Did YouTube replace your source? How many still use CDs or high quality MP3 ?

[jls001]

Also i have a lot of flac files which my car HU cant read through the usb.

Convert to mp3.

 

[greenhorn]

I use tunein for streaming. Not the perfect substitute, but has a good selection of channels

 

[kuks1]

Convert to mp3.

thats a tedious job and only solves the problem partially as i want to stream and discover new music in the car. currently use either the phone or ipad to stream over bluetooth.

 

[square_wave]

I admit that I use apple music and youtube to explore new music. So their role is purely exploratory. And this exploration happens on Bluetooth speakers. Some of these Bluetooth speakers does a very good job of hiding the flaws in the file bit rates / recording and makes it ok for casual listening.

They are pretty much un-listenable on my main hifi system.

Horses for courses !

 

[ranojoy]

I admit that I use apple music and youtube to explore new music. So their role is purely exploratory. And this exploration happens on Bluetooth speakers. Some of these Bluetooth speakers does a very good job of hiding the flaws in the file bit rates / recording and makes it ok for casual listening.

They are pretty much un-listenable on my main hifi system.

Horses for courses !

+1 to that. CD it is, almost always. Sometimes FLAC too.
The reason is exactly what you have said.
My system is not exactly in your class , but even then, the deficiencies of lower quality are very apparent on it.

 

[ssf]

I must admit that I have no exposure to high end stereo systems, but if music is what one wants to enjoy. I sometimes feel lucky that youtube music on my average system checks most of the right boxes.

But then again, that does not mean that I am not keeping an open mind. I do want to listen to systems costing more than my house and maybe just maybe own one before my hearing gets all shot up.

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

YT only to find new music, regular listening via flacs/mp3s via PC source.

I love music, but I don't want to spoil the experience by always fiddling around with various YT channels and searching for songs (forget about if the "quality" is acceptable or not) nor do I want to keep getting up and changing CDs, which also limits your choices to the same artist usually with very few songs to choose from. Sometimes what I want is not on youtube either so flacs/mp3s on a PC allows me access to the songs I want to listen to, quickly and easily in acceptable "quality".

Personally it is my opinion that most people who tend to use streaming services are doing so while being preoccupied with some other task, such as driving, exercising,surfing the web,drinking,dancing,socializing etc. It is my opinion that such people can not be termed music lovers, rather casual listeners. I will admit that when I am searching for new music on youtube, I am also a bit casual and surf the web or do other tasks since the purpose is to find new music rather than to enjoy it. That is for later, however if I am able to find some new music that I like and add it to my collection then there is only one way to listen to that music, at the MLP, eyes closed.

What I say might be perceived by some as elitist, but rather it spells out the mental thought process of one who truly loves the music itself, not the "scene" or the people or the social/cultural aspects, but the music itself. For them listening to the music with their eyes closed, where all that exists is music, is the only way to connect with the music and "feel" it. That is what brings a music lover satisfaction IMO. YMMV.

 

[tuff]

Now I feel like such a loser[emoji12]

Sent from my HUAWEI P7-L10 using Tapatalk

 

[sam9s]

When I started into the Hifi world, the cost of internet was very high and bandwidth was also very less. I think in 2009 - 2010, the internet speed I had was 256kbps....Now it is increased to 50Mbps.

This change has made the ubiquitous Youtube the default choice for listening to music...whatz more, now i am married and my two kids and the tiring software job barely give time to listen to my high quality tracks. So I end up hooking my laptop to the DAC - Amp and have my daily dose of music.

Did the Youtube replace your CD collection ??

No!, and never will, I am also married and work in IT sector, but I always find time for my passion, for Movies, TV series and Music. The only thing that changed was instead of downloading/purchasing FLACS or 320kbps MP3, and listening them via iPOD/Mobile the focus has shifted to streaming either from Tidal/Spotify or from my own NAS (hosting my FLACS) ..
Meaning I have stopped carrying my song collection with me that is the only difference that has happened since last 5-7 years.

Also youtube does not give the satisfaction/ambiance of listining to music, it seems too casual. For a music lover, I am sure that wont suffice, I guess FM will agree with me on this.

Also BT would never be my mode of listening to music. not even aptX. I would always prefer/recommend wifi, for FLACS/WAV. Rpi with Moode makes this really easy for any speakers, passive or active to have songs pushed from any device.

