Forgive my newb-ness question, but I’ll come out of the closet and admit that I’ve never used streaming before. Years ago I manually digitized all my CDs onto an Aurender music server, and I’m about to embark (gulp!) onto streaming as I need more music… and definitely classical.
Not sure if this is part of this thread, but any recommendations on what to use for good classical? I’m not sure yet if I want to spend $800 on a Roon lifetime license, and I’ve heard Roon SQ isn’t amazing. Is Qobuz the place to be for classical? If this is a bad question or I’m threadjacking pls feel free to PM me.
Ideally, whatever streaming service should suggest similar/good music so I can keep expanding my repertoire…
You get antiphonal violins on either speakers or headphones only when the orchestra is seated that way. For example, all of the Vanska/Minnesota recordings on BIS feature antiphonal violins, and this can clearly be heard on either cans or speakers.
I had a free trial of Apple Music and Apple Classical for a month. Currently, the classical app is available only for iPad and iPhone. If you want lossless (including hi-res) playback from either of these devices, you need wired headphones or a lightning-to-USB cable that can take the digital output from the iOS device to a DAC or an AVR. I got 24/192 playback through my home system, and the sound was as good as you can get from any other 24/192 download file. Getting Dolby Atmos playback requires the right equipment on the listening end.
There are plenty of recordings to choose from. You can search for a composer, specific piece, conductor, orchestra, or soloist, and then drill down from there to choose what you want to hear. For example, if I enter “George Szell,” I get a list of his albums as well as individual tracks that are included in various compilations or playlists. (the word song is NOT used for individual tracks, as it is in regular Apple Music).
Some pieces have the movements broken into several pieces, as they do on the CD equivalent (for example, multiple tracks for a movement from Mahler 8). But you get gapless playback in these pieces (go into SETTINGS and turn this on).
In addition to duplicating material that has existed on CDs, Apple has created various playlists, such as “Essential Classical.” I ignored these. There are also Apple-only releases of recent concert performances by major orchestras (Berlin, Vienna, NY Phil) and the MET.
I decided not to pay for the service once my free trial ended because I have plenty of CDs and downloads on hand to keep me occupied. The service worked well, but no liner notes (which I didn’t miss). But if I get music-hungry, I might subscribe to this or Qobuz.
I use Amazon HR streaming since i am a prime user it costs me $89.00 a year. You can download flac files and listen to them online. The gotcha is if you cancel subscription you can no longer listen to download files. I was able to circumvent this by using tunefab amazon music converter. It allows me to rip any album on amazon covert it to flacc and keep forever! I have 688 HR albums so far. It takes a little time,but well worth the effort.
On March 28th, or thereabout, Apple announced Apple Music Classical, included with the Apple Music subscription. It requires a separate app, which has an interface and search that helps with the type of content in classical, with different recordings and performances of some (warhorse) famous pieces.
While they boast some high-res lossless, and say they are the largest repository of classical music, they also tout many “remastered” in Spatial Audio recordings where music comes from everywhere “including above”. I hope nobody drops a bassoon on my head.
And I hope the experience is better than the BOSE 901 days, where a violin could be splattered across a soundstage, and up along the ceiling. While I downloaded the app, I have just been too busy to do any critical (or non-critical) listening. Or perhaps I’m a news junkie and can’t turn off the dang tube sometimes.
Anybody have any thoughts or experience? It does appear that you’ll be able to find non-spatial non-remastered versions. As long as those are available, I don’t care if there are other choices.
I find I liked Spatial Audio on Jackson Five songs. Not classical. I tried the Classical app today. Need to get used to the interface, but it does pull in recordings and choices in a way that is appropriate for classical. But I don’t see information about sampling, high res, etc. Maybe I need to get used to it.
And classical seems to include showtunes for some reason.
Each item in the Classical app has a notation about whether it’s high resolution or just lossless. In the regular Apple Music app, clicking on the hi-res button reveals the sample rate and bitrate of the digital file. But on the Classical app, you have to connect the iPhone or iPad to a DAC using a lighting-to-USB adapter cable, and then the DAC will display the resolution.
Do you find Apple Classical all available in the regular Apple Music? I’ve got Apple Music as a service in SONOS, but don’t see Apple Classical. Don’t actually use my SONOS that much, but it can be annoying. Yesterday I was streaming SONOS connect through my main system. Which does happen at times.
“Apple Music Classical is available for iOS devices only and requires iOS 15.4 or later. Apple has announced that it will bring out an Android app “soon” but doesn’t mention desktop or web options.”
LOL, @xiaoyaoyou I gave you a heart because I’ve been trying and failing to find a movie soundtrack that I like (Hans Zimmer and John Williams both put me to sleep). I’d pretty much given up until I saw your post, tried Koyaanisqatsi and loved it. I need to try more Philip Glass.
I may not fit in very well here … never really was a fan of Mahler, though I did try a number of his pieces.
But I am a big fan of Samuel Barber. A couple of his pieces are among my favorite classical recordings of the past 2 decades (Violin Concerto; Knoxville Summer of 1915). But I didn’t know a number of his other compositions.
Like this Nocturne for piano, which I didn’t hear until early this week. Love the harmonies, dark and beautiful. I hear this as Barber’s love letter to Chopin.
