[uzi]

  Hi uzi,
 
I have to say that as a recovering MOG user, I am in love with RDIO. I'm sorry it too me so long to check you guys out. I loved MOG while I had it, but if it was still around and I was choosing now, I'd pick RDIO. In the last week I've discovered more new music that fits me than I did in the last year. Your interface on all platforms is clean and elegant.
 
Noticed you were getting into Jazz. Obviously Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is a must listen, but I also suggest you put on those good cans and queue up some Mingus.  Pure listening heaven.

Hey, glad you're enjoying it!  We're just a bunch of music lovers working on building something that we love.
 
I definitely love "Kind of Blue"... and Brubeck's "Time Out".  I've definitely done some "Mingus Ah Um" listening time... and regularly rock out to Hancock's "Headhunters".  I also fusion it up a bit with Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Birds of Fire" and "Inner Mounting Flame".  Not to mention peeks into the world of Coltrane.  And yet, it feels like I'm only scratching the surface of the Jazz world... so keep the recommendations coming!  (Perhaps take it to messages so we don't spam the world.)
 

  Is Rdio free same quality as Rdio Premium?

I believe it is at the moment, but no guarantee of that staying the same.  Bandwidth costs money!

 

[cn11]

So regarding Beats Music.... IF it has 320kbps quality, and downloads available, then wouldn't it be worth it even though it's $15/mo? If those criteria are met, then I'd consider it regardless of the name...

 

[Dallasa]

  So regarding Beats Music.... IF it has 320kbps quality, and downloads available, then wouldn't it be worth it even though it's $15/mo? If those criteria are met, then I'd consider it regardless of the name...

 
It's basically MOG but with a dumb "hip" interface thrown on top, designed for the smartphone generation. This means the web player is complete trash (you can't even make playlists from the web at the current moment) and in general it seems like it was made with an emphasis on looking cool rather than being functional. How typical of Beats. HOWEVER, it retains MOG's library of 320kbps of music, which was reason enough for me to switch over. Spotify just doesn't have the same coverage of my musical interests as MOG's library did.

 

[cn11]

   
It's basically MOG but with a dumb "hip" interface thrown on top, designed for the smartphone generation. This means the web player is complete trash (you can't even make playlists from the web at the current moment) and in general it seems like it was made with an emphasis on looking cool rather than being functional. How typical of Beats. HOWEVER, it retains MOG's library of 320kbps of music, which was reason enough for me to switch over. Spotify just doesn't have the same coverage of my musical interests as MOG's library did.

 
Yeah the 320 files is a very, very worthy reason to consider it. Thanks for the overview of the pros/cons of the Beats way of doing music.

 

[StratocasterMan]

I think I'm done with streaming. I mean, everything in the world is available in 44.1  / 16 bit lossless FLAC on the Internet. The days where the best I can find are 320 MP3 are almost over. I can find virtually anything in lossless 44.1 / 16 bit FLAC or better.

 

[zzffnn]

It's basically MOG but with a dumb "hip" interface thrown on top, designed for the smartphone generation. This means the web player is complete trash (you can't even make playlists from the web at the current moment) and in general it seems like it was made with an emphasis on looking cool rather than being functional. How typical of Beats. HOWEVER, it retains MOG's library of 320kbps of music, which was reason enough for me to switch over. Spotify just doesn't have the same coverage of my musical interests as MOG's library did.

@ Dallasa:

Please kindly comment: can you get an album search function with similar UI of MOG? I heard that you can swipe to left from Beats' main UI and get album search? 

I have to rely on others' comment to decide whether I will switch to Beats, as I am currently on an old unlocked iPhone (so cannot try Beats at iOS6 easily). Thank you!

 

[Dallasa]

@ Dallasa:

Please kindly comment: can you get an album search function with similar UI of MOG? I heard that you can swipe to left from Beats' main UI and get album search? 

I have to rely on others' comment to decide whether I will switch to Beats, as I am currently on an old unlocked iPhone (so cannot try Beats at iOS6 easily). Thank you!

Do you mean when you search for a term, you want to search specifically for album titles (as MOG broke searches up separately into artists/albums/songs)? Well the search function is essentially the same as MOG's so you can just as you did with MOG and filter by albums. <--- Here for example is the search function of the mobile player. Web player is the same. Like MOG it's pretty basic, but it at least gets the job done.

