Music Lane

It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.

Return to Music Lane

Message Sort: Post Order or Asylum Reverse Threaded

Which classical music streaming service ?

192.160.165.63
Posted on January 16, 2017 at 13:22:32
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 I am considering getting a classical music streaming service. I want one that is less than $10/month, has good selection of music from top quality performers (especially for piano), reasonably good sound quality (but necessarily state of the art), and is easy to use. I have looked at a lot of online discussions, but I would like to hear some opinions from AA inmates

 

Hide full thread outline!
    ...
If you're locked into a $10 per month budget,,,, posted on January 16, 2017 at 17:23:45
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 The it's pretty much Spotify and MP3 quality.

If you listen a lot and plan on using gear more sophisticated than a cell phone and earbuds, then TIDAL at closer to $20 will get you a huge catalog and CD quality worth an effort to decode at the receiving end.

Others here may be familiar with the latest offerings from Steinway, NAXOS and others, sadly I am not.

Currently streaming Mahler's 7th with SFO/MTT via QOBUZ (a European streaming service much like TIDAL) on my main system with little notice that it's streaming and not the SACD.






First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

Or Classics Online HD, posted on January 16, 2017 at 19:38:11
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 The problem here is the depth of the catalogue (i.e., only Naxos and Naxos-distributed labels, such as Grand Piano or Ondine) rather than the SQ, which can come in, depending on the title, at a nice 24/192.

 

RE: Or Classics Online HD, posted on January 16, 2017 at 20:41:29
jazz1
Audiophile

Posts: 2891
Joined: October 30, 2000
 Classics on line catalogue is maybe limited but there is still plenty to choose from. The audio quality is excellent especially the hi res albums which there is plenty and at 4$ a month it is a bargain.
They release new titles every week.

 

Yup - I'm back in the fold with them again! [nt], posted on January 16, 2017 at 21:26:00
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

RE: Yup - I'm back in the fold with them again! [nt], posted on January 17, 2017 at 07:14:46
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 If you sign up for a full year it is about $3 a month
I have it but don't go to it much. Got caught up in all this MQA stuff on Tidal. Not much classical yet but Sony and UMG will come on board in the spring
Alan
Alan

 

Yup - I did sign up for a year to get the better price - so far so oood! [nt], posted on January 17, 2017 at 09:22:15
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

$240/year with Tidal is too much for me. Could buy a lot of Downloads for that. nt, posted on January 17, 2017 at 11:46:27
oldmkvi
Audiophile

Posts: 10583
Joined: April 12, 2002
 /

 

Well, if you can live with the more limited selections. . ., posted on January 17, 2017 at 12:57:40
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 . . . then the $39.95 per year for Classics Online HD might be very worthwhile.

 

Makes for sense than $2000 a year for cable TV..., posted on January 17, 2017 at 14:05:46
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 48887
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 When the library provides movies (DVD and BluRay) for free.

I'm good for a couple hours of streaming a day, if not more. I'm into both TIDAL and QOBUZ about $500 a year total. Did drop ClassicsOnlineHD when they scaled down their catalog just NAXOS.

Might go back.







First they came for the dumb-asses
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a dumb-ass

 

Hoopla Digital is free, posted on January 17, 2017 at 16:21:09
hesson11
Audiophile

Posts: 2281
Location: Florida
Joined: December 8, 2005
 Check to see if your local library offers Hoopla Digital. It's free with a library card. I don't know the resolution, but I find the sound quality to be very good, beyond my expectations. The catalog is fairly wide, but the metadata is horrible. Not a problem if you know what you're looking for and can find the names of movements, etc. elsewhere, i.e. Google. I use it mainly to access a greater repertoire than I have on hand. It's at least worth looking into.
-Bob

 

Naxos Music Library is $22/year..., posted on January 17, 2017 at 18:30:44
pbarach
Audiophile

Posts: 3307
Location: Ohio
Joined: June 22, 2008
 ...included with a membership to IMSLP.org. It's 128 kbps, but you get access to the entire Naxos label and many other labels that they distribute. DG and BMG/Sony are accessible as well. If you hear something you like, go and buy the CD.

 

Thanks for all the help, posted on January 18, 2017 at 05:58:22
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 I have to decide between Naxos and Spotify and figure out whether the sound quality of Spotify is good enough and whether Naxos has a broad enough selection. Quality vs quantity.

 

RE: Well, if you can live with the more limited selections. . ., posted on January 18, 2017 at 07:17:01
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 Two questions:
1. Is that the same as Naxos?
2. Do they have most of the basic piano repertoire by top pianists?

 

RE: Well, if you can live with the more limited selections. . ., posted on January 18, 2017 at 09:29:30
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012
 Answers to you questions:

1. No - Naxos is broader in repertoire, but lower in sound quality than the equal-or-better-than-CD quality you get with Classics Online HD.

2. I would not say this is true for Classics Online HD. I suppose the question revolves around what you mean by "top pianists".

The reason I'm once again a subscriber to Classics Online HD is that I see is as an interesting supplement to my regular music library. I used to subscribe to Spotify too. Spotify's catalog is much broader, but the SQ is reduced to a bit rate of 320 kbps or lower, depending on whether you subscribe or listen for free. 320 kbps can be surprisingly good, but, personally, I prefer lossless CD-quality or better - another reason I go for Classics Online HD.

