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Pandora again, and now Spotify too...

For the last several years we have been streaming happily Pandora and Spotify (along with Qobuz) on an LMS (Logitech Media Server) streamer (Magna HiFi Mano Ultra), with an RME DAC, on our decent home stereo system.  Recently LMS became Lyrion, and the plugins which enabled Pandora and Spotify access and streaming became inoperational with no substitutes or remedies that I can find.  Qobuz is still streaming fine, but it is my understanding that perhaps due to artist royalty issues the only way to stream Pandora and Spotify in their top native resolutions is via their apps or when logged in directly to their sites via a browser.

I found no audio streamers or platforms (e.g., Roon, Jplay) which support these two services.  Could not even ask the question on the Volumio site without a subscription...

First of all please correct me if I'm wrong... I'd love to be wrong here.

However, if I'm right, I am coming to the conclusion that the only way to stream these two services at their best quality (with no upsampling from USB) on our system is to stream them on a computer with a good sound card which has digital coax output which I would route to my DAC.

If the latter makes sense to anybody, can you please recommend a good sound card and basic computer, I assume a Windows desktop it can be installed in.  Would love to use a Mac but am not aware of any current "open chassis" models which would accept a separate sound card.

Any thoughts and ideas are appreciated!

Cheers, Yoram

yoramguy1
cleeds
6,599 posts
 

koslekt1

My wife loves Pandora and even though there are alternatives that sound better, I have not been able to convert her ...

That is not at all uncommon - many people prefer the sound of  low resolution, dynamically compressed, limited frequency range recordings. Lossy compression algorithms use perceptual coding and are very sophisticated, and can sound more "lively" and punchy than higher resolution recordings. I know that sounds odd to many of us audiophiles, but some listeners enjoy the sound of these lossy files so much that they actually believe they are hi-res - and they defend their preference mightily! See this messy thread, for example.

However, there is no need to defend preference. There is no wrong "preference." Whatever your wife enjoys is what she enjoys.

yoramguy1 OP
90 posts
 

We are streaming Qobuz on our decent system and have been streaming Pandora and Spotify on it until recently.  Of course we also stream all three from our iPhones via bluetooth in the cars and on portable speakers.  We have premium subscriptions to all three and have each set to its max resolution as supported by the equipment.  We hear and appreciate the superior sound quality of Qobuz on our system.  We also hear the lower resolution of Pandora.  We do not love the lower resolution, but we love Pandora because of the quality of its artist/genre "extrapolating" algorithm.  We have not tried the features in Qobuz or Spotify which claim a similar function, and will do so based on the good suggestions in this thread.

So far I can say that we are not impressed with the Spotify feature "recommendations for you" or some such that appends new tracks to a playlist we have created, tracks which to us often miss the point.

yoramguy1 OP
90 posts
 

In the first step I will be trying the suggestion by @thecarpathian .

I received the Lightning to USB Type-A adapter, and am waiting to receive tomorrow two supposedly good cables, one USB Type-A to Type-B, and the other actually a direct Lightning to USB Type-B, which if it works would skip the adapter.  Something (or everything) will get returned if not needed or doesn't work...

The RME DAC has a USB 2.0 Type-B port.  I'm hoping that so long as I have only one live input at a time (coax or USB) it will not get messed up.  Had not had to futz with its streaming settings to get it to play via coax.  Skimming through the manual it looks like it can get quite involved...

To be continued.

yoramguy1 OP
90 posts
 

One more... got in parallel the following reply from Bluesound:  "All Bluesound players support Pandora, and will play their content in their highest quality from Pandora’s servers."  FWIW, not sure how it actually looks like, asking them a follow-up question...

They do support Spotify Connect and Qobuz Connect.

Another data point.

yoramguy1 OP
90 posts
 

Received all the bits and tested @thecarpathian ’s USB idea of iPhone->DAC.
It works.  The direct Lightning to USB Type B cable works fine (so no need for the camera adapter and USB-to-USB cable):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXSNF79B?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Need more time to compare and comment on the sound quality vs the Mano.  But as @thecarpathian suggested this is a test and a stopgap, not a permanent solution even if we find the sound quality good enough, for several reasons:
1. The wired connection means we cannot control playback from our listening area.
2. Volume control is not available on the iPhone in wired playback in either Pandora or Spotify, and needs to be done on the RME, which adds another user interface twist, esp. for my wife.  (We do not adjust the preamps volumes, except in infrequent turntable play, for a reason that belongs in another thread.)
3. The required source switch on the RME between the Mano and the iPhone and the very different gains between them mean that they cannot be switched between easily in casual use.  A new streamer will be needed...

Worthwhile exercise though!

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