To be fair - streaming is free if its your own content on a hdd or NAS…
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Compared to the cost of CDs and LPs a streaming subscription is very cheap (and in some cases free if you’re not too fussy) for the amount of music it makes available to you. Internet radio is a form of streaming that is mostly free and many thousands of stations make a vast amount of music accessible.
Even the highest sound quality service now costs only about a tenner a month. To me that seems pretty insignificant for anyone who can afford a Naim streamer.
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There are a number benefits with streaming, apart from the low fee.
I sold my LP12 and CD5 XS in June this along with the Record and CD collection and, went digital only with a Linn Klimax DS3 / Katalyst streamer.
I use Qobuz, which is £12.99 per month and has the largest number of Jazz tracks in Hi-Res.
Previously, if we heard a track we liked on the internet radio station Jazz24, I would buy the album on vinyl. Ended up buying three or four a month, which soon mounts up cost wise.
Unfortunately, you might not like all the tracks on the album, so it might not get listened to that frequently.
With streaming, it’s easy to find that track and album, listen to it. If you like it you can download the whole album or just the tracks that you like.
We are now finding that we are listening to a greater diversity of Jazz artistes and our enjoyment of these has increased.
Benefits we’ve found are;
- Cost, low monthly fee, compared to buying vinyl
- Ease of use
- Large volume of tracks
- Regain space, no vinyl or CD storage
- Increased our repertoire of artistes that we listen to
- Record labels receive more money through streaming than other means, so your supporting the artistes
DG…
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I don’t need convincing 
I have had streaming services for years - I was making a point as the OP and others appeared to be unfamiliar with how it works
If you subscribe to a steaming service like Qobus what quality are the files, CD 16 bit, 24 bit or MP3. Do you have to pay extra for hi res or is it included.
Qobuz is cd or hires quality…….both included in the price. If you go with the Sublime package hires downloads are up to half price, often cheaper than the cd version.
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The highest level Qobuz sub used to be 16/44.1 ‘CD quality’ but as they started to add 24 bit material they made it available at no extra cost, so where available you get 24/44.1, 24/96 or 24/192.
I would add that more and more of the weekly new material is 24 bit. It is at least half and probably more. Percentage of 24bit seems to gradually increasing.
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Yes, I couldn’t put a figure on it, but there has been a steady increase in the amount of 24 bit material that’s available.
For example 12 of the 14 (85%) new jazz albums this week are 24 bit releases.
Yeah, the Sublime subscription is pretty great if you’re interested in growing your hi res digital collection. I’ve been on a buying spree since I switched over in January.
Only just seen this thread. This may be of interest:
I don’t subscribe to any online streaming service, essentially only playing my own locally stored music, just using free online services such as Spotify and uTube to sample possible new music, buying if I like.
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Where in the country are you @TerribleTanker?
There’s a chap in Sheffield that services older CD players so he’d be a great option if he’s vaguely local to you.
Kent I’m afraid.
If that’s Class A Audio, they also do a collect and return courier service.
Just used them and it worked well.
DG…
That’s not who I was referring to (more of a one-man band working from home) but Class A might be an option too.
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May I suggest using an old iPad & a 30-pin AV cable to play CDs ripped in lossless?
You’ll not miss the CD player.
I still have a CD transport going into a good DAC. I now have a cheap streamer BlueSound Node for listening to Spotify to try out new music before I ask for the CD for Christmas/birthday (yes everyone complains they are too cheap for a present but I am happy to get them!).
Problem is recently I’ve heard some classical stuff on R3 and have tried to buy the CD to discover it isn’t available.
this seems to be increasingly the case - although in some cases it is just that the download/stream is released first followed a few days later by the cd - my guess is that just as classical led the way in dropping vinyl in favour of cd it may now be moving on again - i guess it makes economic sense for lower volume releases