How to Stream High Resolution Music - Rolling Stone

High-resolution music also has a larger sampling rate (basically the maximum frequencies you can hear from digital music). The higher the ... × × CourtesyShutterstock Shutterstock/IvanKruk Productsfeaturedareindependentlyselectedbyoureditorialteamandwemayearnacommissionfrompurchasesmadefromourlinks;theretailermayalsoreceivecertainauditabledataforaccountingpurposes. Untilrecently,musicfanshavehadtofaceanannoyingchoice:useastreamingservicewithcompressedaudio,orgetCDsandhigh-resolutionmusicalacarte.Theformeriswaymoreconvenient,andgivesyouunlimitedaccesstoalibrarycontainingmillionsofsongs,butthelatterwillsoundbetter. Thankfullythishaschangedrecently,andahandfulofcompanieshavestartedhigh-resolutionmusicstreamingservices,whichofferconvenienceand audioquality. WhatisHigh-ResolutionMusic? Onewaytojudgethewaydigitalmusicsoundsisbylookingatitsbitrate,ortheamountofdatathat’stransmittedbetweenthefileyou’relisteningto,throughtheplayeryou’reusing,andtoyourears.Themoredata,thebetterthesound(Note:thewaymusicismixedandmasteredalsoplaysahugeroleinhowmusicsounds.Iftheactualmusiciscompressedwhileit’sbeingmade,bit-ratewon’tmatermuch).  Related RSRecommends:TheBestRecordPlayersUnder$500 TheseRapidCovidTestsAreSellingOutOnlineAsPeopleGather(Cautiously)fortheHolidays Related TheUnitedStatesofWeed 'Friends':TheTop10RossMoments TypicalmusicstreamingserviceslikeAppleMusicorSpotifyallowyoutostreamhigh-qualityMP3s,whichhaveabitrateof320kb(kilobytes).MusicfilesonCDshaveabit-rateof1,411kbps(thisisalimitationoftheCDformat).High-resolutionmusiccanhaveabitrateofupto9,216kbps.That’sasubstantialdifference,andifthemusicismasteredwell,andyouuseniceequipment,you’llnoticeadifference(Note:Thisdifferencemaybeminimizedifyou’vesufferfromhearingloss). High-resolutionmusicalsohasalargersamplingrate(basicallythemaximumfrequenciesyoucanhearfromdigitalmusic).Thehigherthesamplingrate,themorebass(lowfrequencies)andtreble(highfrequencies)youcanhear.BothCDsandMP3shaveamaximumsamplingrateof44.1kHz(kilohertz);high-resolutionmusiccanhaveasamplingrateofbetween96kHzand352.8kHz.Avastmajorityofhigh-resolutionmusicfileshaveasamplingrateof96kHzor192kHz,bothofwhichareappreciablyhigherthanthe44.1kHzcaponotherdigitalfiles. High-resolutionstreamingservicesallowyoutostreammusicat96kHzor192kHzifyouhavetherightgear.Youstillgetaccesstoalibraryofmillionsofsongs;manyofthemarejustavailableinhigh-resolution.Ifasongisnotavailableinhigh-resolution,theseserviceswillofferthetrackoralbumatCDquality,whichisstillabigstepaboveMP3audio. WhatEquipmentDoYouNeedToStreamHigh-ResolutionMusic? Thankfullythere’sonlyonecomponentyou mayneedinordertolistentomusicinhighresolution:aDAC(digitalanalogconverter).Yourcomputer,tablet,phone,TV,andstereoreceiverallhaveabuilt-inDAC;it’sthecomponentthatconvertsdigitalfilesintosoundyoucanhear,butnotallofthemsupporthigh-resolutionaudiofiles. Ifyouwanttomaketheleaptohigh-resolutionmusiclisteningonyourphone,computer,orstereo,youmayneedanewDACtodoit.I’mrecommendingtwoDACsI’vehadgoodexperienceswith,orstillusetoday.Alotofneweraudiogearcomeswithsupportforhigh-resolutionaudiooutofthebox,butbesuretocheck,ifyou’dliketogetthemostoutofyourdigitalmusic. 