The introduction of Apple Music with lossless streaming, and the eventual release of Spotify HiFi (any day now…) will force manufacturers to make a choice (and pay a hefty licensing fee) in regard to which streaming platforms they want to support natively with the best possible sound quality. The Bluesound NODE has become one of the most popular all-around affordable digital music streamers and as we discovered recently with our first listen to the Bluesound Pulse Mini 2i and Pulse Flex 2i wireless speakers - it is also a fantastic digital hub to support a multi-room system in your home.
#QOBUZ CONNECT COMPATIBLE DEVICE BLUETOOTH#
A high price does not guarantee support for every streaming service like Qobuz or TIDAL, or support for AirPlay 2, Chromecast, TIDAL Connect, Spotify Connect, Bluetooth aptX or aptX HD. That dilemma also applies to high-end digital streamers as well. Our guide covers products between $99 and $2,500 USD which we’ve used, purchased, and even reviewed recently.īut understand that there isn’t a single affordable digital music streamer that can do it all and offer support for every platform, casting technology, MQA, DSD, or 32-bit/384. Our focus shifted more than two years ago to more affordable high-end audio products and the music streamer category is starting to really make strides in that department. High-end manufacturers have awakened to the reality that consumers might be willing to add a dedicated music streamer to their home system (something that became very popular with CI folks during the pandemic who were very busy with multi-room audio systems), but there are limits to what they might spend.
One can spend anywhere from $99 to $20,000 on a music streamer with very little effort - but does it make sense to do so? You also require a better quality system downstream to truly appreciate the improvement that a music streamer can make. Streaming does drain your battery it gets even worse if you utilize a Dongle DAC to drive a pair of headphones or a pair of active loudspeakers on the desktop.Īnother drawback is that the DAC in your smartphone does not compare favorably to the DAC inside of a dedicated music streamer.
The vast majority of consumers use their smartphone to stream and that’s a perfectly valid way to go. Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music HD, TIDAL, Qobuz, and Deezer are the preferred gateway drugs for hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe and there is pretty much something for everyone at this point.Ĭlassical music fans received a huge boost last week with the launch of Apple Classical Music and we have already started using the app and will be discussing our experience as part of a upcoming podcast covering the current state of music streaming. Digital music streaming accounts for 85% of the market in 2023 and that level of adoption is not getting any smaller.
0 kommentar(er)
