Change in purchasing habits sink in

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by imprezap2

For me "digital" front end all the way, I can't be bothered in buying a TT and records again.

In the last two/three years I see the TT revival when I visit shop demo's, and very rarely I enjoy the TT/records better than the digital front end they switch to.

I don't have a MQA DAC (yet), so I am not fully taking advantage of what Tidal can give me, but I have also reduced my CD buying habit.

Jim, Have you compared other DAC's to the Meridian 808V6 that you have ?

Over the past few years I have auditioned several DACs in my system against the my 808 now at v6 level. Units from MSB, Esoteric, Playback Design, are among those I have tried out. There have also been others DACs which I would compare at my dealer(s) to the units I ended up bringing home that never made the cut or are out of my price range.

[imprezap2]

Thanks Jim, I might give one of the Meridian DAC's a try in the near future.

[Mikado463]

Originally Posted by imprezap2

For me "digital" front end all the way, I can't be bothered in buying a TT and records again.

this is exactly what distinguishes those of us that are 'real' analog junkies and the 'pretenders' , for we never abandoned our analog passion. I do agree and have stated quite often that starting from scratch now does not make a lot of sense.

As Jim stated in his opening posted his habits have changed to which I agree. Myself not the most competent tech savy guy I often get somewhat frustrated with all the digital variants and thus just enjoy the thousands of albums I own both LP, CD and SACD.

[crwilli]

Originally Posted by Mikado463

this is exactly what distinguishes those of us that are 'real' analog junkies and the 'pretenders' , for we never abandoned our analog passion. I do agree and have stated quite often that starting from scratch now does not make a lot of sense.



As Jim stated in his opening posted his habits have changed to which I agree. Myself not the most competent tech savy guy I often get somewhat frustrated with all the digital variants and thus just enjoy the thousands of albums I own both LP, CD and SACD.

<Vadar voice> Dave, come to the dark side, I can help you convert all your digital discs to files and get you started towards your desssssstiny...

[vegaracer1]

Originally Posted by Mikado463

this is exactly what distinguishes those of us that are 'real' analog junkies and the 'pretenders' , for we never abandoned our analog passion. I do agree and have stated quite often that starting from scratch now does not make a lot of sense.

As Jim stated in his opening posted his habits have changed to which I agree. Myself not the most competent tech savy guy I often get somewhat frustrated with all the digital variants and thus just enjoy the thousands of albums I own both LP, CD and SACD.

I agree with the tech savvy part, I have in the past had to fuddle around with digital devices to use them.Often I would end up just going back and turning on the CD player and it works always,the same and without aggravation.

Originally Posted by Weirdcuba

I still hear a distinct difference between tidal and hi Rez and vinyl and good fm on my system. So, I use tidal to sample music, but if it's good, I'll buy it in whatever format makes sense for that title. Lots less mediocre music purchases though.

[Still-One]

That's the great thing about Sooloos. It just always works. Easy to import and never hangs up.

[SuperD]

Jim, Everything changed for me when I bought the Aurender. I've purchased one cd from Amazon since I started streaming Tidal. I always thought I'd be a spinner for life, but the simplicity of the Aurender app & Tidal make me reevaluate my preferences. I noticed I only research Dacs now and no longer feel the need to upgrade the K-01X. Strange times for me but I'm enjoying all the new tunes.

[Weirdcuba]

Well, I just spent a boatload on a turntable and all the fixings, so it'll be interesting to see where it goes. I like the different options, including fm, digital and vinyl. No need for cds for me though, other than to rip content I can't buy elsewhere.

The other thing about buying music for me is supporting the artists. As far as I can tell, streamed music still doesn't have that equation balanced to compensate artists equivalent to sales. I say that though with practically nothing other than magazine type articles to base the statement.

I do admit that I listened to tidal the other night and it sounded really good.

[bart]

I like surround sound.
So I'm still buying SACDs and Blu-rays.
But it will only be a matter of time before streaming services will provide a broad catalogue of 5.1 tracks (I hope).

I might jump on the train of stereo streaming services pretty soon too. Qobuz seems to have a excellent choice in jazz and classical.

[nicoff]

Originally Posted by bart

I like surround sound.
...So I'm still buying SACDs and Blu-rays.
But it will only be a matter of time before streaming services will provide a broad catalogue of 5.1 tracks (I hope)....

I do not know about Blu-Rays, but you can rip your SACDs and create digital multichannel files right now using certain CD players (Oppo 103 and 105, for example). I converted all my SACDs to digital multichannel files and I can play them using a phone or a tablet.
PS. I just did a google search and there ARE several ways of extracting the audio from Blue-Ray discs as well.