 

[zzffnn]

@ Dallasa,
That was very helpful. Thank you very much!

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Hey, glad you're enjoying it!  We're just a bunch of music lovers working on building something that we love.
 
I definitely love "Kind of Blue"... and Brubeck's "Time Out".  I've definitely done some "Mingus Ah Um" listening time... and regularly rock out to Hancock's "Headhunters".  I also fusion it up a bit with Mahavishnu Orchestra's "Birds of Fire" and "Inner Mounting Flame".  Not to mention peeks into the world of Coltrane.  And yet, it feels like I'm only scratching the surface of the Jazz world... so keep the recommendations coming!  (Perhaps take it to messages so we don't spam the world.)
 
I believe it is at the moment, but no guarantee of that staying the same.  Bandwidth costs money!

 
Hey bud! 
 
I have an Rdio subscription (and Spotify, and Google Play All Access, and Beats..) and I'm trying really hard to pick just one. Rdio is winning the race in all the features, but... I just can't get over the SQ issue. If I a/b the low-quality streaming from one to the other over cell data, there's no difference. But if I a/b desktop streaming on WiFi when they're at their highest, it IS noticeable. Quality has been a big issue with Rdio for a while, I know they're going at 192, but are these mp3? Ogg? AAC? What's the plan into the horizon here? 

 

[uzi]

 
I have an Rdio subscription (and Spotify, and Google Play All Access, and Beats..) and I'm trying really hard to pick just one. Rdio is winning the race in all the features, but... I just can't get over the SQ issue. If I a/b the low-quality streaming from one to the other over cell data, there's no difference. But if I a/b desktop streaming on WiFi when they're at their highest, it IS noticeable. Quality has been a big issue with Rdio for a while, I know they're going at 192, but are these mp3? Ogg? AAC? What's the plan into the horizon here? 

Feedback like yours is further backing for me to wave around at folks to make the cause.  It's currently mp3 at 192... and as I mentioned, we have plans to up it to 320.  The various formats were a part of the consideration.  That's probably about as much as I can say currently.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Feedback like yours is further backing for me to wave around at folks to make the cause.  It's currently mp3 at 192... and as I mentioned, we have plans to up it to 320.  The various formats were a part of the consideration.  That's probably about as much as I can say currently.

 
Hell that's more than I could find elsewhere, thanks man. 
 
I don't understand the secrecy. It's just bizarre. Everyone else is up front and open about what they use. Google is MP3 from 96 to 320. Spotify uses OGG in the same range. Beats uses 320 MP3 on WiFi and (for some reason) HE-AAC at 64kbps on mobile. I wish I understood why Rdio is so tight-lipped about things. I love the service for the most part, but that bugs me.

 

[uzi]

 
Hell that's more than I could find elsewhere, thanks man. 
 
I don't understand the secrecy. It's just bizarre. Everyone else is up front and open about what they use. Google is MP3 from 96 to 320. Spotify uses OGG in the same range. Beats uses 320 MP3 on WiFi and (for some reason) HE-AAC at 64kbps on mobile. I wish I understood why Rdio is so tight-lipped about things. I love the service for the most part, but that bugs me.

Sure, and there's change afoot (like our new CEO, etc.).  Realistically, you and I are in the minority.  Most folks aren't going to care about any of this, but at least those of us who do will get what we want... with a little patience.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  Sure, and there's change afoot (like our new CEO, etc.).  Realistically, you and I are in the minority.  Most folks aren't going to care about any of this, but at least those of us who do will get what we want... with a little patience.

 
Perhaps. I think most people aren't agonizing over codecs and bitrates, but if you play quality levels they'll mostly go "oooh I want that one". But then, it's also pretty dang possible that the WIDE majority aren't listening on anything that can pick up the differences. So maybe you're right, there.
 
the point is I like Rdio. It does everything pretty much right and unlike the three other main services appears to want to be constantly improving and fixing things. Spotify said they were going to introduce "collections" back in December of 20-friggin-12 and never did. Beats has been out for a few months and still doesn't have a desktop app, tablet app, or even a RADIO feature. Google has had data-gobbling problems since day one and not fixed it. I like that Rdio seems to be more on top of its users' needs, so maybe I'll stick around just confident that changes ARE on the horizon.
 