1.AudioQuestDragonflyBlackDAC Amazon Ifyouwanttostreamhighresolutionmusiconyourphone,tablet,orcomputer,IrecommendtheDragonflyBlackDACfromAudioQuest.It’saboutthesizeofaflashdrive,andplugsdirectlyintoyourdeviceviaUSB.Ifyou’reusingacomputer,youwon’tneedanyotheraccessoriestouseit. IfyouwanttoconnectittoaniPhone,you’llneedthisadapter;ifyouwanttoplugitintoanewerAndroidphone,you’llneedthisadapter.Onceit’sconnected,gotoyourdevice’ssoundsettings,andmakesuretheDragonflyBlackhasbeenidentified.Inmyexperience,thishashappenedautomatically,unlessapairofBluetoothheadphoneswereconnectedtothedeviceatthesametime. Wheneverythinglooksgood,justplugyourheadphonesintotheaudiooutjackonthebottomoftheDragonflyDACandhitplay.I’mrecommendingthisDACbecauseofitssmallsizeandeaseofuse,butitdoeshaveonelimitation:itcanonlyplaydigitalfileswithasamplingrateofupto96kHz. HighresolutionstreamingserviceswillautomaticallydownsampletheirfilestothehighestresolutionyourDACsupports.Ifyouwanttosacrificesomeportabilityandpowerefficiencyfor192Kzsupport,IrecommendtheFulla3fromSchiitaudio. Buy: AudioQuestDragonflyBlack at $149.90 2.BluesoundPowerNode2i Streamingserviceshavetypicallybeengearedtowardspeoplewhowanttolistentosongsonthego,butifyouwanttoexperiencehigh-resolutionmusicathome,IrecommendBluesound’sPowernode2i.ThecombinationDAC,streamer,andampisaprettygoodall-in-onesolutionforsomeonewhowantstogetseriousabouthigh-resolutionmusicstreaming. ThereasonIlovethePowernode2iisbecauseit’scompactandcapable.Allyouneedtodoisconnectapairofspeakerstoit,andyou’reallset.ThePowernode2isupportsmusicresolutionsupto192kHz,andthecompany’sBluOSapp(availableoniOSandAndroid)allowsyoulogintosomehigh-resolutionstreamingservicesfromtheamplifieritself. YouwillneedtoconnectthePowernode2itoyourWiFinetworktostreammusicthroughit,buttheappwalksyouthroughtheprocess,whichtakesaboutfiveminutes.OneofthethingsIreallylikeaboutthisampisthatBluesoundcontinuestopushsoftwareupdatestoittoimproveitsperformance.Thecompanycanalsopushupdatesthataddsupportformorehighresolutionstreamingservicesastheybecomeavailable,whichfuture-proofsitalittlebit. Finally,ifyou’vealreadyassembledalocallibraryofhighresolutionmusic,youcantransferthefilestoaflashdrive,plugitintothePowernode2i’sUSBport,andplaythemusicbackthatway.Thatbonusfeatureisgreatifyou’readigitalaudiophilewho’sstillalittleuneasyaboutgoingall-inonstreaming. Buy: BluesoundPowernode2i at (Note:Ifyou’realreadyhappywithyouramporstereoreceiver,andareonlyinterestedinbeingabletostreamhigh-resolutionmusicthroughit,IrecommendBluesound’sNode2i,whichisthePowernode2iwithoutanamp.It’savailableonAmazonfor$549. 3.FiioM6 Amazon Highresolutionmusiccansoundgreat,butmostsmartphonescan’tplaymusicabove44.1KHz,whichmeansyouhavetocompressthem.Thisdefeatsthepointoflisteningtohighresolutionmusic. Toavoidthis,IrecommendgettingtheFiioM6,whichisadedicatedportablemusicplayerthatsupportsfilesupto192kHz.Itlookslikeaminismartphone,completewithatouchscreen,BluetoothandWiFiconnectivity,andanappstore. Youcanloaditsinternalstoragewithmusicfiles,orplaytunesdirectlyfromhighresolutionmusicstreamingservices.Ifyouplanoncarryingallofyourmusiclocally,youshouldgetahigh-capacityMicroSDcardforadditionalstorage. Ifyouwanttolistentomusicinthehighestpossiblequalityon-the-go,anddon’twanttobringadedicatedDACwithyou,Fiio’sM6isthededicatedhigh-resolutionmusicplayerwerecommend. Buy: FiioM6 at $375.00 