[CanadianMaestro]

   
It is so awesome you are losing the opportunity to enjoy better music, CanadianMaestro. Much better music. And a helluva much much better choices---millions of them...and at better quality.

LOL. You are a true Head-Fier. With my floor system, I don't need streaming, my friend. You have no idea what great music sounds like.
Enuff said.

 

[pauliunas]

Just like what happened to vinyl, its CDs' time to go...sorry, just being honest...solution is to move on, not pull down...

 

I never said CD is better than downloaded files. I said they're equal. But if the service has better bitrate/framerate, it's obvious it's better.
Anyway, I never defended CDs. I clearly stated several times that I prefer digital downloads and I totally agree with you that CDs should be dead long time ago. However, plain files are much more convenient for me than streaming. They don't have a DRM lock, that means I can listen to them from anywhere. And i don't need to pay anymore once I get a decent library. By paying I mean not only the streaming service but also the data plan.

 

[diamondears]

LOL. You are a true Head-Fier. With my floor system, I don't need streaming, my friend. You have no idea what great music sounds like.
Enuff said.

Yeah, if you've nothing logical to say you attack...for decent individuals you actually buried yourself. You in the CD-selling industry with 1000%+ mark-up per CD? C'mon. This is a no-brainer, even for a someone with decent enough system and not as "great playing system" as yours who couldn't be scammed easily.

Didn't say you NEED it. My point is--streaming ISN'T inferior to CD as you wanted it to appear and imply to unsuspecting newbies. In fact it IS superior to CD if you use exactly the same DAC as it is the original studio master digital file and without the detriments of the CD-mass-recording equipment and the CD media itself.

You have terrific floorstanding speakers as you claim...so there's MORE reason for you to look for a better way to play MORE and EQUALLY good (if not better, which it is) recordings because your system could handle more and better...right?

So let me ask you this---why wouldn't you use Tidal with equal if not better quality, cheaper, and already have millions more music at your fingertips compared to whatever you can buy in your lifetime?? I don't see any reason SQ-wise. Sorry. My apologies if the truth hurts you.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Who was it a while back, who boldly stated that vinyl would go the way of the Dodo bird? Extinct. Gone.  Despite all its flaws?
 
I can't remember.
 
Not interested in the "widest selection". I'm a snob. With specific tastes in music. That are satisfied by CDs. Period. (And I still read books -- not tablets, with the "widest selection" on the internet).

 

[Shaffer]

I'm hardly a big fan of the CD, but at least it's something tangible. A steaming service is renting music. That soundtrack to one's life will one day disappear, but the folks who own music can still enjoy it. Don't get me wrong; I love Spotify. It's easy to check out the recordings I'm interested in. I've heard Tital, as well. If anyone thinks it sounds like a prime recording, there's a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. Cheap. Let's not miss the point. Renting music may be fine for some, but it can never replace a personally curated collection.

Edit: typo

 

[diamondears]

I'm hardly a big fan of the CD, but at least it's something tangible. A steaming service is renting music. That soundtrack to one's life will one day disappear, but the folks who own music can still enjoy it. Don't get me wrong; I love Spotify. It's easy to check out the recordings I'm interested in. I've heard Tital, as well. If anyone thinks it sounds like a prime recording, there's a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. Cheap. Let's not miss the point. Renting music may be fine for some, but it can never replace a personally curated collection.

Edit: typo

SQ-wise CD is better?

Yeah you're "renting", but you can rent all you want while you live for equal if not better SQ for less than 1/4 the price, and its not a better deal??

Btw, you can personally curate also with Tidal using playlists...which is actually a potentially MUCH better curation.

You guys are incredible...that's the reality right there...lol

 

[CanadianMaestro]

We express our own opinions, just like you. Personally, I try not to make sweeping generalizations about SQ of any medium like disc, vinyl, or FLAC. There's a huge range of bad- and great-quality recordings out there, in all formats. So I challenge anyone to pigeon-hole any single medium as the best for SQ across the board.
 
