Music storage may have an interesting and varied past (see here for our plotted history) but it now seems certain that its future lies in the digital domain, with music files
being held either within a home computer network or on an internet music site, then streamed from there to our Hi-Fi.
There are many advantages to streaming, but its main attraction is that it does away with the need to house bulky storage media (eg CDs or LPs) and integrates with the computer network now found in so many homes. Wired or wireless home computer networks interface superbly with the latest generation of Hi-Fi products, giving instant access to countless musical opportunities,
both from within the network (via music stored on hard drives or NAS drives) and also from the internet (via music sites such as Spotify, plus over 5000 internet radio stations). Computer networks also offer a ready made solution to Hi-Fi system control and the perfect springboard to pipe music into different rooms in the house.
Most of the major manufacturers now offer products that have streaming capabilities, which can make for a very confusing market-place. It is important to remember that not all methods of streaming are the same - some produce results that are way below the quality you've become used to from CD, whilst other systems sound as good (or in some cases better) than CD. Converting your treasured music collection into music files is something that you will only do once (particularly if you sell the CDs afterwards!) so it is important that you get it absolutely right. It is our job to advise you, to ensure that when you make the transition into the world of streaming, you don't 'throw the baby out with the bath water'. We have therefore put together the 'question and answer' piece you see below, in an effort to help you machete your way through the technical jungle and get to the musical paradise on the other side!
In a nutshell, what is streaming?
Streaming means different things to different people, but we are primarily concerned with music, so, for the purpose of this piece, we would define streaming as the transfer of digitally encoded audio files from one place to another, either via the internet, or via a home computer network, or via a transmission system unique to a specific manufacturer. Let's take a brief look at each in turn:
- Internet streaming - websites like Spotify, Napster and LastFM store just about every piece of music ever recorded, and will stream to your Hi-Fi (via your computer) for a monthly fee. In addition, internet radio gives consumers access to thousands of world-wide radio stations, that can be streamed to a compatible Hi-Fi / Home Cinema system (via a computer) free of charge. So, if you move from one area of the country (or world!) to another and wish you could still listen to the radio station from where you used to live - you can!
- Streaming via a home computer network - many houses now have wireless or wired computer networks. Music can be downloaded from the internet, or 'ripped' from CDs, then stored on the hard drive of a computer (or on a NAS drive / server) then streamed to any room in the house that is on the network. If a Hi-Fi in any room connects with this network (either using wires or wirelessly) it can utilize any of the music stored in this fashion. Many modern Hi-Fis / Home Cinema systems can do this.
- Unique streaming solutions - some manufacturers (eg Sonos) have developed their own network capability, which taps into a household computer network, but then uses its own transmission system to spread music around the house. Other manufacturers have developed products (eg stand alone DACs or CD players with onboard DACs) that simply enhance the sound quality of music when it is streamed to them from a computer, using a USB lead. We will cover these products in more detail below.
All of the above methods can be used alone or in conjunction with each other to stream music into one or several rooms in your home. It may sound complicated, but it isn't - and the results can be sensational!
What are the benefits of streaming?
The benefits are many and varied - here are just a few of them:
- It does away with the need to store bulky storage media (eg CDs or LPs).
- It gives instant access to just about every piece of music ever recorded, plus thousands of radio podcasts.
- It allows you to access thousands of radio stations all over the world.
- It allows you to play a sequence of tracks that could last for hours - with just one click of the mouse.
- It offers an easy way to pipe music to every room of the house.
- It allows you to sample different musical genres, without having to commit to purchasing a whole album.
- It allows you purchase music without moving from your armchair.
- It allows you to access music that is of much higher quality than CD.
How do I get started with streaming?
As we detailed above, there are lots of different ways to stream. In order to carry out the most popular form, you need 3 things:
- You need a music source - this can be internet radio (free), a music site like Spotify or Napster (from £5 per month), music you have on your computer hard drive (ranging in quality from iTunes to WAV / FLAC files), or music you already have on your iPod.
- You need broadband and a home computer network system with a wired / wireless router - most homes now have this.
- You need a Hi-Fi or Home Cinema system that is able to connect to a computer network - Typically, this will have to be a brand new unit (bought from us of course!) with an ethernet port on it, or wireless capability. Sounds expensive, but it isn't - over 50% of what we sell now has an ethernet port on it.
Wireless or Wired?
