I have, so far, mostly resisted streaming services. I have not found one that suits my preferences. However, maybe things are changing.
I have two listening modes.
Serious listening in my A/V room which has a nice surround system including Atmos speakers (real ones not a soundbar).
Casual listening e.g. in the car or a small stereo system in my home office.
Never headphones, earbuds, etc. I hate those. Never while in the gym, jogging, or anything like that.
I am mostly into classical music and I prioritize quality over convenience. There are limits, for example I won't bother with vinyl (even if I thought that it sounded best) but popping a physical disc into a player is acceptable when I am in serious listening mode. At the moment, my ideal is an SACD, I particularly like the extra channels.
I already have a colossal collection of CDs ripped and available on my phone or tablet (thanks to a 256GB microSD card). This pretty much satisfies the casual modes and a streaming service does not add any convenience.
A downside to any streaming service that I have reviewed so far is the organization. This is generally optimized with non-classical music in mind but classical music is usually organized quite differently.
I have access to Amazon Music via my Prime membership. I sometimes use it to fill in odd gaps. E.g. the other day, I realized that I didn't have You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet. So, I listened via Amazon Prime but then I bought it. For classical music, I sometimes use it for try before I buy. If I like it then I buy it (usually in a physical format). One example of this was trying the Mahler symphonies. Many of my serious classical music friends love Mahler but I don't get him. I used Amazon Music to check and it confirmed that I don't like Mahler; it saved me a wasted purchase.
My wife subscribes to the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall. I enjoy it as well but it is not optimal for me as it is for her. For her, seeing the players adds a lot and is worth the lower audio quality. For me, seeing has less value except for ballet and opera(which they don't do) and I prefer the higher quality of a CD or better still SACD or BluRay. I am no saying that the audio is bad, just that it is not as good as a physical disc.
I tried Medici TV for a year thanks to a Black Friday 2020 deal. It was quite good but the players were limited. It had many things where the video was important: opera and ballet. The audio quality was variable and only just acceptable at best. I could only play it via my laptop and hence not easily on the main or bedroom TV. Berlin wins in this regard as there are apps suitable for our TVs.
Another reason that I have avoided streaming (except the uses that I just mentioned) is the quality. Until recently, it was not good enough to consider for serious listening. This might be changing. Tidal seems to be offering classical music with high quality and extra channels. That is tempting. They have a £2 for 3 months offer on their HiFi Plus service. So, I will probably give that a try. I will be surprised if I choose to continue but, who knows, I could be wrong. Lots of high quality multi-channel classical music might tempt me.
I have some concerns on the ease of playing. Will it be better than Medici? Will I be able to get apps for my Samsung TVs. I have found one for the Firestick. This is not ideal but I have a Firestick in my main TV.
Have any classical music fans tried Tidal? How is the range available? How well organized is it? Have you tried any high quality or multi-channel formats?
I have two listening modes.
Serious listening in my A/V room which has a nice surround system including Atmos speakers (real ones not a soundbar).
Casual listening e.g. in the car or a small stereo system in my home office.
Never headphones, earbuds, etc. I hate those. Never while in the gym, jogging, or anything like that.
I am mostly into classical music and I prioritize quality over convenience. There are limits, for example I won't bother with vinyl (even if I thought that it sounded best) but popping a physical disc into a player is acceptable when I am in serious listening mode. At the moment, my ideal is an SACD, I particularly like the extra channels.
I already have a colossal collection of CDs ripped and available on my phone or tablet (thanks to a 256GB microSD card). This pretty much satisfies the casual modes and a streaming service does not add any convenience.
A downside to any streaming service that I have reviewed so far is the organization. This is generally optimized with non-classical music in mind but classical music is usually organized quite differently.
I have access to Amazon Music via my Prime membership. I sometimes use it to fill in odd gaps. E.g. the other day, I realized that I didn't have You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet. So, I listened via Amazon Prime but then I bought it. For classical music, I sometimes use it for try before I buy. If I like it then I buy it (usually in a physical format). One example of this was trying the Mahler symphonies. Many of my serious classical music friends love Mahler but I don't get him. I used Amazon Music to check and it confirmed that I don't like Mahler; it saved me a wasted purchase.
My wife subscribes to the Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall. I enjoy it as well but it is not optimal for me as it is for her. For her, seeing the players adds a lot and is worth the lower audio quality. For me, seeing has less value except for ballet and opera(which they don't do) and I prefer the higher quality of a CD or better still SACD or BluRay. I am no saying that the audio is bad, just that it is not as good as a physical disc.
I tried Medici TV for a year thanks to a Black Friday 2020 deal. It was quite good but the players were limited. It had many things where the video was important: opera and ballet. The audio quality was variable and only just acceptable at best. I could only play it via my laptop and hence not easily on the main or bedroom TV. Berlin wins in this regard as there are apps suitable for our TVs.
Another reason that I have avoided streaming (except the uses that I just mentioned) is the quality. Until recently, it was not good enough to consider for serious listening. This might be changing. Tidal seems to be offering classical music with high quality and extra channels. That is tempting. They have a £2 for 3 months offer on their HiFi Plus service. So, I will probably give that a try. I will be surprised if I choose to continue but, who knows, I could be wrong. Lots of high quality multi-channel classical music might tempt me.
I have some concerns on the ease of playing. Will it be better than Medici? Will I be able to get apps for my Samsung TVs. I have found one for the Firestick. This is not ideal but I have a Firestick in my main TV.
Have any classical music fans tried Tidal? How is the range available? How well organized is it? Have you tried any high quality or multi-channel formats?