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I wanted to create some kind of recurrent post where I talk about music and here I am.
I got the idea to create this sort of music diary where I talk about random stuff, obviously about music as we are on Given to Rock.
Well, it's the first week of the year and unfortunately there is not much to talk about in terms of new big releases, but this year will bring us the return of Dream Theater (welcome back Mike Portnoy!), Pearl Jam (anything will be better than the latest Gigaton, for me their worst album), Judas Priest (I already love their first two singles!), Europe (great first single too), Saxon and Bruce Dickinson, among many others.
Let's talk about music streaming services: I love CDs and their pure sound but we live in a digital world and I am also kind of forced to use streaming services for work purposes or when I'm not home (in the car mainly). Well, after a few years, I finally got fed up with the Spotify sound, even at 320 KB - the "high quality" if you have premium. The songs sound awful to my ears and I don't enjoy listening to lots of songs that I love. I love my music loud and it just doesn't work for me. When you turn on the volume to enjoy the "goosebump moment" I just can't hear lots of details and the guitars just don't push enough and they get lost in the general mix. I tried every single option, including the equalizer (even mixing the equalizer with the music system equalizer!)
After many attempts, I found a good compromise with Apple Music. To my ears even the 260 KB sound better and clearer than the 320 KB Spotify version. Plus, if you have Wi-Fi or data available, you can use the lossless version, which is on paper better than CD quality, basically at the same price as Spotify. The result of this? I am paying now for 2 streaming services. How cool is that?
I leave you with one of the songs I use to test the streaming services and the audio quality, the beautiful Broken Wings by Alter Bridge. The passage from the verses to the chorus, always tells the truth.