Soon, most Home Cinema amps will have wired Ethernet networking, whilst many stereo Hi-Fis already have both wireless and wired. You could choose to go either way and get a good result. The best and most reliable performance comes from wired, but wireless works very well in many houses, plus you need a wireless capability to interface with your smartphone (either now, or in the future). We would therefore recommend that you opt for a good wireless router, because most have them have both wired and wireless capability.
The same goes for when you choose your Hi-Fi / Home Cinema equipment - if it comes with wireless, or can be adapted to work wirelessly (as most now can) then so much the better.
Multi-room or single-room?
The answer is, it's up to you! We would suggest that you start out streaming just to one room - perhaps via a new Hi-Fi or Home Cinema amp in your lounge. Then, you can either leave things as they are or expand into other rooms, as and when you require. If your aim is ultimately to develop a multi-room system, capable of filling your house with music, we would suggest that you take a look at products that are designed to integrate from the outset (eg Sonos or products with Apple Airplay) so that you are safe in the future.
How do I get / store music for streaming?
Here are some of the ways of getting music into your PC / Mac:
- Simply load a CD into your computer and let a music program (eg Windows media, iTunes or Dbpoweramp) 'rip' it to your hard drive. It is important to bear in mind that the final sound quality of this music will be entirely dependent upon the type of files that you create. If you rip your CDs to standard mp3 or use basic iTunes software, you will get a lot of songs onto your hard drive very quickly and the quality will be reasonable. However, if you rip your CDs using Apple lossless or (best of all) convert your CDs into high quality FLAC or WAV files (using software like Dbpoweramp) the files will take up more space on your hard drive, but the sound quality will be MILES better!
- Buy music from the Apple iTunes Store - good for exploring new music, but not as good quality as CDs ripped to FLAC or WAV.
- Buy music from a High Definition music site - specialist companies (eg Naim) now sell music for download that is actually far higher quality than CD.
- Join a music streaming site, like Spotify or Napster (from £5 per month). You are not allowed to keep the music you stream, but some sites allow a small number of free music downloads each month, which you can keep, arguably paying for the subscription.
- If you have a lot of music that you want to put onto your PC / Mac, buy an external hard drive or NAS drive. This stores your music collection well away from your computer hard drive, which is safer in the event of your computer crashing. Again, the type of files created is crucial - NAS drives are very compact, easy to use and relatively inexpensive, yet they have a huge storage capacity, so it makes sense to store music on them in larger (high quality) files - eg FLAC or WAV.
- Don't store music on your computer at all - buy a dedicated piece of Hi-Fi equipment, with a built-in server (eg Naim UnitiServe). These custom designed units are more expensive than computer-based systems, but offer the very best in sound quality.
How do I control streaming?
Because most streaming solutions interface with the existing household computer, the control system is already there! Using your computer, you can select which track you want to play next, or even assemble playlists based on specific music types, which will play sequentially for hours - at the click of a mouse.
In addition, many modern smart phones, including those based on the Apple or Android platforms, now have free Apps for certain streaming functions, including the control of an iTunes library. This functionality will be further enhanced over the coming months, as more and more Hi-Fi manufacturers develop free smart phone Apps for the basic control of their products. In other words very soon, if you want to control your Hi-Fi, or the way it streams from your computer network, you'll either be able to do it through the remote controls that come with the products themselves, or just by using the smart phone that many people carry around in their pockets all the time these days. If that smart phone happens to be an iPhone (or if you have an iPod Touch or iPad) and the piece of Hi-Fi you buy supports Apple AirPlay (see below), you will also be able to stream music straight from your phone into your Hi-Fi - wirelessly!
How good does streamed music sound?
This is where it all gets a bit controversial and audiophiles get hot under the collar! The truth of the matter is that streamed audio can sound as good as you want to make it sound - right from 'adequate' to 'sensational' (ie better than CD). The reason for this huge range in potential sound quality stems from the fact that when streaming was first conceived, hard drive storage space was relatively expensive and broadband speeds were relatively low. The result was that in order to achieve successful streaming, a large amount of compression (shrinking) of the audio files was necessary, to the extent where a CD disk of 700mb was being shrunk down to around 100mb - a loss of over 85% of the original data. This is absolute heresy to an audiophile, who would argue that regardless of the clever mathematical algorithms used, there is absolutely no way that a piece of music can maintain all of its original musical integrity if it has suffered such a massive data loss. The audiophile would further argue that whilst the discrepancy in performance doesn't show up through a simple portable device and headphones, it is blatantly obvious when played through a top class audio system.