 

[ssf]

Points put forth by other posters are well taken. I however do not subscribe to the view that Youtube is not for music lovers or that it is not for serious listening or that a casual music listener is not a music lover.

Is it considered as not serious if connected to the laptop ? What if I am connecting to it via my Blue ray player or my smart tv. What if i have connected my laptop to my TV via HDMI and am listening to the wonderful concerts linked below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtfTU7TJZbY&list=PL4hUEkgCkRypoKojFxzq224r4AuDwkjx6

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1yfX6VnrSU&list=PLNBxCTIUVE70YD3Mnlcm9nYX0_U5gKghF

I have both of them on CD but the wonderful performance right in front of you on your big screen tv in HD is enthralling to say the least.

 

[sam9s]

Well I have a difference of opinion and I agree with Audio_Freek on this when he says .."Audio +Video in Youtube spoils or diverts the senses towards Eyes ." .... same here A+V too much distraction to actually immerse yourself in to the music. For me the wonderful concerts, you shared would be more enjoyed, when I am sitting on my chair, with a drink in my hands, warm lights dim and just listening to the music eyes relaxed ..

 

[cha_indian]

No!, and never will, I am also married and work in IT sector, but I always find time for my passion, for Movies, TV series and Music. The only thing that changed was instead of downloading/purchasing FLACS or 320kbps MP3, and listening them via iPOD/Mobile the focus has shifted to streaming either from Tidal/Spotify or from my own NAS (hosting my FLACS) ..
Meaning I have stopped carrying my song collection with me that is the only difference that has happened since last 5-7 years.

Also youtube does not give the satisfaction/ambiance of listining to music, it seems too casual. For a music lover, I am sure that wont suffice, I guess FM will agree with me on this.

Also BT would never be my mode of listening to music. not even aptX. I would always prefer/recommend wifi, for FLACS/WAV. Rpi with Moode makes this really easy for any speakers, passive or active to have songs pushed from any device.

How are you accessing Spotify or Tidal ? via VPN ?

 

[JayaRaa]

cd player with cd's preferably foreign pressings, tt with decent quality lp's are still something which give satisfaction for listening to music. some people also prefer to continue playing with audio cassettes on their cassette players. spool players also. convenience of digital music like mp3, wav, flac etc is there but quality not so good. most of us have done full circle and gone back to cd or lp majorly, few to cassette/spool. valid reason is there for doing so.
you tube is good for short time in my humble opinion.

 

[cooltoad]

Recently compared the audio(esp. tamil songs from the 70's 80s) from my nad 402 tuner with the same songs from youtube. No comparison. The tuner is way too smooth and makes me wonder if a good speaker-amp-tuner is all that i need(only if there were more genre specific ad-free music).

Now, i have developed a distaste for youtube music. I wonder how, considering both are digital with probably similar bitrate.

Surprisingly, the tuner beats mp3/cd/even lossless through PC( which sound very sharp) when it comes to the oldies, may be due to some eq'ing at the FM source and gets close to analogue.

 

[sam9s]

How are you accessing Spotify or Tidal ? via VPN ?

Yes VPN from smartdnsproxy, but as I said its only needed to create an account and start the app once, after that you can disconnect the VPN and the app will still continue to work

 

[arun_kumar7810]

My neighbor have Amazon fire stick & the quality of video & audio on Youtube is impressive. He replaced the DVD now.

 

[cha_indian]

Thanks for all your replies guys... I was suspecting many people might be using Youtube too often and maybe be embarrassed to open up on the forum! Youtube is way too simple, convenient and free than to buy and maintain CDs , etc.

I agree that CDs and HQ MP3 are anyday better than youtube but if you don't have time on your hands and you have many other important things to do, then there comes a situation where you just simply listen to songs on Youtube!

 

[mr_grump5]

Well I have a difference of opinion and I agree with Audio_Freek on this when he says .."Audio +Video in Youtube spoils or diverts the senses towards Eyes ." .... same here A+V too much distraction to actually immerse yourself in to the music. For me the wonderful concerts, you shared would be more enjoyed, when I am sitting on my chair, with a drink in my hands, warm lights dim and just listening to the music eyes relaxed ..

there are Xposed modules which offer Youtube background playback

 

[sam9s]

why would you use Xposed modules to have youtube background music, beats me, you can just run youtube at background and keep listening the music, but the point was "youtube" perse would not be my choice for listening music, casual check out yes maybe but not as a serious listener ...