.
Let me add MQA ain't going nowhere.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: SlushPuppy on 9 Sep 2016, 04:10 pm

I recently built a great sounding streaming player using an Intel i7 NUC with two 500GB solid state drives (Windows 10 64 bit). I rip my CD's with dbpoweramp and play them back with the latest version of JRiver Media Center that feeds a Mytek Brooklyn DAC. Best sounding source I've ever had. The only time I "spin" my music these days is when I listen to SACD or DVD-Audio discs. When I do that a KanexPro HDMI De-Embedder sends the audio stream to my Brooklyn. I also listen to new music on Tidal through the Chrome browser. I still purchase discs, but these days only to complete collections and to buy discs that are rare/collectible. I maintain a collection of approx. 4000 CD's that are openly displayed in my music room. I still like to browse through my discs even though I no longer spin them. I hope this is the type of answer you were looking for.

Slush

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: quibus on 9 Sep 2016, 06:41 pm

How to make things easier? Good question... Warning: rambling post ahead.

The majority of my listening is divided between home systems and mobile listening (i.e. from my laptop). For that reason I have effectively two collections. I can't rely fully on a NAS plus streaming, I also need (and appreciate) the collection on my hard disk (and streaming capabilities of my laptop). CD's I play only at home.

I think what I miss most is an easy way to use my laptop as music centre at various places. Presently I work principally from Audirvana, which nowadays integrates streaming: a big help. But the external connectivity means that I change between several (portable) DACs, amplifiers and speaker systems at various places (work office, home office, public transport, kitchen). I don't like Bluetooth, so that is no solution. At present getting the music I want means first spending several minutes setting up everything (turning on stuff, connecting USB, selecting DAC, selecting source, selecting music). That's not problematic but it would be nice if it could be made easier.

Also I would like the possibility of DSD playback in my living room system. This would now require a different streamer and possibly an additional DAC. Although I like the Bluesound Node (particularly the apps) I am considering going the Raspberry Pi route for this reason. I'm hesitant about all-in-one solutions as I've found I like to upgrade single components when new possibilities open up.

Put differently: it's somewhat irritating that all systems have different capabilities and interfaces. To make this uniform, however, would lock me into a single eco-system which I don't want. For the same reason I don't like a multiroom system, even though Bluesound offers this as a possibility.
     
Furthermore the software side might conceivable be improved. I've heard good things about Roon but that is quite expensive and might not work for me; the seamless integration of various sources and formats sounds appealling, though. On the whole, however, Audirvana is really nice and would be even better if it would help me cope with a variety of interfaces/sources/DACs.

Finally, I don't like start-up delays, which most systems seem to have. I'm continually surprised that fast computers don't lead to fast booting up.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: mca on 9 Sep 2016, 08:36 pm

I use a Musicvault II Ultra with Roon and love it!

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: Guy 13 on 10 Sep 2016, 04:39 am

For now, during the repair of my leaking roof,
I use my Grace Mondo Internet radio
with my 15 years old Sony receive CDP with bookshelves speakers.
Free music that I love...
I'm good and I'm happy.

Guy 13
on planet Vietnam.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 30 Sep 2016, 08:57 am

Thank you to everyone sharing on this feed. Please keep it up.

We have something to talk about later. It is partly with help from you. So in some ways it is a part of you all.

Back soon.

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: maxboy00 on 30 Sep 2016, 10:51 am

Well times do change, I have moved to a server based system for all of my CD playback. My CDP, is now setup as a transport and, has not seen much action since I made the switch.  I was very slow to embrace the move to digital playback, now I think its pretty cool and very convenient to sort through CD collections.

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 30 Sep 2016, 11:04 am

Thanks for sharing that. Yes, many of us have made that move. Yet I now see a lot of people are jumping over that and simply using streaming services or storing in the cloud.

Is that the future or are we yet to see where most will settle, if at all?

Haider

Title: Re: How do you listen to your music these days? And more format pesto.
Post by: haiderSonneteer on 30 Sep 2016, 01:20 pm

(http://www.audiocircle.com/image.php?id=151176)

some light reading

Haider
sonneteer.co.uk