[theeclone]

Um wut?

https://www.discogs.com/about/liste...sage-from-discogs-ceo-kevin-lewandowski-2023/

 

[sixergixer]

I'm looking at an endpoint solution to (probably) replace my Pi/HifIBerry XLR HAT (which is misbehaving)). A mac mini is an attractive option, but what chain are you all using to get music from the Mac USB-C and into your amp? I'll be using Roon.

Thoughts welcome!

I'm 9 pages behind responding to this, but I cannot recommend the Cambridge Audio MXN10 highly enough. I purchased mine right after it became available this year and it has been rock solid since the day I plugged it in.

It replaced using my iPhone/USB3 connector setup for streaming Qobuz and Apple Music, and it operates just as I hoped it would. Cambridge's StreamMagic app is functionally good - not the prettiest UI out there, but it does the job of integrating streaming and local USB file access (and Roon though I am not a subscriber to that just yet) very well.

Cambridge's customer service and support request team has been exemplary so far. Built into the StreamMagic app is a Feedback section where support issues can be submitted, but more than that, users are actively encouraged to submit feature and improvement requests as well. I have done so twice and both times I received a rapid real-person email follow-up thanking me for the submittal and even offering a simple workaround for a function I was after. Amazing!

Most importantly, it sounds great, and at $400 U.S., it is affordable too. Anyway, that's my two bits about streamers.

 

[sixergixer]

Real quick ask: As I'm looking more and more to remove myself from the Spotify ecosystem completely at some point (currently just listen at work on a large Bluetooth speaker or podcasts at home), where do you all listen to your podcasts from?

 

[Mumbles06]

Real quick ask: As I'm looking more and more to remove myself from the Spotify ecosystem completely at some point (currently just listen at work on a large Bluetooth speaker or podcasts at home), where do you all listen to your podcasts from?

I use google podcasts for all mine, but Google is phasing it out soon. I think it will become youtube podcasts, but I like/know the Google interface, so I won't switch until it stops working.

 

[sixergixer]

I use google podcasts for all mine, but Google is phasing it out soon. I think it will become youtube podcasts, but I like/know the Google interface, so I won't switch until it stops working.

Thanks! I could see the YouTube platform working well for that as long as one does not need to be a Premium subscriber to have it play in the background - that would be stupid.

I did a cursory search and discovered the actual Podcasts app on my iPhone [Who knew?!] so I'm going to explore that and see how it works.

 

[sopranomi]

Real quick ask: As I'm looking more and more to remove myself from the Spotify ecosystem completely at some point (currently just listen at work on a large Bluetooth speaker or podcasts at home), where do you all listen to your podcasts from?

Tried Pocketcast?

 

[sixergixer]

So I have a Pi 3 or 3b with a digi one or allo boss hat (i can't recall which). I didnt like the UI of the software I tried.

What would be better?

Subscribing to Roon, and using the pi and hat as an roon endpoint, controlling with the roon app and my ipad?

Or

Selling my Pi, not subscribing to Roon and buying a Bluesound Node 2 or a Cambridge Audio MXN10, using either app through my ipad?

As an owner, I strongly suggest the MXN10. Read up a couple of posts for more thoughts on it.

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

Real quick ask: As I'm looking more and more to remove myself from the Spotify ecosystem completely at some point (currently just listen at work on a large Bluetooth speaker or podcasts at home), where do you all listen to your podcasts from?

Apple's own Podcasts app is pretty decent and won't go away any time soon. Has the benefit of syncing your library between your devices via iCloud.

Overcast is a very decent and privacy-aware podcast manager from a small, independent developer who has been supporting the app for almost a decade, so I expect that one to stick around for a while as well. Optional subscription fee of 10 bucks per year to unlock some extra features and support the work of the developer.

 

[AndreYew]

I like Overcast as well as the Apple native app, but I don't know what people outside of our beautiful walled garden might use.

At home, the Logitech Music Server can fetch podcasts too, but it feels a little rudimentary.