 

RE: Naxos Music Library is $22/year..., posted on January 18, 2017 at 11:23:25
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 Just went to there site. Naxos Music Library is $315/year. Have no idea where you get $22/year. If you want premium service ( 320kbps) and pay by the year it is $26.25 per month. If you pay monthly it is $31 per month. More music than Tidal but worse sound
Alan

 

RE: Naxos Music Library is $22/year..., posted on January 18, 2017 at 12:03:14
pbarach
Audiophile

Posts: 3307
Location: Ohio
Joined: June 22, 2008
 Go to IMSLP.ORG. Click on Other, then choose Purchase Membership. You will see that the membership of $22 per year includes access to the Naxos Music Library.

Didn't I already explain this in an earlier post? I'm at work, where I can't look back at earlier posts.

 

RE: Naxos Music Library is $22/year..., posted on January 18, 2017 at 13:40:13
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 Sorry, never heard of IMSLP
Probably will not give premium streaming
Will check it out
Alan

 

RE: Naxos Music Library is $22/year..., posted on January 18, 2017 at 14:08:56
pbarach
Audiophile

Posts: 3307
Location: Ohio
Joined: June 22, 2008
 No, they don't offer premium streaming. 128 kB per second is fine, in my opinion, for auditioning the quality of a classical music performance or listening to historical recordings, but I would definitely buy either the CD or the downloaded CD-quality files if there were a performance that I wanted to keep.

 

RE: Well, if you can live with the more limited selections. . ., posted on January 19, 2017 at 10:20:41
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 Well, I guess I won't be getting Classics Online.

 

LOL! Yup - I guess that's settled! [nt] ;-), posted on January 19, 2017 at 11:40:15
Chris from Lafayette
Audiophile

Posts: 26480
Location: SF Bay Area
Joined: February 17, 2004
Contributor
  Since: February 6, 2012

 

YouTube....., posted on January 20, 2017 at 00:46:21
Todd Krieger
Audiophile

Posts: 37333
Location: SW United States
Joined: November 2, 2000
 No joke........

 

What about that low-bitrate audio?, posted on January 20, 2017 at 09:58:38
mr.bear
Audiophile

Posts: 4167
Joined: November 13, 2001
 The quality of the audio, as well as the levels, seem to vary a lot from posting-to-posting. It doesn't make a great environment for classical music enjoyment- just one Bears opinion.

 

Hoopla and "Freegal" streaming from your library!, posted on January 20, 2017 at 10:10:07
mr.bear
Audiophile

Posts: 4167
Joined: November 13, 2001
 My County library website offers "Freegal" music service which provides free, high-bitrate MP3 downloads from Sony's enormous catalog (only 5 "songs" a week so it takes a while to download a full album- haha) but I keep a little list and chip away at it. You have to have a library card and PIN, but Bearette has a library card too...

They also allow unlimited streaming of any title from Sony via a pop-up player. The sound quality is pretty good, not suitable to be played at concert levels maybe. But, hey, it's free and I'm a Bear on a budget.

 

WFMT Chicgo online, posted on January 20, 2017 at 10:27:29
mr.bear
Audiophile

Posts: 4167
Joined: November 13, 2001
 The best classical internet service, it feeds the live broadcast stream from the FM station (atop Sears tower, I think, still), 24x7. If you like radio, they play a great spectrum of composers and a delightful "feel" comes across in their broadcasts. Announcements are very restrained and I always chuckle here in SoCal when they say its 14 degrees with 40MPH winds.

WFMT was America's first radio "superstation" that I first heard via one of those 10-ft diameter satellite dishes in 1980 or so. I was agog, there was no classical music broadcast in Washington and Oregon's Great Inland Desert then. WFMT sent the CSO to Europe, the Soviet Union and China and amazed me by having the b*lls to broadcast the Ring Cycle live from Bayreuth.

Their popup player offers several format choices and the sound is superb!

 

+1, posted on January 20, 2017 at 12:12:10
rbolaw
 In my law school apartment in the 80s, I used a cable splitter and ran the TV cable into my stereo to listen to WFMT. Thems were the days.

 

RE: YouTube....., posted on January 22, 2017 at 16:46:20
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 I listen to a lot of music on Youtube, and the video is an added bonus. The sound quality has gotten better.

 

RE: WFMT Chicgo online, posted on January 22, 2017 at 16:52:34
Tadlo
Audiophile

Posts: 1925
Location: midwest
Joined: March 8, 2003
 I have been listening to WFMT since grad school at the University of Chicago in the 70's. I still live in Chicagoland so I can listen on FM, but I sometimes use the streaming if bad weather causes too much noise in the FM signal. A lot of what I have learned about classical music came from listening that station, which many people say is the best in the US.

 

RE: Yup - I did sign up for a year to get the better price - so far so oood! [nt], posted on January 23, 2017 at 17:22:58
ahendler
Audiophile

Posts: 5151
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Joined: January 24, 2003
 As you now know they are shutting down Jan 31 2017. They said they will send out refunds
Alan

 

Page processed in 0.035 seconds.

[ Top Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]