Side note: just because I like to be thorough, I sat for about a half hour A/B'ing Obscure Sphinx's "Void Mother" album on my M100's and... I may have been imagining the stark differences. I think I could tell, but it wasn't enough for me to be terribly confident. 

 

[uzi]

 
the point is I like Rdio. It does everything pretty much right and unlike the three other main services appears to want to be constantly improving and fixing things.
...
I like that Rdio seems to be more on top of its users' needs, so maybe I'll stick around just confident that changes ARE on the horizon.
 
Side note: just because I like to be thorough, I sat for about a half hour A/B'ing Obscure Sphinx's "Void Mother" album on my M100's and... I may have been imagining the stark differences. I think I could tell, but it wasn't enough for me to be terribly confident. 

I've mentioned it before, we're a bunch of music junkies at the company.  Related: it's amusing how many of us audio nerds are also photo geeks... and I'm one of 'em.  Back before I had kids (and before I worked at Rdio), one of my hobbies was music photography: http://uzishots.com/ ... and the business card at the top... that's me playing bass.
 
Before the kids, I'd spend hours at local music stores Amoeba and Rasputin at their listening stations and search for new things I loved.  The music photography became another avenue for music discovery, supporting the local music scene and discovering music outside of what was being fed to me by the corporate radio stations.  Good times.  Now, I have something better for my music discovery than before... and if there was no Rdio, I'd gladly subscribe to one of our competitors.  The model just works for me, especially in terms of discovery.
 
But, when I really want to scratch the audiophile itch, I'm still buying specific things that I really love.  Like I recently got the Beck "Sea Change" Blu Ray.  The 24/192 2.0 and 5.1 mixes are super detailed and crystal clear... and the 5.1 mix is definitely something to behold, even on headphones.  I also have and love the MFSL Redbook CD release of it and thing it's amazing.  I'd be hard pressed to tell you which I love more... but I can tell you that they're both leaps and bounds better than the original release.  That said, despite its relative inferiority to the Blu Ray and MFSL releases, I can still enjoy the original quite nicely because when it comes down to it, I just love the music.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  I've mentioned it before, we're a bunch of music junkies at the company.  Related: it's amusing how many of us audio nerds are also photo geeks... and I'm one of 'em.  Back before I had kids (and before I worked at Rdio), one of my hobbies was music photography: http://uzishots.com/ ... and the business card at the top... that's me playing bass.
 
Before the kids, I'd spend hours at local music stores Amoeba and Rasputin at their listening stations and search for new things I loved.  The music photography became another avenue for music discovery, supporting the local music scene and discovering music outside of what was being fed to me by the corporate radio stations.  Good times.  Now, I have something better for my music discovery than before... and if there was no Rdio, I'd gladly subscribe to one of our competitors.  The model just works for me, especially in terms of discovery.
 
But, when I really want to scratch the audiophile itch, I'm still buying specific things that I really love.  Like I recently got the Beck "Sea Change" Blu Ray.  The 24/192 2.0 and 5.1 mixes are super detailed and crystal clear... and the 5.1 mix is definitely something to behold, even on headphones.  I also have and love the MFSL Redbook CD release of it and thing it's amazing.  I'd be hard pressed to tell you which I love more... but I can tell you that they're both leaps and bounds better than the original release.  That said, despite its relative inferiority to the Blu Ray and MFSL releases, I can still enjoy the original quite nicely because when it comes down to it, I just love the music.

 
Oh no doubt. Full lossless encoding is always preferable, and if I had the resources to collect music in that fashion? Lord almighty would I ever. Maybe down the road. What I love about Rdio and the like IS that ability to get my hands on tons of music instantly, legally, and without paying ten bucks for every album. I absolutely DEVOUR music, and streaming on-demand services have been a godsend to me. I'll happily pay for a service to get access to the kind of library they have, just picking which is where it gets tricky, lol.
 
I believe you that you're all music people over there. I don't believe anyone could make something like Rdio or Spotify or Beats and NOT be in love with music. And I love that you're on here conversing with me about the service, it's honestly helping me make a decision (hey, guess who fired up an album on Rdio just now...). I dunno if bumping everything to 320 is gonna make a huge difference, but I'm certainly eager to take a listen. 
 
If you could pass it along the grapevine, look into Opus. I've been fiddling with it somewhat and HO-LEE CRAP that can make some stellar audio with very low bitrates.