 

[sixergixer]

Can you point to anything a streamer can do better than a computer?

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but my current computer streaming is excellent. I have a good motherboard, that allows clean usb audio outs. I have 3 32" monitors, versus a small streamer screen. If my main rack computer isn't counted, I have a 15" and 17" laptops that are very capable. Then the 4 12" tablets.

I'm in the "if not broke don't fix it camp".

My thoughts on this are more theoretical (derived from a couple of years of sifting through tons of collective opinions from the internet audiophile mindhive) than from any direct experience. I haven't used a desktop computer to stream music in a number of years.

If I listened from a desktop more frequently (at all), maybe I'd be fine with the supposed compromises of using a PC instead, but maybe not.

 

[Iowan]

When the Nakamichi 1000 hit the market the recording industry went into a tizzy.

I couldn't afford the 1000 and was delighted to no end when the 700II came out. That was a more achievable amount I could save for and buy.

Ahh the days of borrowing a friend's LP and and switching back and forth between the record and the recording live going onto the little cassette. Wow, sounds the same!!

Glad I didn't save forever and a day for the Revox open reel! Cassettes were the future.

Cassettes were way more convenient. Play 'em in the car and give to your friends......oh oh tax the sale of the Nakamichi or the industry will collapse....and yet here we are!

Holy Schiit did I mention it was silver?
And it had meters, real meters!

Loved how the door on the right would magically open to the record head azimuth alignment controls. Kind of like the ritual of playing an LP!

Very nice !

 

[golfbravobravo]

I don't think ATC has volume control on their speakers ...

How do they hear the aeroplanes then?

 

[golfbravobravo]

Apple's own Podcasts app is pretty decent and won't go away any time soon. Has the benefit of syncing your library between your devices via iCloud.

Overcast is a very decent and privacy-aware podcast manager from a small, independent developer who has been supporting the app for almost a decade, so I expect that one to stick around for a while as well. Optional subscription fee of 10 bucks per year to unlock some extra features and support the work of the developer.

My big issue with the last big update with Apple's Podcast app is that they now "hide" all the downloads in obscured files inside the Library. It's one of the things that Apple does that I hate (data should be seperable form apps, and backed up that way!) and they are influencing app developers to go the same way.

Did I tell you yet that I hate that approach????

gPodder is an adequate substitute to Podcasts, though not as elegant.

 

[PBraith]

How are they going to take my Bandcamp purchase (alac download) from my mac mini hard drive?

Or my White vinyl, Cat Temper-Meow at the Moon LP

 

[ArmchairPhilosopher]

My big issue with the last big update with Apple's Podcast app is that they now "hide" all the downloads in obscured files inside the Library. It's one of the things that Apple does that I hate (data should be seperable form apps, and backed up that way!) and they are influencing app developers to go the same way.

Did I tell you yet that I hate that approach????

I can see that this could be a slight annoyance.

I am an iOS app developer by trade, however. And not only do I understand why they do it, I also agree with their reasons and I fully support them in that platform design decision.
App sandboxing is one of the most powerful tools available to a system architect to protect people's devices and their data from a virtually endless and ever growing list of attack vectors. It is the single-most important factor behind why iOS is still the only(!!!) major computing platform that has remained 100% secure, sixteen years running. Does sandboxing occasionally inconvenience the user? Yes. But I argue that the alternative is exponentially worse in terms of overall user experience (of which the ability to trust in privacy and data protection is a major part).
I also use Windows and other platforms in my day-to-day (work-)life, and I find myself being quite a bit more inconvenienced by the constant time and effort that I have to invest to keep those systems and the personal and business information they contain reasonably protected.

This might sound like some dismissive handwaving from a random Apple fanboy, but I mean this sincerely and with all the respect in the world: I can understand how this could be a dealbreaker for some users or some use cases. Other platforms do exist that offer their users a little more freedom at the cost of quite a sizable chunk of peace of mind. Choose what works best for you.