I'm with Spotify and am quite pleased with the vast selection, the price, ease of use and it works so well with my Cambridge Audio streamer. Sometimes things are harder to find than they should be - like most streaming services, classical is an afterthought. I have no trouble with the sound quality.

 

Do you use a Cambridge CXN? I do, and I experience daily hiccups with Spotify, one of the reasons for the switch to Qobuz.

 

Using Tidal for the last two months. Quality is excellent but search is poor. NML I use sometimes. Both suffer from lack of file organisation. Like TV there may be too much choice and not all of it good.

 

My favorite steaming services are not mentioned:
Met Opera On Demand
Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall
Naxos Music Library

My problem with Apple is that has a poor search engine and it is difficult to find items.

 

iDagio is superb and with three price points.

 

I use Idagio and I'm very happy with it. I've tried all the others and I keep returning to Idagio.

 

Qobuz is my preferred. Its selection of non-classical music isn't always great, but for classical it's the best. The recommendations are always spot-on too.

 

I find NML is easily the best.

 

I use Spotify, because it also has all of the rest of my listening interests... jazz, film scores, pop, podcasts, etc. The search interface is pretty awful for classical, but when I want to browse for a specific work or composer, there is a third-party app called Concertmaster that helps.
I used to subscribe to Idagio for my classical listening, but finances have tightened, and I can't justify the extra cost any more.

 

Currently Qobuz and Apple Music/Apple Classical.

In the past I also maintained subscriptions to Amazon Music and Tidal (and before that Spotify), but ultimately decided that paying for four streaming services simultaneously (all at their best streaming quality) did not make sense and let the Tidal and Amazon Music subscriptions lapse.

Of all the services I have used Qobuz is probably the only one that does not treat classical music as an afterthought, I would keep it as my only service, but I am also heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem and find the overall integration of Apple's products to be good. I am however not particularly impressed with Apple's efforts with Apple Music Classical.

 

Sonos Radio. Scores and scores of classical stations worldwide to choose from.

 

I'm using Qobuz, and pretty happy with it.

They have a a large selection of the contemporary classical music that I like, and at 16/44.1 sounds very close to CD quality.

My streaming device is an Allo Audio USBridge Signature, which is a pretty high end piece of gear, despite it being somewhat of a budget level product.

 

Forgive my ignorance - what is a streaming device, and what's wrong with just linking the PC/laptop or phone to your hi-fi - or just phone to headphones?

 

A streaming device is a standalone unit (like a CD-player) that is connected to an amplifier.
It streams music from different streaming services, internet radio, or a music library on a NAS.

 

I use Naxos Music Library.

 

We frequently received threads were members ask what the best recording is of whatever.

With the Naxos Music Library one can easily find the majority of available recordings of various works.

For example, out of curiosity I wanted the check out the various recordings of the Shostakovich Eleventh Symphony. Even with my music background I do not have the wherewithal to make a determination on which recording was the best.

My favorite was the recording of Stokowski conducting the Houston Symphony. Music preferences are so personal. I am sure that there are probably members who would think that the recording stinks.

With these steaming services and YOU Tube one can explore the various recordings and find which ones work for them.

 

I cancelled my Qobuz subscription, as it is not compatible with Chromecast audio.
Trying now Tidal.

 

I listen to Qobuz via ChromeCast using LMS with the Qobuz plug-in. Would that work for you?

Can you get Tidal to work with ChromeCast?

 

I have a query. As I said, I use Spotify but when I cast it, via Bluetooth, to my AV receiver it gets a bit glitchy and there are split-second cut-outs. Why is this? I have a fast connection and it doesn't happen with Bluetooth in the car/on Alexa. Any theories?

 

I have no idea why you have dropouts using Bluetooth, however I experienced dropouts using Spotify Connect on my Cambridge CXN.
Now, with Tidal Connect I have no dropouts at all, while the streaming rate with Tidal is much higher.

It must be a Spotify thing.

 

My website is back up and running. You may find it helpful if you have a Spotify account. It's focused on Spotify's classical music offerings rather than pop albums and performers.

https://composerexplorer.com/

 

Not interested.

 

I've stuck with Spotify because it seems to have the greatest number of historic recordings.

 

I use Apple Music Classical and have been very happy with the service. I use it in combination with purchasing recordings which I value high enough. The streaming service is a great way of finding out what recordings I should buy. It is also great for listening to music which I like but do not find necessary to own as a recording.

 

I'm now with Tidal for a few weeks. I can let you know that the search engine is terrible for classical music.
If you know exactly what you are looking for, you eventually can find it. However, to have an overview of the albums from a certain composer is impossible.
I use the search engine of Spotify instead, then search for the specific album on Tidal.

eg : Try looking up the albums of Tartini.

I stick to Tidal only for the stability and quality of streaming. The UI sucks.

 

I'm trying out "Roon" in combination with Tidal and my own music library.
Not only is the playback superb, stable without any hiccups, but also the search engine is splendid for classical music.
Really a great addition to improve the user experience of Tidal.

 

I started a free trial to Qobuz today, and had been enjoying it and had thought I might replace Spotify Premium with it. That is until I realized that Qobuz cannot tell the difference between John Adams, John Luther Adams, and the soundtrack to the tv series "John Adams".

 

I checked, but can't see the problem with the search engine of Qobuz. I was using the web application on PC.

 

For me, Presto Music is the best streaming service for classical music

 

I don't use streaming services, but if I did and was looking for one for classical music in particular, Presto Music would be my go to.

 

I've been using Presto music and it's excellent, although it is annoying that you can't create playlists of favourite pieces, just albums. Also a bit annoying that for the articles you have to scroll all the way down to find old ones.

I trialed Idagio first, which was also good, but comparing the two side by side Presto had a slightly wider classical selection, and also includes Jazz, my second favourite genre.

 

I’m quite happy w/ an ad blocker/youtube for when I have a specific work I want to hear and classical radio for all other needs.

I wouldn’t use an ad blocker if they didn’t put ads in the middle of a work.

 

I like Apple for audio. I have an apple 4k device, too, so I'm setup for atmos.


For video, Carnegie Hall plus is where the fun is at for me. Also signed up for the stingray classica trial this morn. I like it and think I'll keep it. Also curious to try the stingray djazz service, although I don't recognize a lot of the artists avail through there.

 

I'm using Presto.