Resources for the hunt for quality music recordings......

[PaulH]

First off I have to say that I am fiscally retentive.  Yet, I have fallen into a hobby that can drain an ocean of resources pretty quickly.  So, how do you have a listen before you buy?   
I would love to subscribe to Tidal, the sound is spectacular for a streaming service but the classical selections are very limited and I really have fallen in love with classical and jazz.
I stumbled upon a resource that most of us have probably forgotten about....your public library.  You can either borrow vinyl, CDs, HDCDs etc. or you can stream.  The Toronto Public Library has a free streaming subscription with Naxos.  Yes, the sound quality is not that great as the bit rate is usually choked from 320k to 128k (flash AAC) but I can still tell tell the difference between a recommended "quality recording" and one of the "mainstream recordings".  I listened to the Yuko Mabuchi Trio and it was stellar despite the low bit rate.  This is one CD that I will buy.  Their Beta for the classical selection is easy to navigate and has a huge selection. 
I am finding that it is a great way to listen to the suggested high quality recordings before I buy them. 

I hope you find this helpful.

Paul Hirst

[rollo]

  Yes I do thanks Paul.


charles

[Nick B]

Paul,
Wish I had a player so my wife could pop in a CD and hit play. She's not comfortable with streaming.
Just curious, do you get to keep the discs for a week or two?
Nick

[steve]

Nick, I am using my computer DVD/CD player to obtain digital and am currently connected to a Shiit mode DAC. Sounds
wonderful, huge sound stage, natural, dynamic etc. Only $99.00 or so, and would remedy the wife's
hesitation to stream. Just a thought.

cheers

steve

[PaulH]

Yes, you can borrow the CDs but the length of time would probably be determined by the local library.  When selecting a CD you will know if it is being borrowed or not.  You simply reserve the CD and they will notify you when it arrives at your local branch.  Sign out as a regular book and return before it is due.  It is a good excuse to get a little exercise walking to the library.

As far as helping your wife be more comfortable with streaming I understand your situation.  My wife is much smarter than I am, no false humility here she is super smart but she struggles with tech.  Once she gets her library card updated I will log her into the library website, select "always logged in" and bookmark the page in her bookmark bar.  All she has to do is to click on the bookmark, click the access online button, them select what she wants to hear.  She can select individual tracks or the entire album.  You may ask her what her favourite piece/song/track is and demonstrate how to navigate to it.  Just tell her that she will no longer need to find a place for all of those dust magnets .  Your wife may find streaming from a browser a little easier to get used to than with dedicated streaming service.  It might be a good stepping stone toward using your Roon/Tidal. 

If your wife will be using a laptop or desktop then I would strongly suggest a DAC.  Looking at your sig. I believe that I am preaching to the choir on this one.  Even an inexpensive DAC like Sabaj3 makes a significant improvement.  It leans toward the brighter side (Sabre chip) which what I like as my hearing drops off at the higher frequencies.

Hope this helps,

Paul

[Nick B]

PaulH and steve,
My wife does have a laptop and can attach a dvd drive. Also, we have library cards, even though they haven't been used in years. So she'll have the option of checking out CDs or maybe using Spotify or another service. 320 kbps would be just fine for her
Nick