If you want to listen to complete albums on a streaming service, you can. Nobody is forcing you to use playlists.
It’s true that the major streaming services don’t connect you closely to the artist, but neither did buying a CD in HMV. The internet is a powerful way to connect artists with their listeners, and as a niche this can thrive, whether or not Spotify are involved.
Bandcamp is a good medium for this. They encourage communication between artists and listeners. As a result of using them, I contributed through a Kickstarter campaign to help fund an album by an upcoming artist I like. A few days ago it linked me to a live streamed concert from another artist who had used her initiative to keep performing under lockdown. I see plenty of scope for this sort of stuff in the future, and I don’t see that buying physical media, or even downloads, has to be a part of it.
A Sonore UPnP Bridge and Roon does it for me to allow me to use my ND5XS.
People with streamers rip them. I was arguing that moving on from that (and downloads) opens the door to music discovery in a wide variety of ways. Some people seem to think that web based streaming is just about being fed playlists from Tidal.
One idea is to use the legacy streamer as intended - with a local UPnP-server which gives excellent results.
I use an Intel i7 NUC with 16Gb RAM and 6Tb SSD in a fanless HDPlex box. It gives me a choice to run Audirvana, Roon Rock or almost any UPnP-server. Just place it far from the Fraim (another room) for optimal sound-quality.
I run Debian Linux where I disabled all system services not needed. And then Minimserver 2, Minimstreamer 2 and SongKong. A reliable UPnP-server with very powerful metadata handling.
The above produce excellent results via a 272/555DR.
This year I’ve been able to borrow a NDX2 and tested as NDX2/555DR/252DR. The NDX2 has a pre-buffering scheme (at least with UPnP). I don’t know if it was this but Minim+NDX2 sounded incredibly good.
Also important is using a clean CD and a level, bug-free disc-reader when ripping CD.s.
My kids, nieces, and nephews have never purchased a cd. They have never used a CD player. Their computers never had dvd drives built in. For $30/month six of us get unlimited streaming from tidal. I’m a huge music fan and a bit of an audiophile and I haven’t purchased a cd since 2016? Honestly don’t know where to buy cds other than Amazon and they just launched their own cd quality streaming service. Yeah the two years was a bit of hyperbole but five years?
The nd5 is great and I own one. It’s dead now but it’s too pretty to throw out. The world has moved on to Roon, USB, and a bit of MQA.
Easy
Roon
ROCK
SonoreUPnP Bridge
Makes the Naim Network player a UPnP enabled DAC (what it was designed to be and optimised for).
The SonoreUPnP Bridge outputs a WAV stream to my NDS for all PCM formats and DSD64 for all DSD formats.
Roon does all the frontend work with Tidal incl. Tidal Masters, Qobuz and lately Lossless Internet Radio, and will support MQA Radio when this is introduced. It also deals with all formats including DSD128, DSD256, DSD256, DXD, MQA
You then have a reference grade network player system that does everything any other Roon based system does - Modernization solved.
You shouldn’t need/use WiFi, AirPlay, Chromecast, Bluetooth in this type of system. If you need them, Roon supports other endpoints for use in other rooms, for instance I have 2 Chromecast enabled WiFi Waterproof speakers in the bathrooms, a Chromecast WiFi Audio system into powered speakers in the bedroom, powered USB Desktop speakers in home office for use with laptops, Bluetooth speakers for use with mobile endpoints/Bluetooth dongle. Won’t want/allow of this technology into my main system.
The SonoreUPnP Bridge approach avoids use of a S/PDIF connection, which as a synchronous data stream comes with limitations and problems, especially as the bit rate goes up beyond 16/44.1 (which it was designed to support)
I’m currently using a bubble container on my NAS to stream Qobuz lossless (using Kazoo app) and minimserver to stream lossless radio stations (Naim app). Would Roon allow me to simplify these workarounds?
Roon would give you one application to do everything so from a user interface perspective it is simpler. I use Roon to control all my music devices from all manufacturers. It will do local music, Tidal/QoBuz and internet radio, including lossless.
You still need a server which is called a Roon Core and also a software bridge to enable Roon on your legacy streamer and of course the Roon application on your PC or tablet to control it.
Thanks for the reply, would I have to use my Macbook or could I use my iPad or iPhone like I do currently? I don’t want to be on my computer when listening to music if that’s possible. I’m not sure what a Roon Core is, is that a physical device or is it an app I could run on my NAS?
