Streaming - this concept has almost completely dominated the world of hi-fi equipment. Over the course of a decade, this way of listening to music has evolved from a technological curiosity of interest only to the most progressive music lovers and audiophiles to something that is completely natural and obvious. For many people, streaming is an integral part of daily life, the primary source of music on smartphones, computers, cars, and home stereo systems, from the simplest to the most esoteric and luxurious. However, not everyone navigates through the world of digital music with as much ease as if they had been doing it since birth. While listening to music from one of the streaming services using headphones or a portable speaker is not a problem for most users, getting to the next level, especially in terms of sound quality, turns out to be a challenge. This is why we decided to devote one article to streaming and analyze the whole phenomenon from start to finish.
All Hegel integrated amplifiers have streaming capabilities ranging from the simple to the advanced. Read this article and check out what amplifier suits your needs the best.
Streaming music has long been more than a technological curiosity. The global market in this industry was already worth nearly $21 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow by 17.8% per year through 2027. According to a RIAA report, in 2022 as much as 80% of the revenue generated by the entire music market came from streaming. Despite this, many music lovers still don't know how to deal with the subject of playing music from the web - what do you need to do to access this mine of recordings, which of the available services to choose, and what equipment to use to get the highest possible sound quality? This is not at all as simple as it might seem. But before we get to practical advice, let's consider where it all started.
What exactly is streaming and how does it work?
If you are accustomed to physical media and have always associated listening to music with the process of opening a box or sleeve, taking out a CD or cassette, and loading it into a player, switching to music from the web requires changing that habit. After all, streaming involves getting music from the Internet or locally shared files. In a sense, it's a natural extension of listening to music from files stored on a computer. Imagine ripping your entire CD collection onto a hard drive to make finding individual albums quick and to get rid of the problems associated with reading physical media (dirt, scratches, damage to the drive in the player, vibration, and so on). And now let's assume that someone creates a huge drive containing an unimaginable database of music, but instead of connecting it to their computer at home, they mount it in a server room so that it is available to everyone. That's how streaming services work in a nutshell.
In the age of broadband Internet, there is no longer any need to store data on the hard drive of your own computer. Instead, you can listen to music available online. From the point of view of the playback process, it looks essentially the same except that the music is stored on a server. Not so long ago this might have been difficult due to transfer speeds, but today it's not a problem. The quantity and variety of available content can make your head spin. Even if you've been hoarding files for the past few years, downloading whatever you can find and ripping every CD in sight, you're unlikely to beat services that have tens of millions of songs in their catalogs. A good streaming service is like a movie rental service with endless resources, open 24 hours a day and available almost everywhere on the planet. Best of all, we don't pay each time we listen to or purchase a particular album. Everything is done on the basis of a monthly subscription.
In the age of broadband Internet, there is no longer any need to store data on the hard drive of your own computer. Instead, you can listen to music available online. From the point of view of the playback process, it looks essentially the same except that the music is stored on a server.
From the point of view of those who appreciate high-quality sound, streaming is not only a convenience but also an opportunity to listen to music of higher quality than that provided by compact discs, for these have some limitations. In 1982, when the first players and CDs appeared on the market, Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was released, movies such as "Blade Runner," "E.T." or "First Blood," and the Commodore 64 computer appeared in stores. That appeals to the imagination, doesn't it? The Compact Disc Digital Audio standard, the parameters of which are described in the Red Book, stipulates that audio data is recorded on the disc using PCM encoding at 16-bit/44.1 kHz quality. This allows a 12-cm disc to hold 74-80 minutes of music or 650-700 MB of data. Today, thanks to fiber-optic connections, we can download an entire disc like this over the network in a few seconds.
Streaming is not only another channel for content distribution but also a logical step in the evolution of audio formats and standards. All you need is access to files, a high-speed connection, and equipment capable of reading such content to listen to music in very high quality. Even more - you can get some of your music from the web and have some at home, on a computer or network drive, in the form of hi-res files, and then stream all that music to your device via an app on your phone. While some music lovers point out various drawbacks both to the concept itself and to problems with software, licensing, aging hardware, or artist compensation, it should surprise no one that streaming is on the upswing today.
