Will B&O ever serve classical listeners better?

For many, making the transition from CD/LP to streaming or local file playing has been a resounding success and I imagine for most of this cohort it’s pop, rock, jazz that they listen to etc but what I would like to better understand is how this applies to listeners of largely classical music. The depth of classical material whether it be Deezer, Qobuz, Spotify, Tidal is very poor and the metadata is mess. There are classical music services like Primephonic or Idagio but they aren’t on streaming devices from B&O, Naim, Marantz, Innuos etc so you’d have to have a laptop in your room which is a no-go for many including me. Will B&O allow Primephonic or Idagio’s apps to run on their devices?

Yes, that's a good point!

I think all genres are different and classical music is very special. The ones who loves this kind of music are not switching from song to song,

they hear a complete album, with a special artist, a special orchester, and their favourite conductor.

This kind of music is nothing for the ordinary streaming client and many listeners of classical music still prefer to use cd/LP.

One thing I've also noticed among classical enthusiasts is an obsession with certain pieces/compositions, to the point of collecting a large number of performances of said piece. Something I think most streaming doesn't do, how many examples of Mozart's Magic Flute do you need? At one time, I had about 10 or more different recordings of Stravinsky's "Right Of Spring" including a piano four hands one. This is in addition to say wanting all the composer's pieces covered by a particular conductor, group, or artist. 

For classical I mainly listen to my ripped CDs, though I do wander around listening to things new to me or that I haven't heard in a while on Spotify. My disc Mozart collection is light so lately when I was in a Mozart mood I listened to a lot of it on streaming.

I think the way forward may be Airplay 2 and/or Google Chromecast to send music to aware devices as B&O have been doing. That way, as long as those communication standards are in place, you can change your origination sources to your liking.

Jeff:

One thing I've also noticed among classical enthusiasts is an obsession with certain pieces/compositions, to the point of collecting a large number of performances of said piece. Something I think most streaming doesn't do, how many examples of Mozart's Magic Flute do you need?

The point about classical music is a very valid one.

Idagio and Primephonic are worth considering, if classical music is your thing (I prefer the latter, but the former seems to be cheaper and offer lossless at no extra rate). While Apple Music and Spotify, etc., have many, many classical albums available, the search functionality is not built properly to allow for searches by work or piece.

Primephonic allows one to exactly botanize various versions of a specific work. It is quite interesting to do.

Not to draw the Sonos card again and again, but I am intrigued by the fact that Sonos apparently can negotiate with different service providers and makemultiple streaming services available directly to the consumer as an integrated as part of the Sonos app. It accesses almost literally everything that the phone can access in individual apps.This counts for Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify and a plethora of other very diverse streaming services, including localized options –– and to stay on subject, specifically providers of classical music, such as Idagio and Primephonic.

It continues to puzzle me how a highly profiled company like B&O cannot attempt a similar approach. Is the company not capable of leveraging its premium brand value during negotiations? Or do they simply believe that Deezer and (a crippled version of) Spotify is sufficient? Any take on this would be interesting.

On a positive (work-around) note: For an integrated Idagio or Primephonic experience there is always the opportunity of adding a Sonos Port unit to the line-in socket of an NL-product, and using the Sonos app to control the music. I have experimented with it somewhat due to the greatness of the app. While it doesn't replace the B&O app, it gives the functionality of an integrated app where search functionality will work across all the services you have activated. This means that a search for eg. Goldberg Variations in my case offers many different volumes from Primephonic (classical), Apple Music and Telmore Musik (a broad selection of jazz and classical versions), Youtube Music (a little bit of everything, including live performances), curated playlists by all of the above, and whichever tunein-station is playing Goldberg Variations at the moment. The interface is slick and easy to navigate.

For me this is the ingenious approach worth pursuing. Oh, and the alarm function can be set very specifically to match almost any kind of content, no matter the provenance.

Also, I love tune-in stations for classical exploration. Since getting my Beosound 1 NY, I browse tune-in stations like I would do FM-stations, and it is outright brilliant. There have always been many excellent classical stations available online. Somehow swiping through your presets on the device itself gives a greater feeling of natural choice than fiddling with a phone.

The tactility of manual operation is something I hope we will see more of in the future.

That’s what I am doing. The arrival of the iPhone 512 GB 2 years ago just came at the right time, when I got bored by Sonos and the streaming services with regard to good classic recordings. I have tried Qobuz, Deezer and Apple music subscriptions but remained unsatisfied for classical music. Since then I have restarted using iTunes ( I know it’s not perfect) with as result now 500 GB of losless quality recordings in my pocket, wherever I go. I have restarted buying and ripping albums and don’t regret it a single day. Maybe old skool but I don’t care

pauliander:

That’s what I am doing. The arrival of the iPhone 512 GB 2 years ago just came at the right time...Since then I have restarted using iTunes ( I know it’s not perfect) with as result now 500 GB of losless quality recordings in my pocket, wherever I go. I have restarted buying and ripping albums and don’t regret it a single day.

Thanks for the post.  A couple of questions:

1. Loseless quality: ALAC?  or other?

2. How do you play back your music in loseless quality?  Do you stream via AirPlay (2)?  As I understand it, AP will stream at CD quality, though not higher, if the source is of that quality.  Or do you wire the 500 GB iDevice via digital connection to a DAC, then to ...?

Hello, yes my collection is ripped in ALAC. I have been ripping in that format since more then 10 years and don’t regret it. Listened to high res but was not convinced that’s worth the additional effort. Convenience with alac was the key driver. Most devices can handle alac without manipulation (for instance my car).

I stream towards an airport express linked to my Beolab 5 (optical to coax conversion via a small box behind the TV wall) and it works perfect. My pentas are fed with an analogue signal via a lightning to rca cable (old scool no streaming). This requires manipulation but I am an album listener so that’s ok. I use my pentas only on Saturdays on another location. I don’t have internet there. And for the rest at home 4 homepods. I am very happy with airplay 2. Much more stable than Sonos absolutely no issues at all

This is so confusing for a Luddite like me.

So the Moment will not let me stream idagio or Primephonic as it doesn’t have these apps inbuilt nor does it have AirPlay. It has Bluetooth but I have never got it to work and even if I could the quality would be mediocre.

So does the Beosound Core resolve these problems?

Can I stream these classical apps into the Core and send minimum CD quality digital feed to my BL90s?

Thank you B&O boffins.

seethroughyou:

So the Moment will not let me stream idagio or Primephonic as it doesn’t have these apps inbuilt nor does it have AirPlay. It has Bluetooth but I have never got it to work and even if I could the quality would be mediocre.

So does the Beosound Core resolve these problems?

Can I stream these classical apps into the Core and send minimum CD quality digital feed to my BL90s?

You can stream via the apps to the Core which handles AirPlay very well.

But there is no integration with the native B&O app.