Think of Roon Core as the Roon equivalent of a UPNP server but more complex.
A Roon Core can run on Windows, Linux, Mac or some more powerful NAS devices. Most NAS devices don’t meet Roons minimum requirements but may work OK.
Roon also have a distribution call ROCK. This is a distribution of Roon with an included operating system. It is only supported on Intel NUC’s which are very small but quite powerful PC’s. Roon ROCK creates a server which behaves like an appliance. It’s easy to manage as there’s nothing to manage!
To control Roon you can use an Android or Apple tablet or Phone. Also you can run it on a MAC or Windows computer, unlike the Naim application.
Thanks for all that, it’s a bit to digest. I prefer not to add to my collection of computers and devices if I can. If I could get rid of the NAS for this Nuc thing that could work I think. Or perhaps upgrade my NAS to run Roon. Though I’d rather spend money on a new 372 and not need all the extra stuff.
Your current solution is simple and works with free software, Roon requires extra hardware and a £14/month subscription on top as well as looking like an almighty faff.
I think you are doing just fine currently. If your goal is a 372, hold tight for now.
Crazy isn’t it. Same goes for video. I must have spent months or years ripping DVDs/BluRays and trasncoding to formats suitable for streaming locally to my media streamers, and no one apart from me probably watches them anymore. Even hundreds of purchased TV Shows/Movies from iTunes are rarely played back locally on the LAN anymore as it’s virtually all ‘in the cloud’.
So many times I’ll find family watching something on Netflix or Prime and mention that I have the BluRay somewhere, but the simplicity of instant streaming makes the BluRays redundant for most things, unless it’s a title I really want best quality.
Strange feeling I had some weeks ago.
Wanted to play Neil Young.
He cleared nearly all of his repertoire on Tidal.
For some seconds I thought that can happen at any time —>
„They“ can steal your records!
And if all is yours, but just digital? How easy an HDD can break down - everything s lost.
That feeling was stranger than I can explain with words - it was the feeling someone has stolen my youth, my history.
Thank god I have all my cds, my records. And I decided to recover my Tapedeck and tapes.
I don’t rely 100% on streaming, if I like enough for a couple of plays then I’ll buy the download or the CD. My ripped CDs are stored away and I have multiple backups of my music files.
This is the problem with digital media - if the supplier’s ‘catalogue’ changes you may be unable to stream past purchases, though will hopefully still be able to play files you’ve purchased and downloaded, but no guarantee that any proprietary format (mostly for video with DRM) will always be playable in the future.
If you have a large digital media collection, when you go your family will probably be unable to access it, with physical media it can be handed down.
The flipside of course is that physical media can be stolen - had hundreds of CDs and DVDs stolen a few years ago as well as computer/camera gear - nowadays I doubt thieves would be interested in physical media at all as there’d unlikely be much interest in it.
I am not sure what these numbers are telling us. If a high proportion of the music streamed gets reproduced on mobile devices, then the 90% figure at 2018 is not particularly significant. I very much hope that the next generation of Naim servers will not include a ripper. I also hope that the new servers will include a decent UPnP (or, better, support for MinimServer 2, Asset, etc.) server because the current one is a joke.
Just noticed this thread. (I can be totally oblivious to things sometimes)
Personally, I have no interest whatsoever in streaming. I have a very large collection on my NAS, plus the LP12, and so will stick with my NDS until SWMBO relents and lets me audition the ND555.
I’m not at all sure about streaming music’s permanence, and wonder how long they keep back catalogue on their servers. Hence - not for me.
Streaming is great fun, over the years i have found so much music that i just didn’t know, plus its easily the best valve for money.
The legacy streamers still do this, yes they are now old and been dropped by naim for further upgrades, so that limits you some what, but you can work around these, yes its not as easy as the newer models, plus extra stuff, but it is doable.
If you are looking to change then, if you dont want these problems again, then you need to look at streamers that have the advantage of being updated going forward, some have the extra ability to cope with anything that might come along, plus a team behind that that brings on board these developments very quickly when they appear, this is the only way to try and guarantee a longer life span and even then it will at some point be i guess be obsolete, as streaming looks to be the main way forward, as the younger generation are not interested in CD’S, vinyl, tape, they just want everything now, wherever they are.