The audiophile would be right, but his argument is less relevant now than it was in the past, for two reasons. Firstly, broadband speeds have increased dramatically over the last couple of years and secondly hard drive space has dropped massively in price. Put the two together and you've got a recipe for the storage and transmission of much bigger (ie higher quality) files. You can now buy a 1 Terabyte hard drive (ie 1000Gb) for under £50 - that's big enough to hold around 1200 uncompressed CDs, at audiophile quality levels. High definition music websites also now exist, from which you can download music at a quality level significantly above that of CD.
So the tools exist to rip and store CDs at higher quality levels than ever before and to access higher definition music than has ever been on sale before - it is up to customers how far they go. We are audiophiles and would promote the highest quality streaming possible, to extract the maximum enjoyment from any musical piece. However, even we would have to accept that here (as in most other areas of life!) it's 'horses for courses'. Enthusiasts will rip CDs as high definition WAV or FLAC files, whilst the mass market will focus on iTunes. Both will produce results that will delight their users. There is no absolute right or wrong, in the same way that some customers will buy a £600 digital SLR camera, use it like a professional camera and be delighted, whilst other customers will buy the same camera, use it in 'point and shoot' mode, like a compact camera - and be equally delighted with the results.
Is there a pure audiophile streaming solution?
Naim and Cyrus' early entry into this marketplace has put these two specialist British companies well ahead of the pack, resulting in a range of world-acclaimed streaming solutions, like the UnitiQute, Uniti and UnitiServe from Naim, and the Streamline, Stream X and Stream XP from Cyrus that outperform everything else - by a country mile. These products are not cheap - but then the best never is! We are Naim and Cyrus specialists, so if you want to know more, simply give us a ring.
What is Apple AirPlay?
Apple AirPlay may well be one of the most significant things to have ever hit the streaming and multi-room industry. Any piece of equipment that has Apple AirPlay onboard and is connected to a home computer network can receive music stored on an iPhone, an iPod Touch or an iPad wirelessly, and can send that music to other AirPlay enabled Hi-Fis, in other rooms of the house, so that they all play the same music at the same time (if required). The wonderful thing about AirPlay is that it is a world standard, so even equipment from different manufacturers can 'talk' to each other as long as they are all AirPlay enabled.
First out of the blocks with this new technology are Hi-Fi specialists Denon, who are including AirPlay on lots of their products, allowing consumers to easily put together a complete multi-room networked package, built around AirPlay. That is the beauty of this fabulous new Apple world standard - units that have AirPlay on board cost no more than their predecessors that didn't have AirPlay, but they give you a built-in multi-room capability 'for free'. Not bad when you consider that integrated multi-room systems used to cost many thousands of pounds only a few years ago. Mark my words, Apple AirPlay is going to be huge!
I keep hearing about Sonos equipment - what is it?
Sonos has achieved something of a cult following, because it was one of the very first companies to address the world of streaming and multi-room, by producing a range of relatively inexpensive, compact products that would dovetail in perfectly with an existing Hi-Fi and computer network, to produce a fully integrated solution. The beauty of Sonos is that it 'talks to' your router and Hi-Fi, then pipes music wirelessly to other rooms of the house, using its own wireless network, rather than that of the computer. Sonos covers all areas of streaming, from iTunes to 16 bit FLAC files stored on a NAS drive, plus it streams internet radio / Spotify and Napster - and all controlled from your iPhone / Android phone / computer. It is a very flexible system, but over the coming months it will face massive competition from 'ordinary' Hi-Fi with Apple Airplay onboard, because AirPlay does many of the things Sonos does - 'for free'.
What about file sharing sites?
File sharing sites have hit the press recently, thanks to some high profile court cases. Everybody likes 'something for nothing' but we'd say there are several good reasons why you should treat file sharing with extreme caution.
- If you're downloading copyrighted music (or video) without paying for it, you are technically breaking the law.
- It is possible that the government will soon have the power to require internet providers to give the police details of customers frequently downloading from file sharing sites - ie you risk prosecution.
- Because of the potential illegality of content, file sharing sites are prime targets for criminals, who use them as a vehicle to get malicious software into your computer. If you unwittingly download something that wipes out your whole computer, you will lose all of your files, including your precious music. And of course you can't complain to anyone, because what you were doing is technically illegal - it would be like complaining to the police that the drugs you just bought were of poor quality!
- Music files on file sharing sites tend to be of poor sound quality.
I don't understand all the terminology
Understanding the terminology used in streaming is like trying to get to grips with a whole new language, so we thought it might be useful to give an introduction to some of the most frequently used terms.
