A quotable quote vis-a-vis streaming

mhardy6647 · November 5

(albeit from a source that's hardly a favorite around here)
The topic is a multichannel (Dolby Atmos) version of a 1994 album by The Cranberries.

Reviewing an album takes a lot of time, and I work in several stages to complete it. In the case of this album, I had already prepared the analysis of the available versions while waiting for the anniversary edition to be released.
However, when the 2025 anniversary edition came out, the previous Deluxe version had disappeared from Tidal (as well as from other streaming platforms).
I decided to keep it in the review, even though it is no longer accessible today, because it clearly highlights the limitations of streaming services: for this album, it is now impossible to choose which version you want to listen to.

This shows that streaming only offers the version(s) it chooses for an album, and that to listen to the original version, it has become necessary to turn to physical formats such as CDs or vinyl records.

source: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/the-cranberries-–-no-need-to-argue-–-when-streaming-services-decide-which-version-we-have-to-listen-to-–-review-cd-vinyl-streaming-1985-2025.67151/

billbillw · December 2

Late to read this, but yep, this is about the same thing I said about two years ago when I had a 3-month Qobuz trial. I prefer to have the original album release in many cases. The good thing about creating your own home music server is you can choose which version(s) to rip and save to the drives. I often have multiple versions of some albums. Once they are saved, streaming them in the house (or to my car via PlexApp on the phone) is just as easy as any of the paid streaming services.

Nov 2023 - https://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/199466/qobuz-vs-local-network-streaming

Upstatemax · December 3

I use streaming to explore, or listen to stuff that I'm not super concerned with the highest possible quality and I didn't want to buy the album.

If I like an album/artist enough, I buy a physical copy (or digital download that's backed up 3x).

In essentially all cases, I prefer physical/downloaded media to streaming for outright quality. Streaming has steadily improved, but still not up to critical listening yet, IMO.

audioluvr · December 4

Upstatemax wrote: »

I use streaming to explore, or listen to stuff that I'm not super concerned with the highest possible quality and I didn't want to buy the album.

If I like an album/artist enough, I buy a physical copy (or digital download that's backed up 3x).

In essentially all cases, I prefer physical/downloaded media to streaming for outright quality. Streaming has steadily improved, but still not up to critical listening yet, IMO.

Me too brother! I have discovered a treasure trove of music via streaming service! Only it's actually hard to find good original recordings any more.

A quotable quote vis-a-vis streaming

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