Where to start? Naturally, from the source
To begin our musical journey, we should first choose one of the popular streaming services. It's worth considering at this stage which one will be best for us. There are several major players on the market. Each has its own advantages and attracts customers with different needs. One of the criteria for selection will certainly be the availability of the artists and albums we listen to most often. Music by the most popular artists can be found by any of them, but if our fascinations revolve around classical music, jazz, post metal or French hip-hop, some services may have a richer offer for us than others. Compatibility with devices such as streamers or networked speakers is also extremely important. If we listen to music on Bluetooth headphones paired with a phone, we can always manage, but if we want to redirect the signal to home equipment, in some applications we will do it quickly and easily, while in others it will be a problem and we will have to find a workaround. From the point of view of an audiophile, sound quality is also an important factor. There is actually a rather sharp division on this issue - some services believe that MP3 quality should be enough for us, while others struggle to make the signal quality really great, and you can hear it clearly.
The streaming service that by far dominates the market is, of course, Spotify. This platform was developed in 2006 in Stockholm by a team of developers led by Daniel Eek. Currently, this application has more than 500 million users, of which more than 200 million regularly pay a subscription. The Swedish service boasts a perfectly working app. The second hallmark of Spotify is its rich catalog of not only music but also podcasts. There are educational suggestions, crime, and political stories, and programs by radio journalists or popular YouTubers. One of the biggest advantages of this platform is the Spotify Connect function, which allows us to "send" the music we play to any compatible device, such as a network speaker or audiophile streamer. The biggest limitation of Spotify is the sound quality. Even if you subscribe to Spotify Premium, you can count on 320 kbps quality in Ogg Vorbis format at best. The company is aware of this and announced an upgrade some years ago. However, there hasn’t been any official updates regarding this premium quality tier for a long time. The new subscription is rumored to give us access to lossless music in 16-bit/44.1 kHz quality or 24-bit FLAC files. When this will happen, what the sound quality will be, and how much of the music will realistically be available in lossless or hi-res form - this we do not know yet. So, until the long-awaited upgrade happens, Spotify will remain a very convenient and user-friendly platform, albeit with some quality limitations.
Because Spotify is the largest streaming service in the world, it was logical for Hegel to implement Spotify connect in our products. Because even if the audiophile of the house will want to use something else, it is important for us that all members of the household can enjoy or gear easily and intuitively. All current Hegel integrated amplifiers have this feature.
Because of its sound quality, the number one streaming service for many audiophiles is TIDAL. It was launched in 2015, but at its core is the Norwegian music service WiMP (Wireless Music Player), founded back in 2010. It was purchased by one of the companies owned by American rapper Jay Z, who still serves as TIDAL's CEO. Well-known artists were involved in the operation of the service from the beginning. The press conference announcing the launch of the new service featured Beyoncé, Jack White, Madonna, Daft Punk, and Calvin Harris, among others. From the very beginning, the service was aimed at conscious listeners who care about high-quality sound. In the TIDAL HiFi subscription, the basic format is 16-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, a format equivalent to CD quality, while in the higher TIDAL HiFi Plus package, we even have access to 24-bit/96 kHz files. News lovers will be interested in the TIDAL Rising series, where new recordings by young musicians are published. As with Spotify, here we also have the option to stream music straight to the audio device - TIDAL Connect. This is so convenient that, according to many users, it completely eliminates the need for any other software.
Tidal Connect is a rather new feature and Hegel has implemented this in its latest generation integrated amplifiers, starting with the top-of-the-line H600.
There's a lot to like about streaming, also with the two platforms from France - Qobuz and Deezer. The former is a popular choice among audiophiles, as it offers both high sound quality and access to music from many respected labels, such as Bee Jazz, Ambronay Editions, Zig Zag Territoires, ECM, Aeolus, Ondine, and Winter & Winter. There are more than 100 million tracks in Qobuz's inventory, and the maximum file quality is 24 bit/192 kHz - more than TIDAL offers, not to mention Spotify. That's true hi-res audio without the need to play music from your own disk. However, the app doesn't have many of the amenities that larger rivals offer, but that might soon change. Rumors of a Qobuz connect feature has been swirling for a while. However a launch date, and what products will support this feature remains to be seen. The greatest drawback of Qobuz is arguably that it's only available in 26 countries. That's still progress, as back in 2021 Qobuz was available in just 12 countries, but rapid expansion is clearly not what the French care about most. The same can be said of Deezer, which was quite popular at one time, but today is one of the less popular apps. However, it still offers the ability to listen to lossless files in 16 bit/44.1 kHz quality, and features that many users still love it for, such as SongCatcher, which recognizes songs we hear somewhere or even try to sing them (equivalent to Shazam or SoundHound).
