@PaisleyUnderground Thanks, I haven’t ckd his Beethoven. I have a B. samples excerpts list comparing different cond/orch but I’m always looking for that combination of performance and recording quality (engineering, presence, hall resonance etc) which sound “right” to my ear.
Alas, better gear leads to not only more enjoyment, but also increased
fussiness! 
1 Like
Cycles are rarely consistently excellent across the board. As a collector of physical media it’s frustrating to no end when you just want one performance but it’s only found within a cycle.
Streaming still has its uses.
2 Likes
I think streaming is an amazing treasure trove for classical music if you’re fussy (like me).
After I’ve drawn up my short list, my first step is to use my commute to weed through performances, by playing the same movement from different conductors. I’m just using AirPod pros, but that’s good enough to know if I like the performance (tempo, rhythm, fullness of sound). And I’ve done this enough times that I can pretty accurately extrapolate how the piece will sound in my home system.
Then I play my weeded out shortlist at home to judge the sound. I think some reviewers must have terrible systems because I’ll notice awful acoustics that the reviewer never mentioned.
2 Likes
Agreed, I mostly listen via APP2 as yourself and find them to be decent enough to get a feel for the music. Actually they are quite enjoyably tuned to my ears and for the money and convenience Im quite happy with them.
Im pretty good at that too by now but I have been caught out by “Apple Mastering” a couple times so I check to see if there is any indication of such when I use Apple Classical. I also have Idagio which is much more consistently in line with my system; however, Apple does seem to have a bit of a larger database and its layout, while sometimes annoying to me, can be helpful if you are looking for a specific album as they more prominently display covers.
I also wonder that sometimes.
1 Like
I’m a sucker for solo Da Gamba recordings, love being able to browse Apple Music Classical by instrument, adding this as a new reference album. They also have a book feature where you can open and get insight on the recording, excellent iPad companion.
2 Likes