- iTunes - If you are one of the millions of people who use Apple products, you probably already know about this one! Released in 2001, iTunes is Apple's world conquering digital media player application, used for playing and organizing digital music and/or video files. Once you have downloaded iTunes (free) onto your computer, you can rip CDs into your iTunes library and/or buy songs from Apple's iTunes Store. Over 10 billion tracks have been downloaded from the iTunes Store, making iTunes far and away the most popular recent digital storage application. iTunes offers a good all round compromise for many people, because it is well know, safe, easy to use, and compatible with all of Apple's many products. Performance is good, but it is important to remember that even recording with Apple's so called 'lossless' system does not produce music files that sound as good as WAV or FLAC.
- Spotify - Swedish-based music streaming service, offering access to a huge range of major and independent record labels. Spotify is relatively new and is only available in certain parts of Europe (including the UK) but it already has over 1 million paid subscribers. It offers a limited free service (with adverts) or a premium subscription service from £5 per month (no adverts and a higher bit-rate than the free service, giving better audio quality + free streaming to your mobile phone). At the time of writing, premium users can access nearly 20 million tracks, which can be streamed to either their home computer or their smartphone. Album covers can be browsed and playlists can be assembled using the same system. Hi-Fi manufacturers such as Sonos have been quick to recognise the significance of Spotify, making all their products compatible with this new medium and making their remote control units Spotify-friendly. So if you buy a multiroom Sonos system, you simply pay a small monthly Spotify subscription which will allow you to access and stream just about any type of music to all the rooms of your house wirelessly - and control the whole shooting match from either your smartphone, or a small, touch screen, hand-held, Sonos remote controller - brilliant!
- Napster - Originally a file-sharing site, Napster ran into legal difficulties and was purchased by 'Best Buy' - an American company. Napster now offers a totally legal music streaming business and is a direct rival to Spotify. Subscriptions start from £5 per month.
- LastFM - Popular, UK based, music streaming site, with either free or paid subscription.
- Grooveshark - Popular, new music streaming site, to rival Spotify.
- Internet radio - Just about every radio station you can think of is now available via the internet, giving music lovers an unprecedented amount of programme material to choose from. The possibilities are endless, including: the ability to track down stations that only play one particular type of music (e.g. Nashville if you're into country), the ability to listen to overseas stations in order to brush up on your linguistic skills, or even the ability to continue listening to a radio station you particularly like, even if you move away from that geographic area. Because no aerial is involved, reception is crystal clear and because internet radio it accessed via your home network, it can be piped to other networked rooms of the house, if desired.
- Ethernet - The standard connection for household computer networks.
- ISP - Internet Service Provider - those nice people who give you your broadband every month, or (allegedly) shop you to the police if you're naughty.
- NAS drive - NAS stands for Network-Attached Storage. In the audio world a NAS drive is rather like an external hard drive that connects to your router, via an ethernet cable. The chief benefit of a NAS drive is that it is entirely separate from the internal hard drive of a computer, so it is possible to keep one particular type of storage requirement (eg music) entirely separate from the other files on the computer. This makes it easier to back up, more resistant to computer crashes and also means that if the NAS drive is corrupted or crashes, it won't take down your computer with it. The other benefit of a NAS drive is that because it is independent from the other computers in the network it can be accessed without them having to be turned on.
- Compression - The process of 'shrinking' a file, ie encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation had. Compression is useful because it helps reduce the amount of hard disk space required to store a file, or transmission bandwidth when streaming over the internet. However, to be used, a compressed file must first be decompressed. It is the compression and decompression of files that results in the loss of information and introduction of noise. If absolute fidelity of audio is to be maintained, compression should be minimized by recording files as FLAC, or avoided altogether by recording the files as WAV.
- Rip - Computer code script for transferring digital audio or video to a computer hard disk. Now used generically as a slang term for the act of transferring digital data from one storage medium to another (eg from a CD to a NAS drive, using software like Dbpoweramp).
- MP3 - This common-place digital audio encoding format uses a form of lossy data compression for the transfer and playback of music. The theory is that MP3 faithfully reproduces the original, by reducing the accuracy of certain parts of the sound that are considered to be beyond the hearing range of humans. Whilst this may be true when listening through a portable device with headphones, better quality Hi-Fis can show up the inadequacies of low bit rate MP3, which is why audiophiles always try to use higher bit rates MP3s, or abandon MP3 altogether in favour of WAV or FLAC, for serious listening.
