{"id":725,"date":"2015-09-03T08:56:48","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T12:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/?p=725"},"modified":"2015-09-03T08:56:48","modified_gmt":"2015-09-03T12:56:48","slug":"the-quality-of-streaming-great-read-for-those-who-listen-to-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/the-quality-of-streaming-great-read-for-those-who-listen-to-music\/","title":{"rendered":"The Quality of Streaming: Great read for those who listen to music."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IMG_4106\"<\/a>Back in July, Neil Young\u00a0announced he was pulling his music from streaming services<\/a>\u00a0not for financial reasons, but because he didn\u2019t feel the quality was up to snuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent,\u201d Young wrote in a post on Facebook at the time. \u201cIt\u2019s about sound quality. I don\u2019t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution. I don\u2019t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It\u2019s bad for my music.\u201c<\/p>\n

As a recent convert to streaming, wowed by the ease of use and the depth of musical choices the services provided, I initially dismissed the “Old Man\u201d singer\u2019s complaints as nothing more than the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll version of Clint Eastwood\u2019s character in\u00a0Gran Torino<\/i>, basically telling the streaming services and the consumers who embraced them to \u201cget of my lawn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Neil Young\u2019s Pono Player: The Emperor Has No Clothes<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth noting, too, that Young has his own dog in this fight. In early 2015, he introduced Pono, his own \u201chigh-resolution\u201d portable digital player and download service. It\u2019s not a streaming service, but at least theoretically, Pono is fighting it up for some of the same consumer dollars and listeners.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Young\u2019s announcement, I saw an alarming post on Facebook by former Gang of Four drummer Hugo Burnham, who also had stints as an A&R executive at Imago, Qwest, and EMI Music in the ’90s. \u201cGood God\u2026does ANYBODY know how to EQ [a Mac]? I know it\u2019s just a laptop, but my speakers are powered and good \u2013 yet Led Zeppelin III sounds like it\u2019s fkn underwater. I\u2019m almost ready to buy the re-mastered vinyl. Which I just cannot afford.\u201d<\/p>\n

I caught up with Burnham, and it turns out he was listening to Led Zeppelin via Spotify. After some helpful suggestions from his Facebook friends, he was able to adjust the EQ on his Mac for better sound. \u201cI like so much about streaming, though\u2026 don\u2019t get me wrong,\u201d he added later. \u201cBut I also like the sound of the Led Zeppelin vinyl\u2026 as much for what it evokes in my memory, which is more than just soun<\/p>\n

While Burnham was OK with the sound of Spotify after making some adjustments, we thought we\u2019d consult some other industry experts to ask them for their take on streaming.<\/p>\n

Grammy-winning engineer\/mixer\/producer Ed Cherney, who’s worked on classic albums by Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, and others, was happy to oblige. He also shared some information from \u201cresident expert\u201d Phil Wagner, the president of Focusrite\/Novation Audio Products.<\/p>\n

Wagner broke down the various levels of streaming quality for us in terms of data rate. The most widely used variety he termed \u201clossy streaming,\u201d and there are three variations. First, there\u2019s 128 kbs, used in the first MP3s. Wagner calls it \u201cvery 1999,\u201d adding: \u201cNot acceptable for high-fidelity listening. Yes, you are hearing something that approximates real music, but it is 90 percent data-reduced and severely limited in high-frequency content.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next level is 256 kbs, offered by Apple Music, iTunes Match, Amazon Music, and Pandora Premium. Wagner notes that it\u2019s only \u201chalf as bad as [128 kbs], but still limited in high-quality reproduction. It is disheartening that Apple Music and iTunes are not yet offering improvements beyond 256 kbs,\u201d he adds. \u201cThis will all change in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For better quality, there is 320 kbs, offered by Spotify Premium, which Wagner notes is \u201ca further improvement\u201d but still has \u201c77 percent data reduced,\u201d adding, \u201cSounds good, certainly compared to the above. Very listenable until you hear this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cthis,\u201d in this instance, is \u201clossless streaming,\u201d featured on the high-resolution version of Tidal and Deezer. \u201cThis is the same data rate as the CD, so a dramatic improvement in sound quality as you are getting the same amount of data streamed as the CD,\u201d says Wagner. \u201cThe dimensionality comes back to the listener that the producer, engineer, and artist envisioned and heard while recording.\u00a0The difference is shocking. It\u2019s like looking at an original-colored embossed stock certificate vs. a fax of a black-and-white copy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, you usually have to pay more the better quality the streams. Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal all charge $9.99 for monthly subscriptions. (Apple offers a better deal if you want to add on several family members.) Tidal HiFi and Deezer Elite are $19.99 per month, although the latter offers a discount if you sign up for a whole year.<\/p>\n

As for his personal preference, Wagner says, \u201cTidal is my go-to these days. It streams in all locations effortlessly, even in the car. LTE signals handle it with near-instantaneous playback. It is glorious by comparison. Engulfing, enriching, all of that. I spent all of Memorial Day Weekend ‘auditioning\u2019 Tidal compared to Spotify Premium, and you can tell the difference in all of the 10 different hardware configurations I auditioned. Everything from earbuds to Beats cans, computer\/tower\/car speakers, Apple TV, iPhone, iPad.\u00a0It all sounded better than the lossy Spotify format.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then of course, there\u2019s the future. \u201cTidal have indicated that they will provide hi-res streaming in time,\u201d Wagner says. That\u2019s what Neil Young is pushing for with Pono as well as the service known as HD Tracks, but they\u2019re not offering streaming just yet. \u201cI agree with Neil that MP3 quality [streaming] sucks and it can be better,\u201d Wagner says. \u201cThe listener can tell the difference with improved data rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Cherney, he uses Spotify and Pandora and listens with earbuds when he\u2019s riding his bike or walking the dog. \u201cI was an early adapter and find them easy to use and the interface intuitive,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As for the sound quality, \u201cSome is not good enough, and some sounds pretty darn good. For the most part, though, I have been less than thrilled with the sound of music since the introduction of 44.1\/16 bit CDs,\u201d Cherney says. \u201cKeep in mind that I spend the majority of my time in the studio working at a minimum of 48 khz sampling; usually 96 khz sampling through great speakers in a great listening environment.\u00a0 So when I get the manufactured product I\u2019ve been working on, it typically pales in comparison to how we were hearing it in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Cherney won\u2019t alter the sound of the music he\u2019s working on in the studio to conform to streaming\u2019s inferior sound quality. \u201cI still try to make the best-sounding and -feeling music I can, and I refuse to dumb it down to serve an inferior format,\u201d he says. \u201cIf I can get it sounding great in the studio, it usually sounds pretty good whatever and wherever it\u2019s played. I feel that I am hopefully making music that will be around forever, and I just don\u2019t ever want it to sound dated because I dumbed it down just to conform to today\u2019s inferior standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cMy peers and myself work really hard in the studio to bring the highest quality and the most emotion possible to the music and the artists we work with. If the listener had the opportunity to experience what we hear in the studio, they would never be able to go back and listen through crappy earbuds and compressed audio. There is so much feeling and joy experiencing music in glorious full resolution. I think it\u2019s a matter of educating the public, and once they hear it like we experience it in the studio, folks will never settle for less.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in July, Neil Young\u00a0announced he was pulling his music from streaming services\u00a0not for financial reasons, but because he didn\u2019t feel the quality was up to snuff. \u201cIt\u2019s not because of the money, although my share (like all the other artists) was dramatically reduced by bad deals made without my consent,\u201d Young wrote in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-audio-articles-topics","category-why-you-should-use-blossom-installations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":730,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions\/730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blossominstallations.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}