When I buy a CD I really acquire TWO collections that I own, permanently. 1. The CD itself i.e. the original media/recording, with its liner notes. 2. The digital file collection, in FLAC, which I create when I rip the CD. With #2, I can, if I wish to, modify the music with available software, through editing, mixing, or EQing (the latter is verboten for me). If I screw up with the massaging of #2, or if I lose all/part of #2 because of hard drive failure, I still have the original CDs. A big plus, imo.  I don't need to obsess about continually backing up a massive file collection on separate drives.
 
Enough said on this. We all like certain media, that's clear.
 
Getting back to the OP topic....best HP for CM?
 
Edit: added stuff in paragraph 2

 

[Shaffer]

SQ-wise CD is better?

Heh, it's like asking what smells better cat excrement or dog excrement.

Yeah you're "renting", but you can rent all you want while you live for equal if not better SQ for less than 1/4 the price, and its not a better deal??

How do you know these services will be around your whole life? I'm willing to bet they won't.

Btw, you can personally curate also with Tidal using playlists...which is actually a potentially MUCH better curation.

You guys are incredible...that's the reality right there...lol

See above.

 

[RRod]

Heh, it's like asking what smells better cat excrement or dog excrement.
How do you know these services will be around your whole life? I'm willing to bet they won't.
See above.

 
Well to be fair your CDs won't last your whole life 

 But the oldest in my collection is now 35 years old and still works fine, and lets me convert it into all kinds of formats and even stream it when I get un-lazy enough to set up a server. And I'm also one of those people who think there's just something to having a bird in hand.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

I've got a Sony MDR-1R closed over-ear HP, and for fun, I put on some Quartets (Schubert) last night. They sounded pretty good, for a $200CAD set of closeys. A touch on the warm side. Better than the Focal Spirit One.
 
Not the definitive HP (whatever that is) for classical, but for travelling and in hotel rooms, these are darn good. Really comfy too, which counts for a lot, in my book.

 

[Shaffer]

Well to be fair your CDs won't last your whole life 

That's why I have over 6,000LPs (no thrift store junk). Given my age, the CDs will outlive me by decades.

But the oldest in my collection is now 35 years old and still works fine, and lets me convert it into all kinds of formats and even stream it when I get un-lazy enough to set up a server. And I'm also one of those people who think there's just something to having a bird in hand.

...makes sense.

I have a system in every room. No need to stream processed gibberish.

 

[pauliunas]

Guys STOP THIS WORLD WAR 3 PLEASE.
Seriously, let's just agree that these formats are equally good and that it's a matter or preference. i prefer carefully selected tracks with no interruptions and no need for a separate app to play them. I want to use my own music player app, I want to listen offline in Windows, I want to burn a couple of CD and listen to my favorite tracks when driving. Just deal with it and stop defending Tidal.
I was asking about places to get high quality (at least CD quality lossless) downloads. Alternatives do not interest me and i already explained why.
Now I would be grateful if you just resist the urge to try and prove that one or another kind of music format is better.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

I was asking about places to get high quality (at least CD quality lossless) downloads.

 
Maybe try these? (not all are necessarily "CD-Qual lossless"?)
 
http://www.analekta.com/en/
http://www.atmaclassique.com/en/default.aspx
https://bleep.com/
http://bluecoastrecords.com/store
https://www.burningshed.com/
http://www.dacapo-records.dk/en/
http://www.eclassical.com/
http://www.gimell.com/
http://www.gubemusic.com/
https://www.hdtracks.com/
http://www.highresaudio.com/
www.highdeftapetransfers.com
http://www.itrax.com/
http://www.linnrecords.com/
http://www.naimlabel.com/
http://www.pristineclassical.com/
http://subradar.no/
http://www.theclassicalshop.net/
www.2L.no
www.unipheyemusic.com
http://www.audiostream.com/content/hd-music-download-sites
 

 

[diamondears]

Debate is good.

Change is good.

 

[diamondears]

I'm in the car right now, iPhone 6+ in hand...plug the Apple CCK with USB cable into it, which on the other end connects to my iFi nano iDSD...plug the iDSD into the Aux in jack of my car...I open the Tidal app...aaaaahhhh...bliss...what classical recording any of you want me to play?