- FLAC - Free Lossless Audio Codec is an audio encoding format that claims to use a lossless data compression algorithm. The theory is that a digital audio recording compressed by FLAC can be decompressed into an identical copy of the original, even though the FLAC file size is typically 50% smaller than the original. FLAC is fast and FLAC is free, which makes it one of the most popular encoding systems used by audiophiles.
- WAV - Waveform Audio File Format (shortened to WAV because of its filename extension), this is a Microsoft/IBM file format standard for recording audio bitstream. It stores raw, uncompressed files which take up more space on a hard drive than any system involving compression. WAV arguably yields the very best in sound quality, which is why Naim use it in their products.
- Bit rate - The number of bits of data (computer ones and zeros) that are transferred per second - the higher the bit rate, the better the sound. For example 192 kbit/second is the highest level supported by MP3, 256 kbit/second is used for DAB radio, up to 1411 kbit/second is used in FLAC and 1411 kbit/second is used for Compact Disc.
- Sampling rate - This is the number of times per second that the original music is sampled (measured) to generate the digital data. The more times the music is sampled, the better the resultant digital file will sound, so systems with higher sampling rates tend to sound better. For example 44.1 kHz is the sampling rate used on Compact Discs, whereas some high definition music sites sell downloads of music that has been recorded with a sampling rate of 192 kHz.
- Recording resolution - The higher the resolution of the music when it was originally recorded, the better the sound quality will be when it is played through a Hi-Fi. Music that is recorded on CD is 16 bit / 44.1 kHz, whereas music sold on high definition audio sites can be as high as 24 bit / 192 kHz. It may be that the streaming of high definition audio represents the future of music for the audiophile, in which case it makes sense to buy a Hi-Fi with a DAC capable of resolving that level of detail. The irony is that master tapes originally recorded in 16 bit for CD have theoretically reached their limit, whereas the original master tapes of earlier music that were recorded in analogue, can be re-recorded at higher resolutions. I always did like Elton John!
- DAC - Digital to Analogue Converter, a device that converts a digital code into an analogue signal, to produce the sound our brains understand. The performance of a DAC is dependent upon the quality of its 'digital engine' and the analogue circuitry that follows it. Many digital products have in-built DACs, but these are sometimes of much lower specification than the external DACs produced by specialist companies such as Arcam and Naim, which have digital engines capable of resolving up to 24 bit / 192 kHz and superb analogue circuitry. Therefore, one way of greatly improving the audio quality of digital products such as a CD players, audio streamers (eg Sonos), PCs / Macs / laptops (via USB) or iPods is to take their raw digital output and feed it into a specialist DAC, then on into your Hi-Fi. The results are often astonishing!
- UPnP - Universal Plug and Play - a set of network protocols that allows network devices to discover each others presence on a network and establish functionality.
- DLNA - Digital Living Network Alliance - a collaborative trade organisation whose members agree to produce their products to an agreed specification, making it easier for consumers to use.
- Android - Owned by Google, Android is the world's best selling smartphone platform and can be viewed as a direct rival to Apple's iPhone platform. Many non-Apple phones use Android, which now boasts over 250,000 Apps. Many of the manufacturers who supply our Hi-Fis were quick to develop iPhone Apps for them, but have realised the importance of Android and now have parallel Android Apps, that do the same things as their iPhone Apps.
- App - Application software designed to help the user perform a particular function - most commonly on a mobile phone. In the Audio world, the most popular App is the iTunes 'remote' App, which allows you to control your iTunes library on your computer from your mobile phone, rather than having to do it through your monitor screen. Another popular audio-related App is the one that turns your smartphone into a remote control, to control the functions of the Hi-Fi, in the same way that the unit's own stick remote control normally would. Sonos also has an App for both iPhone and Android, allowing you to control a complete multiroom system through your house from a smartphone. All these 'Hi-Fi Apps' are totally free and incredibly useful.
- The Cloud - Instead of storing your files (music, video, photos etc) on a hard drive that you physically own, store everything on a remote server, accessed via the internet - i.e. in 'the cloud'. Because 'the cloud' can be accessed from any PC or smartphone, you can access your files no matter where you are. It is rumoured that both Google and Apple will soon launch cloud-based music streaming sites in the near future.
- Algorithm - If you're currently doing a maths degree, this is where the money is! An Algorithm is a finite list of well defined instructions for calculating a specific function. Algorithms are essential to the way that computers process data and are therefore found in just about every area of our digital world. The way Google works, the way Amazon works, the way photos, video and audio are compressed - it's all down to algorithms, driven by mind-bending maths.
What are your favourite streaming products?
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