In recent years, two tech giants - Apple and YouTube - have been pushing the market for streaming services. The former runs the Apple Music service, whose natural advantage is that as a red icon with notes, it comes standard on MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones. All you need to use it is an Apple ID, payment (after a three-month free trial period) is via Apple Pay, so it will all be easy and intuitive for those using hardware with the symbol of the bitten apple. Although the quality of the files is lower compared to Spotify (256 kbps), many users claim that the sound of Apple Music is simply better. The difference is supposed to be in the encoding, as the Cupertino giant opted for AAC instead of the Ogg Vorbis format. Still, lossless audio or even hi-res files are still a long way off, and it's unclear whether this will change in the near future. The situation is similar with the YouTube Music service. Here, too, the best files available are 256 kbps AAC. The big plus of this service, however, is the huge library of recordings and the fact that we get a lot of video content in addition to music. But in the end, that is not all that surprising.
Own music file library - add-on or necessity?
For many music lovers, a favorite streaming service is the basis or one of the important elements, but certainly not the end of the story. The second source of music with which we feed our equipment - whether it's a PC-connected DAC or perhaps an amplifier integrated with a network module - can be our own collection of audio files. Why would we keep them on disk when millions of tracks are available at our fingertips? Well, there are several reasons. First, the offerings of streaming services are not unlimited after all, and on top of that, they are not constant. The probability of looking for an album and not finding it in their libraries is, of course, small, but to music lovers with broad horizons and it happens regularly. It's also not unusual to find a situation in which, just a few months ago, we listened to a song and even added it to our playlist, and now it is gone, marked in a darker color, and the application skips over it as if it did not exist. This is most often due to the withdrawal of such content from the service's libraries by the artist or the label representing them.
Having music on our own hard drive, we are sure that no one will delete it for us. What's more, if your passion for music has lasted for a long time, you hunt for interesting releases, buy records unavailable in stores at concerts and festivals, maybe you've even acquired a collection of compact discs and vinyl from your father or uncle, it's highly likely that you have recordings that can't be found on any streaming service. Ripping such assets into files is, of course, a time-consuming process, but with files, you gain additional security for this content and a convenient way to find the music you just happen to want to listen to. It doesn't stop there, however. Having our own collection of files means that we can reach for those whose quality surpasses anything offered by streaming services. These can include not only lossless WAV or FLAC files but also the DSD files beloved by audiophiles.
How to build your own file library and not die of old age
Undoubtedly, in this regard, those who took an interest in files a long time ago are best off. If we start from scratch, the process of building such a library will require some work on both the technical and software side. First of all, we need to think about where we will keep such a collection of music. On a computer, portable drive, laptop, or perhaps some device designed just for this purpose? If we have wide-ranging plans, or if we plan to collect only lossless recordings and hi-res files from the very beginning, one thing is certain - it is better to provide more space right away than to hit a wall later, buy new drives, and move the entire music collection before we even get started in earnest.
The second issue concerns the convenience of using such a file library. Sharing folders with music from a laptop or copying selected albums to a flash drive and connecting it to the streamer (if the model has such an option) is a temporary solution. You can manage in this way at the beginning, to check the operation and sound of the whole system, or if you know that you will reach for files occasionally. However, if we are serious about it, it's worth considering the purchase of a network drive (NAS) or other device that will act as our home music vault. We can also combine the function of a file bank and network transport by choosing a music server, such as Roon Nucleus. Some network drives and servers will allow us to install additional music playback software or even have it pre-installed. For now, the important thing is that the basis for our next steps is a device that meets several key requirements - it will be connected to the home network, always on, equipped with capacious disks, quiet, and ready to work with the software of our choice.
If we already have all the necessary equipment, it's time to think about where we will get the files from. To transfer CDs to a hard drive, for example, in FLAC format, all we need is a computer with a CD drive and an appropriate application. The only downside is the time required to rip even a few dozen discs. It's best to reserve a weekend for this or proceed with it systematically while doing some other activity. If our collection is several hundred or several thousand albums, hours will turn into days, days into weeks, and weeks into months. Even if all we have to do is supervise the ripper and change the album every ten minutes or so, this is tedious.