WhichHigh-ResolutionStreamingServicesShouldITry? High-resolutionstreamingserviceshaveonlybeenaroundforashorttime,butthere’salreadyadecentamountofcompetitioninthespace. Alloftheservicesoffermanyofthesamegreatfeatures:On-demandstreamingfromalibraryofmillionsofsongs,lossless(CD-quality)musicofalbumsnotavailableinhigh-resolution,andtheabilitytodownloadmusictosomedevicesforofflinelistening. Becausehigh-resolutionmusichasmoredata,thefilesaresubstantiallylargerthantheCDorMP3versionsofthesamesongs.Thismeansthey’lltakelongertodownload,andwillconsumealotmoredatatostream.Ifyou’reonamobiledevice,andhaveadataplanwithamonthlycap,youshouldwaituntilyou’reonWiFitostreamhigh-resolutionmusicfromtheseservices. Thebiggestdifferentiatingfactorbetweenhigh-resolutionmusicstreamingservicesisthatsomeartistsreleasetheirmusicexclusivelyononeoranother.Askanyartistthough,andthey’lltellyoutolistentotheirtracksinashi-resofaformatasyoucan,soyoucanreallyexperienceasongthewayitwasintendedtobeheard. 1.AmazonMusicHD CourtesyAmazonAmazon Amazon’sMusicHDisthecompany’snewly-launchedhighresolutionmusicstreamingservice.Itboastsalibraryofover50milliontracks,andasurprisingamountofthemareavailableat“UltraHD”resolutions,whichmeansanymusicover44.1kHz(CD-quality).Somesongsareavailableat192kHzwhileotherstopoutat96kHz(itdependsonthefilesAmazonwassentbylabels),butthecompanyistransparentaboutthesamplerate. YoucanstreammusicfromthisserviceonyourcomputerthroughAmazon’swebsite,ortheAmazonMusicapponMac,PC,iOS,orAndroid.I’veusedAmazonMusicHDonmyMac,iPhone,andiPad,andhavebeenimpressedwiththeresults.Icouldeasilytellthedifferencebetweenhigh-resolutionmusicIwasstreamingthroughAmazonMusicHDandtheMP3sIwasstreamingthroughAppleMusic.Asalways,yourmilagemayvarybaseonyourhardwareandhearing. AnAmazonMusicHDsubscriptioncosts$9.99permonth,butisavailablefor$7.99permonthtoAmazonPrimesubscribers.Ifyou’venevergivenAmazonPrimeatry,youcangeta30-dayfreetrial—herearesomeofourfavoriteperks.Amazonisalsoofferinga30-dayfreetrialforAmazonMusicHD,soyoucantestouttheserviceonyourgeartomakesureit’sworthitforyou. Buy: AmazonMusicHD at $9.99PerMonth 2.Qobuz Qoboz Qobuzstandsoutfromeveryotherhighresolutionmusicstreamingservicebycateringtoaudiophileswhowanttheclosestexperiencetovisitingyourlocalrecordstore. It’sahybridstreamingserviceanddigitalmusicstore,whichmeansyoucanlistentoacatalogueofmillionsofsongsa-la-carte,andbuyyourfavoritealbums(inhighresolutionbitrateswhenpossible)tokeepforever.Ilikethisapproachbecauseitmakesiteasytodiscovernewmusic,andbuildyourhighresolutiondigitalmusiclibrary. Qobuzofferstracksatupto192KHz/24-bits,butitsbaselineisCD-quality.Thesedownloadswillsoundbetterthantheonesyou’dfindonApple’siTunesstoreortheAmazonMusicstore,whichonlyoffercompressedMP3orAACmusicfiles. I’vehadachancetotestQobuz’smusicstreamingserviceformyself,andfounditcomparabletoitscompetitionwithonebigadvantageformusicfans:Digitalbooklets.Linernoteshaveunfortunatelyfallenbythewaysideinourmarchtowarddigitalmusic,eventhoughtheyprovideimportantcontextforalbums,especiallydeluxereissuesofoldertitles.Theabilitytoperusethemulti-pagebookforTheBeachBoys’MadeinCaliforniaboxsetwhilelisteningtothesongsbroughtbackfondmemoriesofleafingthroughphysicalbookletsbeforedecidingwhichalbumsIwantedtobuy. Digitalbookletsaren’tavailableforeveryalbum,whichislikelytheresultofrecordlabelsnotprovidingthem,butIhopeQobuzlobbieshardertogetmoreofthem.Ifdigitalbookletswereavailableforeveryalbumintheservice’scatalogue,Iwouldn’trecommendanyalternativestomusicfans. YoucangetaQobuzStudioPremiersubscriptionfor$14.99permonth($12.99ifyousignupforanentireyearupfront),whichisonparwithsimilarhighresolutionmusicstreamingservices.There’salsoaStudioSublimesubscriptiontier,whichincludesdiscountsonhigh-resolutionmusicpurchase,andoriginaleditorialcontent.Thisplancosts$20.83permonth,andisonlyavailableasanannualsubscription.Qobuzoffersa30-dayfreetrialtotrytheserviceoutforyourself. 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