With more and more companies offering CD-quality streams, hi-res tiers, and lossless audio options, the temptation to reserve a bit more of the paycheck for pleasurable listening is greater than ever. Apple, Amazon, Tidal, Quboz, Deezer, and others have concluded that giving music lovers extra fidelity is a worthwhile endeavor, a move that is generally applauded by industry professionals and “normal people” alike. However, before you shell out various monies on high-quality streaming services, make sure your hardware (physical devices) can perform on that level. Analogized to video, “Don’t pay extra for high-definition movie rentals if your old TV can’t go beyond standard definition.”
Some Context
In case you’re not quite sure what the buzz is all about, a brief look at the past will help you understand the present. Long, long ago, in a world that existed before the Internet, people’s music collections existed only on media such as CDs and vinyl records, which set the standard for the level of sound quality listeners came to expect. After the birth of the Internet, it became possible to meet the demand for more convenient music consumption, thanks to downloadable files, miniscule MP3 players like the iPod, web-based feeds, and, of course, smartphones.
There was (and is) a problem, though… online content that maintains the quality of records and CDs uses a lot of storage space (for files) or network bandwidth (for streams). Since consumers largely prioritize convenience over quality, some very clever people came up with ways to significantly reduce the file size and bandwidth requirements for music, but at the expense of the sound quality. Early file types like the MP3 permanently discarded some of the sonic fidelity through a process called lossy compression; it made the files smaller (faster to download and easier to stream) but also sound worse than their vinyl record and CD counterparts.
As Internet speeds increased and device storage limits expanded, it became more reasonable to return the focus to quality without significantly sacrificing convenience. Now, it is possible to download ultra-high-resolution files (better than CD quality) and subscribe to music streams that utilize lossless compression to avoid compromising the audio’s integrity. With those being readily accessible, it’s time to make sure that every part of your “signal chain” is up to the task.
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