Another huge source of files is, of course, the Internet. Many artists make their recordings available as files on Bandcamp. They set the price and available formats themselves. Finding albums as 16-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC files is unlikely to be a problem. In search of files, it's worth visiting the websites of music labels such as Linn Records, Presto Classical, Hyperion Records, or Blue Coast Records, as well as independent services such as HDtracks, Qobuz, HighResAudio, Native DSD, ProStudioMasters, Presto Music, HiResTracks or Sound Liaison. You can find a lot of audiophile "stuff" there, including hi-res files. The only thing you need to remember is to control your spending and available disk space, as one album in the form of DSD64 files can take up about 2-4 GB. Now you know why it's best to invest in a large network drive and why such a music collection needs to be stored in local resources rather than on a server on the other side of the world.
Hardware - music streamer in an audio system
As modern hi-fi sets can take many forms, the same is true of network players. Sometimes our streamer is simply one component of a wireless speaker, soundbar, receiver, or amplifier, it can be a small box equipped with several digital outputs, but also a full-size device or even an entire tower built from several boxes connected by expensive cables. Regardless of what kind of streamer you're targeting, it's a good idea to consider where you'll be getting your music from before buying the equipment and to check whether the model in question supports all the sources, services, and formats you're interested in. Most models from serious manufacturers boast a very long list of these features and compatibility with all the popular services, but it's always better to spend five minutes wading through the technical data than to have to deal with potential problems at home later on. Some say that the most important thing is the manufacturer's activity and commitment to software updates. If new features and bug fixes are introduced quickly, that's a good omen.
Audio equipment designers have long noticed the growing consumer interest in files and streaming, so there's a good chance that you have at least one digital input in the equipment you already own. Hegel noticed this trend very early on. While rivals were tentatively introducing single USB inputs into their amplifiers, the Norwegian company was fitting large digital-to-analog converter (DAC) modules with several different inputs into its integrated amplifiers. Forward thinking pays off, because having such an amplifier, we only need a network transport - a device that will feed our DAC with data. Such a transport is, in a nutshell, a computer whose only job is to read music from the network. It can be a small box, but if you are interested in really high-quality sound, you should be interested in full-sized devices.
Hegel integrated amplifiers are complete music systems. H95, H120, H190v, H400 and H600 - each of them is not only an amplifier, but also a full-fledged streamer. The newest models will let us listen to podcasts and Internet radio and supports Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Google Cast™, UPnP, and even Roon.
Since it was possible to fit a sizable DAC in an amplifier a dozen years ago, the next logical step was to add network connectivity. Thus, many integrated amplifiers have in fact turned into all-in-one systems, to which you just need to connect speaker sets and provide them with some kind of music source. Hegel is again a great example of this, as at this point the Hegel integrated amplifiers are complete music systems. H95, H120, H190v, H400 and H600 - each of them is not only an amplifier, but also a full-fledged streamer. The newest models will let us listen to podcasts and Internet radio and supports Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, Google Cast™, UPnP, and even Roon.
So there is no need to buy an external streamer. Despite the continued development of digital technology in its devices, Hegel is committed to quality, as can be seen, for example, in the company's approach to network connectivity. No device from the Norwegian company has Wi-Fi. Instead, Hegel uses a wired network connection. This is to ensure the most stable streaming solution, as well as the best sound since Wi-Fi antennas pick up a lot of noise. Talking about streamers, however, we usually mean devices that can play music from the network and convert it into an analog signal. As you may have guessed, their choice is almost unlimited. A small box that will allow us to extend the functionality of the hi-fi set we already own - even if it is equipment that is several decades old - can be bought for as little as €200-300. Having €1000-3000 to spend, we can already count on very rich equipment, a larger and much nicer case and what is most important - the interior, in which much attention has been paid, for example, to the DAC section, power supply, and analog output circuits. At the very top of the ladder are hi-end streaming players, with prices starting at €5000. If you are ready to spend more than that, it's also not a great challenge. Manufacturers of hi-end equipment have certainly not yet said the last word in this war.
