Music In The Cloud
Posted by: Guido Fawkes on 07 September 2008
I recently read a post by George saying Radio was his favourite source - please excuse me George if I misread you - what I believe is on the Horizon is In The Cloud Audio (ITCA).
We already have the excellent BBC iPlayer and as Internet access gets ever faster then access to vast music libraries cannot be far away. Imagine a vast BBC library where you could listen to anything in the BBC archives whenever you wanted - with ITCA you just select it and the concert streams down to your HDX or other digital streaming device.
Hard disks will be redundant (they are today's DVD-Audio) - ITCA will be just like listening to the radio, but you create the playlist you want.
Enterprising record companies like Deutsche Grammophon, Sony/CBS and Warner Brothers will publish their libraries too. I expect we are talking either a subscription or pay-as-you-play, but artists who frequent MySpace will be able to offer free streams.
So you'll be able to listen to anything, anytime in the highest resolution possible.
ATB Rotf
We already have the excellent BBC iPlayer and as Internet access gets ever faster then access to vast music libraries cannot be far away. Imagine a vast BBC library where you could listen to anything in the BBC archives whenever you wanted - with ITCA you just select it and the concert streams down to your HDX or other digital streaming device.
Hard disks will be redundant (they are today's DVD-Audio) - ITCA will be just like listening to the radio, but you create the playlist you want.
Enterprising record companies like Deutsche Grammophon, Sony/CBS and Warner Brothers will publish their libraries too. I expect we are talking either a subscription or pay-as-you-play, but artists who frequent MySpace will be able to offer free streams.
So you'll be able to listen to anything, anytime in the highest resolution possible.
ATB Rotf
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by CharlieP
ROTF, that would be great indeed. To some extent this is true today, except resolution is compressed 128K or so. Not too bad, but not as musical as good FM. I enjoy Pandora (a paid service - $36/year), and the KPLU jazz stream. There are many others.
Tell us more about ITCA if you can - I could not find anything relevant in a Google search.
Tell us more about ITCA if you can - I could not find anything relevant in a Google search.
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by u5227470736789439
Dear ROTF,
Radio is my favourite source! Yoiu read it here second!
I have listened to Schoenberg, to Webern, to Music Concrete [Stockhausen], to Bach, to Mendelsohnn, to all sorts of things that never made it to fine performances on records, or later, CDs ...
I would wish that true Univeral access to the BBC Archive could come to pass.
I would welcome the major recording organisations making this access possible. I would suspect however that this will be where the major commercials [possibly even the BBC in a world which is increasingly going to question the TV Licence] will make this service available as pay per listen. This may price it beyond me as is the case with getting every recording I would like to buy.
This is still the future, [and please note something I shall return to in a few lines] and with better broadband connections may leave VHF as obsolete as well, though I hope not before the succession is good enough.
It will also require the current short limits on download data via BB to be much raised or removed entirely.
I am sure that is the future, but it does require that the organisations hosting the service is still in business. A CD may not be perfect, but at least it still exists after the record company has gone out of business. Think of the lovely recordings made by Pye records for example
My approach is to take what the situation is today. I could run to a CD5x, but see so many advantages in the MacLavry as I auditioned it. Portability, fine sonics [very fine, and a shock to the current preconceptions of quality for price in the digital domain] as well as downloading the week's choice off BBC Radio on at least Radio Four and some Radio Three [and even the comedic channel, Radio Seven] I believe, in acceptable quality. This quality does leave room for improvement, as I understand it.
So for a relatively small price I can be set up in the coming months - this would be days, had I the money to walk into a shop and buy the Macbook.
I know that the Spinning Magnetic HD is today's technology, and will be superceded by Solid State HD in a while, and even if Magnetic Spinning HD becomes even cheaper, what are we to do with all the capacity? I suspect the SSHD will be affordable in a time span between say one to five years, and then all I shall do is load my iTunes Library to the new storage, which I imagine MAC will produce to replace the [as you say] superceded Magnetic Spinning HD systems.
I fully realise this is today's solution and not for all my life [with luck!] but that is the point! My favourite Marantz had transport failure two days ago, and my PC is also out of service. I am using a borrowed tiny [and totally crash-prone] Sony Vaio laptop, and so the way forward is possible for me now, financially, and will leave me open to whatever follows on.
It is a very exciting time! Fancy me being able to access the great recordings locked in the BBC vault of Sir Adrian Boult with the BBC SO from the heydays in the thirties! Yes, the future is a wonder to consider.
I so agree that the Magnetic Spinning HD is hardly a lovely thing, but neither is the current petrol or diesel power IC engine, and yet no one says, "Don't buy a car till Solar is realistic for a long range high perfomance personal vehicle!"
I enjoy your posts, and find them as stimulating on the subject as any here.
Thanks for the post. George
Radio is my favourite source! Yoiu read it here second!
I have listened to Schoenberg, to Webern, to Music Concrete [Stockhausen], to Bach, to Mendelsohnn, to all sorts of things that never made it to fine performances on records, or later, CDs ...
I would wish that true Univeral access to the BBC Archive could come to pass.
I would welcome the major recording organisations making this access possible. I would suspect however that this will be where the major commercials [possibly even the BBC in a world which is increasingly going to question the TV Licence] will make this service available as pay per listen. This may price it beyond me as is the case with getting every recording I would like to buy.
This is still the future, [and please note something I shall return to in a few lines] and with better broadband connections may leave VHF as obsolete as well, though I hope not before the succession is good enough.
It will also require the current short limits on download data via BB to be much raised or removed entirely.
I am sure that is the future, but it does require that the organisations hosting the service is still in business. A CD may not be perfect, but at least it still exists after the record company has gone out of business. Think of the lovely recordings made by Pye records for example
My approach is to take what the situation is today. I could run to a CD5x, but see so many advantages in the MacLavry as I auditioned it. Portability, fine sonics [very fine, and a shock to the current preconceptions of quality for price in the digital domain] as well as downloading the week's choice off BBC Radio on at least Radio Four and some Radio Three [and even the comedic channel, Radio Seven] I believe, in acceptable quality. This quality does leave room for improvement, as I understand it.
So for a relatively small price I can be set up in the coming months - this would be days, had I the money to walk into a shop and buy the Macbook.
I know that the Spinning Magnetic HD is today's technology, and will be superceded by Solid State HD in a while, and even if Magnetic Spinning HD becomes even cheaper, what are we to do with all the capacity? I suspect the SSHD will be affordable in a time span between say one to five years, and then all I shall do is load my iTunes Library to the new storage, which I imagine MAC will produce to replace the [as you say] superceded Magnetic Spinning HD systems.
I fully realise this is today's solution and not for all my life [with luck!] but that is the point! My favourite Marantz had transport failure two days ago, and my PC is also out of service. I am using a borrowed tiny [and totally crash-prone] Sony Vaio laptop, and so the way forward is possible for me now, financially, and will leave me open to whatever follows on.
It is a very exciting time! Fancy me being able to access the great recordings locked in the BBC vault of Sir Adrian Boult with the BBC SO from the heydays in the thirties! Yes, the future is a wonder to consider.
I so agree that the Magnetic Spinning HD is hardly a lovely thing, but neither is the current petrol or diesel power IC engine, and yet no one says, "Don't buy a car till Solar is realistic for a long range high perfomance personal vehicle!"
I enjoy your posts, and find them as stimulating on the subject as any here.
Thanks for the post. George
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by CharlieP
OK, it sounds like "in the cloud" means rented storage, on the internet (not necessarily in a single location - thus the term "cloud") of content you own. There seems to be talk about it, but is anyone actually doing that now?
This is clearly a good example of the many potential future directions we may see for digital audio. All the more reason to have a good DAC or system which plays digital music from any arbitrary source.
Thanks, ROTF. Interesting stuff...