Control app - the last piece of the puzzle
Once we have gone through all the steps described above, all that remains is to choose an application with which we can conveniently manage the process of playing music from the network. As you can easily guess, there is no one right way here. Everyone chooses the software that best suits their needs and their equipment, and some music lovers take turns using several applications, such a solution also has its advantages.
The first thing to do is to check the software that the equipment manufacturer gives us. When buying a network player, information about the application recommended for its operation will probably already be found on the packaging or in the documents that come with it, such as the user's manual or quick start guide. Most companies recommend their own application, which in many cases is mainly used so that we can conveniently control the equipment and access its settings. Sometimes - most often in the case of really big companies - such an app will also allow us to play music from multiple sources, build a multi-room system, and even calibrate the sound based on a measurement taken with a microphone. Interestingly, we're not always talking about an app for a phone or tablet. Some prefer to use the player on a computer.
The Hegel Control app, which currently provides control of the Hegel H400 and H600 streaming amplifiers and will work with more models in the future, provides easy access to the initial setup of the device and enables Google Cast. The app lets you control the amplifier and network playback. It also enables Internet radio and podcasts, providing easy access to your favorite radio stations and podcasts. The app is intuitive to use, fast, and responsive. It also offers network management, firmware information, updates, and factory reset.
For many users, the easiest way to connect a new audio device to the home network is through the Google Home app. The "Hey Google" voice command makes hands-free audio control easy. By simply saying "Hey Google" to your phone or google home device, and then requesting music. You can say "Hey Google, play some jazz, on my H600" users can access a wide range of music services such as Spotify and YouTube Music. Regardless of the user's opinion, it's worth making sure that in addition to it, we'll have alternatives such as AirPlay, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect or Roon Ready compatibility, and the option to use a completely different third-party app like JPLAY.
According to many audiophiles and music lovers, the best solution for controlling equipment and the process of playing music from the network is specialized software compatible with devices of many different brands and popular streaming services. The best applications of this type are capable of scanning, cataloging, and describing our entire library of files, linking them to the resources of a service such as TIDAL or Qobuz, displaying a list of all the audio devices available in our home, from soundbars and network speakers to audiophile streamers, and then allowing us to easily play music on each of them, not to mention equalizers, filters and a whole host of settings that we won't find either in the application of a streaming service or the one offered by the manufacturer of our equipment.
The most powerful and popular among audiophiles is Roon. It is such an advanced and powerful program that a separate article could be written about it, which we will probably do in the future. Roon is a paid application, but users love it for its ease of integration of the entire music library, easy management of playback on multiple devices, extensive menus with advanced settings, and above all its focus on music and its quality. Without a doubt, it's a great tool for any music lover who uses streaming and relies on high-quality sound. It's worth opting for a free trial period and seeing for yourself if this is what you've been looking for. Almost all of Hegel’s integrated amplifiers support Roon Ready, which means you can stream to them directly from Roon. This ensures stellar sound quality and ease of use.
If Roon, which requires a computer or NAS running the Roon server, seems too daunting, JPLAY can be a good option for IOS users. It is not as advanced as Roon, but the app runs directly on your phone or tablet and transmits wirelessly through UPnP which is an open standard that all Hegel amplifiers with network support. Even our older models.
Conclusion
Streaming certainly makes our lives easier, allowing us to discover music in ways unknown and unavailable before. Just add high-quality equipment, lossless files, and an application designed for experienced music lovers and audiophiles, and you may find that you don't need anything else. Of course, it also has many downsides, but the technology is still evolving. Hi-res files are no longer exotic, apps are getting better and better, and the hardware itself has proven to be more reliable and future-proof than we thought when streaming became a thing. Some music lovers complain that listening to music from the web doesn't carry some of the sensations that come with using physical media. Files transferred over the network don't smell like freshly printed booklets. They don't need to be wiped clean of dust and stacked alphabetically on a shelf, nor can you take them to a concert to have artists sign them. This, however, is also slowly changing. Today, we can listen to music while streaming a music video or graphic with the words of a song onto a TV screen, and on a tablet read about the artist or album being played - find out what we're really listening to, and then review other tracks chosen for us by increasingly good algorithms. Beyond any doubt, the world of streaming is worth exploring. If you are interested in streaming and want to listen to music in high quality, we encourage you to visit our dealers where you can audition Hegel streaming products.