Charlie
This is clearly a good example of the many potential future directions we may see for digital audio. All the more reason to have a good DAC or system which plays digital music from any arbitrary source.
Thanks, ROTF. Interesting stuff...
Charlie
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by garyi
Yes its being done now.
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by paremus
Sort of - less reliable than your HD. Check out Amazon S3 outages in the News.
Posted on: 07 September 2008 by Guido Fawkes
Some of the services around now allow you to back-up your music on to an area where you can access it over the Internet - there is some legal wrangling (naturally), but it does mean that there is no need to worry about losing a local collection as your music is all safe in a digital vault.
However, I'm thinking beyond that and to a vast on-line library. The main library contains other libraries (DG, Sony, WB) and by subscribing to the main library then you can access your music easily.
So with George's current scenario - a transport fails and he borrows a laptop - no problem, plug-in music stream device (DAC) of choice, connect to a broadband service, log into the library and you're back on-line. The temporary laptop is just there as an other interconnect between the music source and music.
Next step - no laptop required - [the Linn Sneaky (?)] - just connect to the network (Ethernet or Wireless) and play the music. I think I'm describing a high quality Internet Radio.
ATB Rotf
PS - Dear George, although I prefer Apple laptops, I have a used Sony Vaio myself and those awfully nice Sony people do a great job - whereas my work Windoze laptop still has occasional problems, the Vaio still performs faultlessly. IMO, if one has to use Windoze then the Vaio is as good as it gets.
Even the current BBC iPlayer is excellent as you can replay any of last week's programmes (Radio and TV subject to some copyright restrictions) when convenient. If your Lavry DAC is as good as they say (and it must be as you've purchased after a thoughtful audition) then you should be able to enjoy this source of musical entertainment (at the moment for free - long may it stay that way) - it's not FM quality yet, but give it a bit more time and ....
PPS - Dear Naim, how about an Internet Radio with a very good digital to analogue converter and wireless internet connector - this would enable me to enjoy lots of free music through my Naim system and no hard disks required and hopefully no Windoze (embedded or otherwise).
ATB Rotf
However, I'm thinking beyond that and to a vast on-line library. The main library contains other libraries (DG, Sony, WB) and by subscribing to the main library then you can access your music easily.
So with George's current scenario - a transport fails and he borrows a laptop - no problem, plug-in music stream device (DAC) of choice, connect to a broadband service, log into the library and you're back on-line. The temporary laptop is just there as an other interconnect between the music source and music.
Next step - no laptop required - [the Linn Sneaky (?)] - just connect to the network (Ethernet or Wireless) and play the music. I think I'm describing a high quality Internet Radio.
ATB Rotf
PS - Dear George, although I prefer Apple laptops, I have a used Sony Vaio myself and those awfully nice Sony people do a great job - whereas my work Windoze laptop still has occasional problems, the Vaio still performs faultlessly. IMO, if one has to use Windoze then the Vaio is as good as it gets.
Even the current BBC iPlayer is excellent as you can replay any of last week's programmes (Radio and TV subject to some copyright restrictions) when convenient. If your Lavry DAC is as good as they say (and it must be as you've purchased after a thoughtful audition) then you should be able to enjoy this source of musical entertainment (at the moment for free - long may it stay that way) - it's not FM quality yet, but give it a bit more time and ....
PPS - Dear Naim, how about an Internet Radio with a very good digital to analogue converter and wireless internet connector - this would enable me to enjoy lots of free music through my Naim system and no hard disks required and hopefully no Windoze (embedded or otherwise).
ATB Rotf
Posted on: 08 September 2008 by gary1 (US)
quote:Originally posted by ROTF:
PPS - Dear Naim, how about an Internet Radio with a very good digital to analogue converter and wireless internet connector - this would enable me to enjoy lots of free music through my Naim system and no hard disks required and hopefully no Windoze (embedded or otherwise).
ATB Rotf
You should be able to do this pretty soon with the HDX.